One Michigan State Police division is working to make the state’s schools safer. The MSP Office of School Safety was established in 2018 to address the need for an increase in safety measures in Michigan’s schools. The office makes resources available to schools to bridge the gap between law enforcement and schools, like OK-2-SAY. They focus on both the physical safety measures and threat prevention following an increase of threats and shootings in the US.
“Unfortunately, a lot of times it takes tragic situations to really direct resources toward a particular issues,” says Office of School Safety Manager Kim Root. “I think it was those two situations, both in Sandy Hook and Parkland, that really moved the needle in terms of school district’s response and resources dedicated to the issue of school safety.”
Root says the office is still working to change school response, including updating emergency response protocols.
