Latest / Inside the OSD / S1 E13 - School Safety Feat. Police Chief Pagenkopf

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S1 E13 - School Safety Feat. Police Chief Pagenkopf · Inside the OSD

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  SPEAKER1: Keeping our students and staff safe is always our top priority.
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  Today on Inside the OSD, we are talking with Oregon Police Department Chief Pagenkopf about the very important topic of school safety.
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  SPEAKER2: Welcome to this episode of Inside the OSD podcast, where it's all about the kids.
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  Here is your host.
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  Lifelong educator, and our superintendent, Dr.
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  Leslie Bergstrom.
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  SPEAKER1: Hello, Chief, and thank you for joining us today on Inside the OSD.
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  This is a really important topic to us as school officials, and I know it is for you and the Oregon Police Department.
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  We have strong safety protocols in place, and many of our listeners know that they can find information about them on our website, which is
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  OregonSD.org/safety. And I certainly encourage everyone to review that page or at least bookmark it so they can find it when
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  needed. It is information on the terminology we use, how we communicate, and important tips to keep in mind.
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  We'll come back to some of this throughout the podcast, but let's jump into our discussion.
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  We're very grateful for the partnership we have with the OPD and for our school resource officer, or the SRO program.
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  Could you start by introducing yourself and your journey to becoming chief of the Oregon Police Department?
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  SPEAKER3: Yes. So my name is Jenny Pagenkopf.
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  I've been the chief of police with Oregon for about three years, and prior to that I've been with the Oregon Police Department for about
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  17 and then in law enforcement for 20.
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  The reason I stepped up and wanted to be the chief of police for the village of Oregon is this community is so unique.
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  They have so much love in this community and I could not imagine keeping any other community safe like the village of Oregon.
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  Stepping up as the police chief, I wanted to lead the amazing people that work for the Oregon Police Department.
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  They are a unique, wonderful, hard working group that's fully committed to keeping this community safe.
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  And that's why I wanted to be chief.
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  I love this community, and I just really enjoy working with the people at the Oregon Police Department.
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  SPEAKER1: That's a lovely answer.
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  Thank you. Something some people may not realize is that due to the geographical configuration of our school district, we're really long and we
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  actually have three different law enforcement jurisdictions.
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  Can you talk a little bit about this and how the OPD works with other jurisdictions that serve Brooklyn and Fitchburg?
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  SPEAKER3: Yes, I would agree.
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  It creates some logistical challenges and school leadership as well as the police department leadership has identified that as as a challenge.
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  And I think right out of the gate, we've tried to work through those challenges and and build upon them.
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  So on the police side of things, I have a really good working relationship with the Fitchburg Police Department and specifically Chief Morales,
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  also Chief Barrett or Sheriff Barrett, excuse me, with the Dane County Sheriff's Office.
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  We work very well together and have trained together in - in responses to to active shooter type situations.
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  And Brooklyn Elementary creates some logistical challenges in that, too.
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  We're involving two counties, Dane County and Green County.
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  So we have had many conversations with Green County Sheriff's Office, and we have great connections there as well.
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  SPEAKER1: Well, I also want to thank you and that you allow the SRO, who is a village of Oregon police officer, to go to Forest Edge and to Brooklyn and to
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  mentor kids and to form positive relationships with students, even though it's not their jurisdiction.
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  So it's nice that Officer Schewe is able to shoot hoops with kids or other things so that they're creating a positive association with
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  with police.
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  School safety, as we know, is a priority for everyone.
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  And as I mentioned, our protocols are listed on our website.
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  But the ones that families may have the most questions about are the secure protocol and the lockdown protocol.
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  Now for our listeners, as a reminder, a secure is used when there is an event outside the building and we need to secure the perimeter.
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  An example would be an incident in our community.
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  The action with this protocol is that the doors are locked and people don't come in or out, but business continues on as usual inside.
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  The lockdown protocol is used when there is a threat or hazard on school property.
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  This action is -- the action associated with this protocol is locking all the classroom doors and turning out the lights.
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  One thing we hear about is the importance of being prepared.
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  Can you talk a little bit about how the OPD prepares for the potential safety events and the importance of the practice that we've done together?
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  SPEAKER3: Yes. So we've done a lot of preparing both internally and externally.
