03/19/2024
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Sheriff James A. McVicker said this week he has ordered all his sworn personnel to begin daily safety checks at all schools in the county starting on Monday August 26, 2019 during the start of the school year. “We started the Signal 92 Program in 2015 as an added safety measure for the safety of our children, said McVicker”.

 

“I want there to be more visibility of this office at our schools,” added McVicker. “In this day and time of uncertainty I felt it was necessary to place more emphasis on school safety and I knew of no better way than to have all my officers, including my supervisors and myself, to make every effort to stop at a school every day when they are on duty.”

 

“These visits may only take a few minutes. The visits will be random in nature and spontaneous. If an officer is riding by a school he can just swing in and say hello. I have told my officers I wanted them to make contact with school personnel and to do “a walk through” of the schools when time and their duties permit. I have further encouraged them to eat lunch at the schools when they have the opportunity and to even park at or near the schools when filling out reports or using their mobile data terminals.”

 

McVicker said he feels this program will serve several purposes. First, to make officers more visible at the schools as a deterrent against violence, second, to give officers an opportunity to know the layout of the various schools and get to know the personnel at each school should they have to respond to an emergency situation, and finally, to let the students see officers in a non-threatening environment and be able to interact in such a way as to build their trust.

 

“The safety of our schools is one of my top priorities,” Sheriff McVicker said. “I want our children to be safe every day. All my deputies have family, friends, neighbors, fellow church members whose children are entrusted to our protection. We are constantly training to respond to any situation we might encounter. I feel this program will be good not only for the schools, but it will be good for my office, for me, and my deputies. I go to work every day knowing I have a duty to serve those who entrusted me with their safety and the safety of their families. This program is just another way my office can serve the citizens of this county.”

 

The Bladen County Sheriff’s Office, Elizabethtown Police Department, Bladenboro Police Department, White Lake Police Department and the North Carolina Highway Patrol participate in this program.

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