In the aftermath of last Friday’s lockdown at Staples, the Y’s Men of Westport and Weston’s podcast with Jen Tooker takes a different approach.
This week, the 1st selectwoman interviews Police Chief Foti Koskinas. He talks candidly about that day, including the importance of Staples’ school resource officer, and the emotional and psychological toll on staff, students and his officers.
Koskinas praises Staples principal Stafford Thomas and everyone at the school, while acknowledging how tough it was for all. It’s an inside look into a day that anyone who was there will not soon forget.
Tooker also asks Koskinas about Westport policing in general.
Click below for a very intriguing 9 minutes.
This only serves to support the need for school resource officers in ALL Westport schools, not just Staples. The Chief points out that having the SRO on site to immediately provide intelligence and confirmation of the false report of activity at the school was invaluable for preventing further incident. This real time info quite possibly prevented the need for a full evacuation of the building and the panic produced thereby. Add this to the day-to-day positives that the SRO program has produced at Staples and it is beyond understanding why the BOE and the RTM have not taken steps to expand the program. When there was a push for the pilot program at Staples people dragged their feet until we had an active shooter scare at Staples, then people finally moved forward. Perhaps this latest incident will have a similar affect and we will finally stop talking and protect our most valuable assets. There is no substitute for a fully trained SRO at a school, the facts are crystal clear.