Omaha, Nebraska – In the most recent Omaha Public Schools (OPS) board meeting held yesterday, a unanimous decision was reached by the members to ratify a new security agreement with the Omaha Police Department.
The district’s Chief Officer of Student and Community Services, Lisa Utterback, succinctly highlighted the critical role that every second plays in an active school shooting scenario, a harsh reality that has unfortunately become a consistent part of our society. She was quoted as saying, “We know in active school shooting situations, seconds matter.”
Recognizing this pressing need, OPS has elected to introduce an additional protective measure intended to augment their emergency response capabilities. This new approach involves the implementation of a key card system.
Utterback explains the utility of this system: “Every law enforcement officer and first responder will have that badge on them at all times, that if something happens and its deemed a life-threatening or crisis response that they have immediate access to the schools and all the research says that the goal is to save minutes because every second matters in those very volatile situations.”
With the signing of this agreement, each officer in the Omaha Police Department will be granted universal access to all OPS schools. This ensures that in times of crisis, they can promptly enter any school as soon as they reach the site, thus potentially saving crucial time in response.
Utterback further expressed the school district’s commitment to safety and emergency preparedness, saying, “We work together with our families students staff and law enforcement to practice drills and our response, and when we know better, we do better.” She added that the continued collaboration with metro area first responders had paved the way for this improved security direction.
Despite the Omaha Police Department choosing not to offer a public statement about this novel agreement, OPS has informed that the police department is concurrently liaising with all other public schools in the city with the aim to introduce a similar access system across the board.
