Lincoln Public Schools and Lincoln Police work to better school safety

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) -After the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas two months ago, there’s an even bigger emphasis on school safety and making sure proper plans are in place in case of an emergency or attack.

On Tuesday, Lincoln Public School security and the Lincoln Police Department weighed in.

From violent threats to severe weather, LPS security said they have a plan to keep students and staff safe in any situation. At Tuesday’s Board of Education meeting, LPS and LPD shared how they are actively keeping Lincoln schools safe.

“This is a subject that is very difficult for people to talk about but there are bad people out there and we need to do the best we can to stop it,” said LPD Chief Teresa Ewins.

Following the shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Chief Ewins said she received calls from concerned parents in the district.

“To those people that called me after Uvalde asking whether or not my officers were going to run in and stop the shooters and save the kids, yes, that is who we are that is what we do and that’s what we train,” Chief Ewins said .

LPS said they are constantly reevaluating district-wide security and safety measures. The measures discussed at the meeting included secured entrances, school resource officers, threat assessment and how to teach students what to do in an emergency.

“You never want to be complacent by any means, so its a constant discussion,” said Joseph Wright, director of LPS security. “Every time we have a lockdown drill we have an open invitation for the police officers in that area of town come watch the drill so they can help see what happens and they can critique it with us. And then a lot of our training focuses on that type of event even though it’s the less likely thing to happen it probably what we spend a lot of time thinking about.”

LPS said partnerships with agencies like LPD, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, and the Lancaster County Emergency Management help make both LPS and Lincoln a safer place.

“No one including me wants to see uniformed officers in formation going toward the sound of gunfire in our schools, but we have to prepare for that day and we also need to keep preparing for how that never comes,” said LPD Assistant Chief Jason Stille.

Tuesday was also new Superintendent Dr. Paul Gausman’s first regular board meeting. He said he’s impressed with the measures LPS and its partners have taken to keep Lincoln schools safe.

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