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SCHOOL SAFETY • Dr. Rick Robins, superintendent; Mike Morgan, Nephi City Police Chief; and Doug Anderson, Juab County Sheriff have come up with a plan to keep students at local schools safe.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Every school in the Juab School District will have a law enforcement officer at their schools. Nephi City Police Chief Mike Morgan and Juab County Sheriff Doug Anderson were honored at Juab School District board meeting for a new way to get law enforcement officers into the local schools where the School Resource Officer is not stationed. “Chief Morgan came to me with an idea to develop substations at every school,” said Dr. Rick Robins, superintendent. “Sheriff Anderson came aboard and made important contributions.” Morgan had worked in law enforcement in Salt Lake County in the Sheriff’s Department for 22 years before becoming chief in Nephi. In Salt Lake County there are substations in many areas, including stores. “Officers will come to the schools, have an office there, and do their reports so that there will be a law enforcement presence in every school,” said Robins. Anderson pledged that he would do the same for the school in Mona. “NCPD and the Sheriff’s Office will work together,” said Morgan. “There is an added benefit of having a police vehicle parked outside every school.” Morgan said that there would be officers at each building and that a designated detective would be present. The officers would be arranged on a rotating basis so that there could be an officer present while students were in the school. “We think this is a great concept,” said Anderson. Robins said that the concern had been that, while having an SRO in every school had been a desire of the district, there had not been money to make that happen. However, the concern had remained for the safety of students in classrooms. An officer would discourage those interested in perpetrating violence. In light of the recent school shootings and school violence, school safety has been a big concern, he said. Robins said that Morgan could also be credited with starting the Area Leadership Emergency Response Team (ALERT). This team is made up of officers from the Nephi City Police Department; the Juab County Sheriff’s Office; the Utah Highway Patrol; the Juab County Fire Chief; the Nephi Fire Department; Mona Fire Department; the Juab Fire District; the Juab County EMS; the Nephi City Administrator; the Juab School District Superintendent; the principal from each school in the district and, also, the vice principal at the high school; representatives of Central Valley Medical Center, the Nephi and Nephi North LDS North Stake Presidencies; clergy; Central Utah Mental Health; UDOT (Utah Department of Transportation); and businesses owners. “A new Utah School Safety Commission has been convened,” said Robins. It was formed after the tragic Parkland, Fla, school shooting massacre with the first meeting March 1 at the state capitol. The commission has been asked to come up with actionable ideas to be recommended to Gov. Gary Herbert. Robins said that there were several items that needed to be addressed: mental health, employee training and infrastructure. “Chief Morgan said that there would be a designated officer at each school,” said Robins. “We are making it clear to the principals that the officers are not there to cover minor problems. They are not there as an SRO.” The substation offers a low-cost, effective answer to getting officers at schools while providing a stopping point for police officers to file reports and, said Robins, the substation provides substantial benefit and protection to the people inside the school. “I think it is an awesome idea,” said Alicen Allred, board member.
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