Austintown will see rise in security, authorities say

AUSTINTOWN — Security in Austintown Schools will be tighter this year, say Superintendent Doug Heuer and Police Chief Bob Gavalier.

New will be buzzers for designated main doors at school buildings, Heuer said. Visitors will have to give a reason for being there before they’re let in. The exception is Fitch High School, where an officer will be stationed at the front door instead, said Austintown Detective Sgt. Ray Holmes.

Scanning equipment is used on occasion, the superintendent added, and the schools have done car searches.

Heuer said he wants to talk to the township trustees about limiting accessibility to Falcon Drive, which cuts through the campus. Through-traffic uses it to get back and forth from Idaho to Raccoon roads.

Three officers will work at the new Austintown Middle School on Raccoon Road every day, Gavalier said. Two will work eight-hour shifts, and one will work a four-hour shift.

The police department already supplies the district with a Drug Abuse Resistance Education officer, who works in the elementary and middle schools.

Tracking system

Police also have a new system that would allow them to track a shooter at the middle or high school in real time via laptops in their cruisers.

The laptops access video feed at the schools. The system isn’t in place yet, but should be soon, the chief said. Tom Ventresco, school district information-technology coordinator, is working on it.

Inside the school building, staff would be locking pupils down, Heuer said. “We can tell [police] we have as many kids behind locked doors as possible,” he said. “We also have the ability to communicate through intercom systems and cell phones to get information to a central point.”

Radios that principals carry can communicate directly with police, Gavalier said.

Gavalier said police have active-shooter training for an emergency in a mall, business or school, which is standard practice since the Columbine High School siege in April 1999. “We have enough guys on the road. Three or four can form a team right away,” the chief said.