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  So internally, the Dane County Emergency Management has taken the lead on what they call ASUM, and it's a county wide
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  platform on how to respond to any sort of active shooter situation.
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  It could involve a school, it could involve a business or any other sort of venue.
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  But initially they had asked for police chiefs to look at staff that may excel in those areas
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  of instructing.
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  We have an instructor within our police department.
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  His name is Sergeant Jeremy Hatfield, phenomenal instructor.
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  He instructs in multiple disciplines and he has moved forward with Dane County Emergency Management and instructing not only our police
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  department, but other police departments, members of the sheriff's office, fire and EMS, so that when, if and when we have to respond to one of these sorts of
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  situations, we are not only prepared, we're well equipped and we're working together versus in silos.
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  We train constantly for these sorts of situations, but then we also do a minimum of once a year, a full scale response by police to an active shooter
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  situation. And in past years we've actually used schools within our jurisdiction when they're closed during the summer to do
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  exercises and I think that's really great to use our Oregon schools because it helps us at the Oregon Police Department identify any areas where we could focus
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  more on or where response may be more challenging outside of that.
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  And I think this is the most important thing is our parents and our school, our students and our community expect and they certainly should
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  get the police department, fire, EMS and the school district to work and collaborate strongly in these efforts.
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  Absolutely. And we cannot work in silos in the-- in these areas.
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  And so we do tabletop exercises.
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  In fact, we've done tabletop exercises at all schools in the village.
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  And I think they've been just incredibly successful.
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  We've gained a lot.
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  It's never a check off-- check box.
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  "We got this done." It's "how can we grow?
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  How can we build and improve even more?" And our worlds are very different.
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  Police and schools.
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  And then bringing this together, I just think it's going to be that much stronger if, heaven forbid, we have this sort of situation.
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  And with this last incident where we had a threat called in, I think a lot of the success we've had in our tabletops did
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  show in how our response was.
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  The communication between the superintendent and myself really paid off as to how close, you know, securing that many schools
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  in such a short period of time, it feels like forever.
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  But realistically, that happened very quickly and very smoothly.
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  And just getting our students and our faculty in buildings that were secure until we could get more information and figure out more about this threat, I
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  think really went well.
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  SPEAKER1: I think so, too. And I do credit the fact that your department ran tabletops with us very recently because while none of us want to -- we don't
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  want to think about these kinds of things happening.
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  But it's our job to think about what to do in case -- in case bad things happen and ensuring that we're prepared and the partnerships that are necessary in an
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  emergency don't happen overnight.
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  You work on them over time and you utilize those partnerships on a daily basis and they pay off when we have a really challenging situation,
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  as we we did a couple of weeks ago.
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  So I also want to say that the tabletops, I really appreciated how they were run because it really made people think we
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  had to talk about what we would actually do in a scenario and to actually put the words out there.
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  I think it made people think and it made us even more prepared.
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  So thank you for that. I appreciate it a lot.
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  Communication is a really important part of that process.
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  You referenced it. For example, I don't even know how many phone calls there were back and forth with you and I during the secure event.
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  But we do our best to communicate what's going on with our families because we're both mothers.
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  We know what it would feel like to have our children in a situation where we weren't sure what was going on.
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  So what I know is that securing safety is the first thing.
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  That must be the first thing.
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  And then we need to put out information to the people who need it.
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  And it has to be balanced between timely and accurate.
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  What are your thoughts about this?
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  SPEAKER3: I could not agree more.
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  In this day and age with the internet, social media and a lot of students having phones, information gets out so quickly in a matter of
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  seconds and sometimes it can be inaccurate, sometimes it can be incomplete.
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  And for-- for us on the police department side, working with the school district, again, that-- that priority is first, just making sure everything is
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  safe. And that there's really good communication between the school district and the police department as far as what exactly that threat is and the details
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  behind that threat.
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  That takes time.
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  Once a message is ready to be sent out, it has to be accurate.
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  That first message needs to be accurate because parents have to have confidence in the information that's coming out and know that while it may be
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  delayed, this is accurate.
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  My kids are safe.
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  And what is the plan moving forward?
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  That takes time.
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  And I think the school district, this was a unique situation with this call, this last call with the threats, because
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  the police department and I think it's been very transparent.
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  We're short staffed.
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  So because we were a bit short staffed, I got pulled more into the actual response to the call versus what we practiced in tabletop
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  exercises. But what we've always stressed in those tabletop exercises is that it's a fluid situation and you have to adapt.
