School is set to have students back in class in less than two weeks for Atlanta students.
As campus officers get ready for the new school year, they have on mission above all: keeping students and teachers safe.
Channel 2’s Linda Stouffer was at the new unit’s training exercise, where she got to take a look at the team in action.
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Atlanta Public Schools officers are developing a new front line of first responders using a flexible, highly trained team.
The tactical field officers are specialists for handling security threats at a school.
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APS Police Chief Ron Applin said the new quick response team has the training, weapons and nwo drones, to handle any situation.
“SWAT teams are great but it sometimes takes time to spin them up,” Applin told Channel 2 Action News. The chief said having “people on the road, ready trained to rock and roll, get them deployed right away” was key.
Drone pilot Bobby Johnson told Stouffer he’s the eye in the sky and listening in.
“Anything that’s going on the outside, I can be the eyes and ears on the outside,” Johnson said. “Any threat that’s coming in, I can neutralize that.”
Applin said that when it comes to threats at schools, you just move.
“When a call comes out, having a force that’s ready to respond right away makes a big difference,” Applin said. “If we can reduce the time it takes to deal with a threat, the fewer people are going to be hurt and injured.”
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