Boca Raton Police Services Department School Safety PDF

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Standard Operating Procedure 41.07 SCHOOL SAFETY Revised: December 19, 2022 I. PURPOSE: To work collaboratively with the School District of Palm Beach County Police Department (SDPBCPD) to promote school safety through a law enforcement presence at Palm Beach...

BOCA RATON POLICE SERVICES DEPARTMENT Standard Operating Procedure 41.07 SCHOOL SAFETY Revised: December 19, 2022 I. PURPOSE: To work collaboratively with the School District of Palm Beach County Police Department (SDPBCPD) to promote school safety through a law enforcement presence at Palm Beach County School District operated schools within the City of Boca Raton, the enhanced coordination and investigation of tips received from the public and a combined response to a mobile panic alert system. II. DEFINITIONS: Alyssa’s Alert: Florida State Statute requires each public school, including charter schools, to implement a mobile panic alert system that must integrate with local public safety answering point (PSAP) infrastructure. The Palm Beach County School District uses the Centigex Alert System (badge activation) through the Saferwatch application to notify our PSAP. Fortify Florida: (FortifyFL) is an app for reporting suspicious activity which allows students and the community to relay information anonymously concerning unsafe, potentially harmful, dangerous, violent, or criminal activities, or the threat of these activities, to the appropriate public safety agencies and school officials across the state of Florida. Safe-School Officers: Florida State Statute requires a safe-school officer at every school to provide protection and safety of school personnel, property, students, and visitors. An agreement has been signed between the School Board of Palm Beach County and the City of Boca Raton to provide safeschool officers when needed. School Discipline Issue: Incidents involving public order offenses committed by students, which shall include disorderly conduct, disturbance/disruption of schools or public assembly, loitering, trespass, profanity, dress code violations and fighting that does not involve physical injury or a weapon. III. PROCEDURE: A. SAFE-SCHOOL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICER PROGRAM: 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS: a. LEOs shall not work more than eighteen (18) hours of City overtime details on his/her days off. Effective: July 23, 2018 Revised: December 19, 2022 School Safety SOP No. 41.07 Page 1 of 6 b. An LEO must have received at least a Meets Standards rating on his/her last performance evaluation by the Department to be eligible to participate in the Safe-School Law Enforcement Officer Program (Program). c. No probationary LEOs shall participate in the Program for the duration of their initial field-training period. d. No LEO shall participate in the Program while on sick leave or light duty status with the Department. Additionally, an LEO will not participate in the Program if they were sick in the preceding 16 hours, on light duty, on administrative leave, or on suspended status. e. Any LEO violating the rules of the Program shall be subject to disciplinary action. f. While participating in the Program, LEOs shall be expected to observe the same rules of conduct to which they would normally be subject to during his/her regular police duties, including the wearing of the Class B uniform. 2. DEPARTMENT ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY: a. The Department shall be responsible for assigning LEOs to provide security at agreed-upon schools located within the City of Boca Raton. b. If the Department, in its sole discretion, determines that it is unable to assign LEOs for one or more of the schools on the dates or times requested by the SDPBCPD, it shall notify the SDPBCPD as expeditiously as possible to allow the SDPBCPD to make alternative coverage plans, if desired. c. The Department will be responsible for investigations involving its LEOs, including but not limited to, investigations relating to use of force. 3. OFFICER ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITY: a. The LEO shall complete the SDPBCPD online orientation training prior to assignment to a school and forward proof of the completed training to the Special Services Bureau (SSB) commander or his/her designee. b. All LEO’s will receive an email from the SSB commander or his/her designee with a calendar of available dates for safe-school assignments. Any LEO wanting to participate in the program will submit his/her name on the calendar for dates he/she wish to be assigned and return the calendar via email to the SSB commander or his/her designee. c. The assignments will be posted at the beginning of the month and if there is a conflict, the LEO is responsible for contacting the SSB commander or his/her designee immediately for resolution. Effective: July 23, 2018 Revised: December 19, 2022 School Safety SOP No. 41.07 Page 2 of 6 d. The LEO will report to the assigned school at the specified time in a marked patrol vehicle and remain for the entire day to include breaks. If for any reason the LEO must leave the school, he/she shall contact the watch commander and the SSB commander or his/her designee immediately. The LEO will not leave until coverage is in place. e. The LEO must log in and out of the school’s computer as per the on-line training. f. The LEO must log in to MCT with a S-15 code at the school’s address. The following radio call signs will be used: a. Boca Elementary J-33 b. Addison Mizner Elementary J-32 c. Calusa Elementary J-45 d. JC Mitchell Elementary J-36 e. Verde Elementary J-43 f. Don Estridge Middle J-44 g. Boca Raton Middle J-37 h. Omni Middle J-35 i. Boca Raton High J-31 j. Spanish River High J-34 