JMCSS continues to place focus on school safety, preventative measures

JACKSON, Tenn. — With any school system, safety measures are ever evolving. That is certainly the case for Jackson-Madison County. We were able to speak with their director of security, Timothy Gilmer, about what they are doing.

“You know this is something that we work on everyday. We’ve been blessed since Dr. King has gotten here to put an emphasis on safety and security. So we’ve been building the layers and relationships with local law enforcements,” said Gilmer.

A few years ago, the state of Tennessee put some money aside to help communities put school resource officers in every school. Gilmer talks about how beneficial it has been.

“Our Jackson-Madison County Sheriff’s Department has done a great job of getting out and hiring the right people. That’s not a job that is just for anybody to be able to have that law enforcement side of it and be able to take it into schools and build those relationships,” said Gilmer.

There are also other safety precautions that the school system has put into place. For instance, this is the third year that metal detectors have been implemented.

“That was something that Dr. King, we talked about it, and he said ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’ The county commission paid for the majority of those to have them in the schools. The metal detectors, the screenings that we do in the schools, the checks, the event security,” said Gilmer.

Gilmer also told us that the collaboration between the school system, local law enforcement, and everyone else involved has been crucial to safety.

There is also yearly training and different plans for each of the buildings the school system has.

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