FORSYTH COUNTY, N.C. — School safety is top of mind, even though kids are out for summer. On Thursday, school resources officers with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office completed their active shooter training.
It's a type of training they do every year.
Thirty-nine school resource officers with the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office trained inside the halls of a high school. They started their day learning how to clear a room if there was an active shooter inside the building.
FCSO said these officers are required to do this training once a year. Lt. Sammy Peddycord said they always think of ways to keep students safe. He also said this type of training is standard around the state.
"It's taught so that way if an officer responds, like the incident we had at Mount Tabor, we had agencies from all over come, and they were able to jump in and start clearing and helping out," Peddycord said.
The school district said summer is the perfect time to practice these drills.
"Obviously every school is different, so having the officers and deputies have the opportunity to come in the school, and get familiar with the layout so they know how to respond, and where students will be, where staff will be at any given part of the day it's very important," WS/FCS Safety and Security Management Officer Jonathan Wilson said.
While everyone hopes they never have to use this training, SRO Captain Robert Bethea said he wants the community to feel reassured they will keep the students and staff safe, always.
"The SROs' main goal is to make sure that their kids are getting home safely -- when they walk off the school buses when they come off the car rider line, we will make sure when they walk into the doors of the Forsyth County school system that they are safe and they are coming back home each day," Bethea said.
Currently, the SRO division is fully staffed, they are only in high schools and middle schools at this time. Bethea said he would like to see SROs at every school in the district.