By Terry Witt – Spotlight Senior Reporter
With the increase in shootings across the nation, Williston Police Chief Mike Rolls said Monday he wants residents of his city to remain alert for any type of suspicious activity as the school year approaches.
“I ask everyone if you see something, say something,” Rolls said. “We have a lot of schools in Williston we’re going to have to be watching over and be responsible for. It’s not only when, it’s where. We’re hoping it’s not here.”
“We want to avoid at all costs anything happening to any of our children in our schools here in the great city of Williston,” Rolls added. “Help us – if you see something, say something, then let us handle it from there. We’re working on getting our police officers trained to deal with those types of situations if they were to occur.”
Summer school recently opened in Levy County. Regular session classes begin in August.
Rolls said the Levy County Sheriff’s Office has School Resource Officers (SROs) in Williston schools. He said he has already reached out to Sheriff Bobby McCallum about joint training activities. McCallum wants city officers to train with county deputies.
“We’ll be training with them in case something does happen at a school or quite frankly at City Hall,” he said. “We can all be prepared to go in and respond and neutralize that threat to our community, to our children, as quickly as possible.”
Rolls has recommended changing the way the council meeting room is arranged. He wants to be stationed in the best possible position to meet any threat that might come through the main entrance to the meeting room. That will mean changing the location of the desk that council members sit behind.
He told the council there are a couple of things he will bring back later to the board related to the training and safety of his officers if they must respond to violence in a school, City Hall, or anywhere a threat arises.
The federal Department of Homeland Security developed the public awareness program known as, “If you see something, say something” several years ago. The agency said it’s not just aimed at curbing terrorism but addressing any possible threat to the nation and its people.
Surveyor Steve McMillan asked if city police have anything in place to monitor for threats on social media. Rolls asked Brooke Willis, a police department employee, to tell McMillan about a software app that helps students and adults report suspicious activity.
Willis said Fortify Florida is a software application that students and adults can use. The program is monitored, so if there is an incident where children have an issue or see something they can tell it on this app.”
“It does give us information inside the school but it’s being monitored by the sheriff’s office who would respond with mutual aid for us,” she said.
Rolls said school security on all campuses in Williston and throughout the county is assigned to school resource deputies. The sheriff’s office has a contract with the Levy County School Board to provide school security.
Sheriff Says Confronting Threats Saves Lives
McCallum said the slogan, “If you see something, say something” has been around for quite a few years especially for schools, but also for any place where trouble might pop up.
“Anything out of place, unusual or anything that’s suspicious, if you see something, say something, so you know we get a heads-up and maybe prevent something from happening,” McCallum said in an interview Wednesday.
He said the school resource officers (SROs) in his department take an oath that they will respond immediately to any threat in the school they are protecting rather than waiting for backup from other officers. He said other sheriff’s deputies who converge on a school to confront a threat are trained in exactly the same way.
“We’re going to the threat. All school resource deputies are trained that they’re going immediately to the threat. They try to capitalize on information given to them, but if you have an active shooter, they’re not waiting for backup. They’re going to the threat. That’s the way everyone’s supposed to be trained.”
McCallum said the sheriff’s office invites city police departments around Levy County to train with them during active shooter drills. The drills will take place this year between summer school and regular classes when students are absent, but he said the training really takes place all year long.
The sheriff said school resource deputies will be the first to respond to a threat in a school, but he said the campuses are large and the officer could be occupied in another part of campus when the problem surfaces. When they determine the location of the threat, they will attempt to end the threat before backup arrives.
“They’re going to be there on campus and that’s their whole purpose there. Their purpose is security,” he said. “The quicker you end that threat, the more lives you’re going to save. You can’t be 110 percent foolproof. A lot of issues go into campuses. They have to be secured and hardened. The only way you can really do it is to make schools like prisons. You’ve got to get them that hard. It’s difficult to do. Someone who wants to get in there is going to find a way. You have to go to the threat. All of our people give that oath that when they’re in the school, they’re going to go to the threat. They’re not going to wait for backup.”
Levy County public school classrooms doors are locked while classes are in session, a security feature. McCallum said his deputies check to make sure classroom doors are locked. He said the schools also practice active shooter drills. He said the county must be prepared for any threat.
“You got to expect it. Those who come to do harm know what they’ve come to do. That’s the reason if you see something, say something. It’s important because if you see suspicious activity, not only in schools but anywhere in this day and time, it’s good to let us know. I’d rather check out 10 things there wasn’t anything to, than miss one,” McCallum said.
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City of Williston Regular Meeting June 7, 2022; Posted June 8, 2022