k. Blue Lake Elementary J-46 g. The LEO is to maintain a visual presence at the entrance to the school at arrival and dismissal times and shall move throughout the school during the school day, checking access/egress points and overall security of campus. h. The LEO shall act as first responder to any acts of violence which threaten students, staff or parents on the school campus and will call for assistance when needed. i. Non-criminal violations of student conduct and/or school discipline issues are the responsibility of school administrators. An LEO may become involved in school discipline when an LEO determines, in his/her sole discretion, that involvement is necessary to protect the physical safety of students or school personnel. j. The LEO shall communicate with students and others in the school in a language that such students or others understand. If the LEO does not speak the Effective: July 23, 2018 Revised: December 19, 2022 School Safety SOP No. 41.07 Page 3 of 6 same language, the LEO shall request from PBCSD an appropriate interpreter designated for such purposes. k. The LEO will cooperate and participate as necessary in the School Board’s expulsion hearing process if requested by the Superintendent of Schools or his/her legal counsel. l. LEOs must understand that school site administrators are responsible for all personnel at the school site. As such, LEOs must endeavor to work cooperatively with school site administration but will follow the Department’s chain of command. m. When the LEO learns of an incident which requires him/her to take lawful action, the LEO must report the incident to SDPBCPD and school site administration as soon as possible. n. For critical incidents, Boca Raton LEOs will adhere to Standard Operating Procedure 46.01 Incident Command and transfer command to the SDPBCPD when they arrive on the scene. B. FORTIFY FLORIDA: 1. AGENCY ADMINISTRATOR’S RESPONSIBILITIES: a. The Intelligence Led Policing Manager (ILPM) shall act as the Agency Administrator for Fortify Florida. i. The Agency Administrator shall enter and maintain data pertaining to agency tip recipients. ii. Contact shall be made via email at [email protected]. 2. COMMUNICATIONS SECTION RESPONSIBILITIES: a. Tips will be forwarded via email from Fortify Florida to [email protected]. b. The Public Safety Dispatch Supervisor (PSDS) will: i. Be responsible for the receipt of tips through the Fortify Florida program via [email protected] ii. Enter a call into CAD using the nature code S14 iii. Ensure that the Watch Commander is notified of the call for service iv. Effective: July 23, 2018 Revised: December 19, 2022 Will acknowledge the tip in the Fortify Florida system School Safety SOP No. 41.07 Page 4 of 6 c. Non-Response Automated Voice Notification i. In the event that a Public Safety Dispatcher (PSD) or Public Safety Call Taker (PSCT) receives a non-response prompted automated voice notification from Fortify Florida, he/ she will immediately notify the PSDS. ii. The PSDS will handle the notification the same as a tip received via email. 3. WATCH COMMANDER RESPONSIBILITIES: a. Review the tip to determine if the information merits an immediate or non-immediate response. b. The Watch Commander will direct the appropriate resources to investigate the tip. c. If the tip is determined to be non-immediate, the Watch Commander can request that the PSDS delay the call for service after the Watch Commander adds notes to the call indicating the request for the delay and the amount of time (X hours). 4. RECORDS RESPONSIBILITIES: a. Any personal identifying information obtained from the FortifyFL record of the reporting party for all S14 Nature Code calls for service received is to remain confidential, and thereby redacted within the Record Management System prior to release. C. ALYSSA’S ALERT: 1. COMMUNICATIONS RESPONSIBILITIES : a. The PSDS, the PSD on the teletype channel and the fire channel will monitor the Saferwatch application at his/her console. b. There is a ring down line for the Saferwatch application which the PSAP will receive a recorded message advising of a Saferwatch activation. c. The PSD will initiate a suspicious incident call (13P) for police and a fire call when an Alyssa’s Alert is received via the Saferwatch application or ring down line for any public or charter school in our jurisdiction. d. The main channel PSD will: i. Effective: July 23, 2018 Revised: December 19, 2022 Alert tone and dispatch a Code 3 response to the Alyssa’s Alert School Safety SOP No. 41.07 Page 5 of 6 ii. Advise any officer who is working a Safe School assignment at the school with the alert iii. Notify the Watch Commander iv. Initiate a case number e. Call the School District of Palm Beach County Police Department (SDPBCPD) dispatch center to attempt to obtain further information. f. Provide any further information obtained via 911 calls or nonemergency calls to responding units and update the incident type accordingly. g. The PSDS will only claim an alert on the Saferwatch app for the charter school in our jurisdiction (Somerset Academy). The SDPBCPD dispatch center will claim all other alerts. 2. ROAD PATROL’S RESPONSIBILITIES: a. Respond Code 3 to the school location. b. Locate the person who activated the alert, ascertain if an emergency exists and update communications accordingly. c. If an Active Shooter/Hostile Event exists adhere to the Standard Operating Procedure 46.07 or for other critical incidents adhere to Standard Operating Procedure 46.01 Incident Command until relieved by SDPBCPD. d. Make contact with the School District of Palm Beach County’s Police Officer on campus. e. Complete an incident report to document the alert whether it was an emergency or a false alarm. Effective: July 23, 2018 Revised: December 19, 2022 School Safety SOP No. 41.07 Page 6 of 6