School police chief sits down with News 12 over recent bus incidents

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Richmond County school leaders met on Wednesday about concerns parents have raised about transportation.

This comes after several Richmond County parents told us their children were put on weren’t supposed to be on the bus at all.

Along with that, there have been several security concerns on and off campus this year.

We spoke to Richmond County’s school police chief.

When it comes to buses, Chief Mantrell Wilson says most, if not all, buses are equipped with cameras.

Richmond County says they have a lot of safety measures in place and their strategies to keep your child safe are always evolving.

MORE RICHMOND COUNTY INCIDENTS:

• Gun reported at bus stop in Augusta, middle school parents learn
• School bus scares continue for moms in Richmond County
• Mom calls for bus safety after daughter dropped off at wrong stop
• ‘Jesus, help me’: 911 calls shed light on gunfire near Laney game
• Juvenile detained over online threat to A.R. Johnson
• Gun confiscated at Cross Creek High School in Augusta

Several weapons taken from students, shots fired off campus outside a Friday night football game and transportation issues leave some Richmond County parents, like Ashley Ladler, with a few concerns.

“We trust these teachers, the s, to take care of our children at least for the seven hours that we’re away, we’re trusting that they will take them under their wings as if they’re their own children,” said Ladler.

And that’s what School Police Chief Mantrell Wilson says he and his team of 40 officers are trying to do.

“We have weekly meetings with the deputy superintendent and the from the building so that we can make sure that we get together for any intel that may have been received that week, and to check the climate of each school to see if there needs to be anything additional,” said Wilson.

He says as technology evolves, so do their tactics for keeping students safe.

This year on top of expanding the ground they cover at football games; he says they’re piloting new portable weapons detectors.

“There are two towers that go right in the entryway, and so they’re free-flowing so that they don’t impede traffic, whether it be game or inside the school. And there’s a secondary wanding station just in case the individual alerts at the station,” said Wilson.

Right now, they feel like they’ve had success with the four sets of detectors they have.

“I think it’s extremely successful, because not only does it alert us to anything that they that people may have, that they shouldn’t have, but it also serves as a deterrent, and ultimately, that’s what we want,” said Wilson.

He says in the past cell phones have created more issues.

So now from bell to bell, they’re having students put away their phones.

And he says it’s all of this to ease parents’ minds.

“The children don’t have to have those devices. The reason is that each classroom has an alert button that alerts the front office, and all of the school staff have a wearable zone that they can alert, and it alerts the police, and we all respond,” he said.

One thing he wants parents to know is if there is a threat, you will hear about it through something called a shout point.

That’s the call or text they send out if something happens. So, make sure your information is up to date.

He also adds if you have an issue, his office through the portal and file a report.

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