A new program in Jackson County, West Virginia, will put part-time deputies in all of the district’s schools, the sheriff’s office announced.
The Shield Program will begin in August as a mutual aid agreement between the sheriff’s office, the Jackson County Board of Education and the county commission as a way to help prevent gun-related school violence, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
As part of the program, deputies will patrol the hallways and school facility grounds on a random, part-time basis.
“Following our own local school-gun incident in April, the level of importance for proactive policing within our school system has never been greater,” the sheriff’s office said in the post. “This is not a perfect program, but rather one that is a certain progressive step in the right direction in continuing to keep our school children safe and furthermore promote a gun-free school system.”
The sheriff’s office said every deputy and law enforcement administrator will participate in the program, which is expected to help build relationships between deputies and the school communities.
The program is also expected to help deputies gain a better understanding of the schools and their layouts, which could be useful if an incident were to ever happen.
The cost for the program will be about $25,000 each school year and will be split between the sheriff's office, the board of education and the county commission.
The launch of the program comes after a handgun was found on a Jackson County school bus in April and a loaded magazine was found in a locker room that same day. Police said the two incidents were not connected.