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  And what I will say is, Dr.
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  Bergström, you were great at adapting to me, being pulled one way, but then having to answer your questions.
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  And I know that may have delayed in messaging out to parents, but I think the accuracy of the message that messages that were sent
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  out for that call were spot on.
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  SPEAKER1: Yeah, I couldn't agree more.
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  I can't imagine sending out something that you have to send out an update and say you were wrong the first time and what that does to people's confidence.
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  But we want to be accurate because we want to be the source of information as opposed to the digital environment and social media.
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  It's a real challenge in safety events because information is going to hit social media.
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  Often inaccurate information is going to hit social media well before we can have a formal official message.
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  And that is really, really challenging.
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  And that's why it's important that people know that when it comes from us, it is correct.
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  So I really, once again, appreciated the way we were able to communicate throughout that event.
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  Now we have, as I said, we both have kids of our own and we know what it feels like if there's a question about school safety.
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  What words do you have for parents and guardians who are listening, who are wondering about the best thing they can do during a safety situation?
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  SPEAKER3: So first I would -- and I've done this with my own children is prior to any event possibly happening, preparing them, having those difficult
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  conversations. And if you need guidance, there's a lot of resources out there and the school district could provide some of those resources.
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  But sadly, many children already are used to those conversations.
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  And so when I sat down with my kids and had those conversations, they were ready for them.
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  They were open to hearing what guidance I had.
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  And I think they not only need to hear that from the school, but they need to hear that from parents.
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  As far as talking with with your children about if and when something like this does happen, just reinforcing to to
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  remain calm, to listen to teachers, principals on what to do and that police may show up and it's to help keep them
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  safe. One of the the takeaways that we had from this last call with the threats was
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  our staff was just so impressed by how many students stopped and thanked them for being there and that it made them feel safer to see the officers there.
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  We have great kids. Yes.
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  Yep, yep.
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  And I got -- I was standing at the front entrance.
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  I got many waves and parents rolling down windows, just saying thank you.
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  I think we as a society, unfortunately, have grown accustomed to this as this could happen.
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  What I will say as far as sitting in the boots of a police chief, if I ever think there's the remote possibility that someone's going to try to do harm to
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  one of our schools, I am going to put the request that the school be put in a lockdown.
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  Because, you know, I look at these schools as if my own kids are in them and I'm going to do everything I possibly can and my staff is going to do absolutely
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  everything they can to keep our our school faculty and students safe.
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  SPEAKER1: I think I know the answer to this, but I'll ask it.
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  Is it helpful when parents come to school during an emergency situation?
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  SPEAKER3: So as a parent, I certainly -- I understand that.
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  But it creates a lot of challenges for response, even when the threat is not -- ends up not being legitimate.
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  We as the police department are looking at bringing in additional resources.
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  EMS may need to bring in additional resources and a legitimate threat or a legitimate, uh, crisis and by parents coming in, it floods the area and it
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  prevents those resources needed to save lives from getting into that area.
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  Um, tactically, when police respond to a threat or an active incident, right -- right away, we're looking for what's
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  not supposed to be there?
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  What is what is suspicious?
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  What is not normal?
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  And a parent or a large group of parents suddenly showing up angry is certainly not normal.
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  It's either A, going to take away our attention from a possible threat.
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  B, we're going to consider that that is the threat or C, it's going to keep us from getting those additional resources in.
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  So while I completely understand, because I've been put in that circumstance where it was my own kids and the school wasn't locked down, as a parent, you
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  want to come and you want to get your kids, you want to keep them safe.
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  But please know our staff is well trained, well equipped, and is it's our top priority to keep those kids safe in any of those
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  sort of scenarios.
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  SPEAKER1: Thank you for spending some time with us because I know you're busy, so I appreciate you taking a little time to talk about this really important topic.
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  As a reminder, once again, you can find our safety protocols and additional information at OregonSD.org/safety.
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  And we encourage you to take some time to review this information.
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  Remember that you can find links to all episodes of Inside the OSD and submit topic ideas on our website at
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  OregonSD.org/Podcast. You can find this podcast anywhere you can find podcasts.
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  Make sure to subscribe if you're listening on one of these apps to get notifications on the most recent episodes.
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  We'll see you next time on Inside the OSD, where it's all about the kids.