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From a gun-detecting dog to parental backpack checks, there are four things you should know about safety measures in the Washoe County School District.
The newest hire has four legs
The district’s ammunition and weapons detecting dog, Astro, is new this school year.
The 18-month-old black Labrador retriever, bred in Ireland, is trained to detect weapons at schools, including in lockers. In a demonstration, Astro sniffed a row of lockers, stopping at one that had a weapon inside.
The district said Astro will do random inspections at schools, and principals can schedule him to do a check.
Astro is the district’s first weapon-detecting dog; it has had drug-sniffing K-9s for several years. The district said Astro is the only gun-detecting dog in use by law enforcement in Northern Nevada.
During the 2021-22 school year, firearms were reported on school grounds 16 times, according to a records obtained by the RGJ. Three were found at high schools, three at elementary schools and 10 at middle schools.
The district has not immediately responded to how many weapons were found on school grounds during the last school year.
Combatting sex trafficking, child exploitation
A Washoe County School Police detective is working part-time on a regional law enforcement task force to combat sex trafficking and child exploitation.
The Human Exploitation and Trafficking Unit, known as HEAT, is made up of officers from the Reno and Sparks police departments, the Washoe County Sheriff’s Office, the University Police Department and now the school district.
Detective Eric Diamond’s move to full-time work on the task force is on hold while the district recruits new officers for open positions.
Diamond said that in 2020, the unit identified 130 victims of sex trafficking in Washoe County. Of those, 41 were children, 35 of them living in Reno or Sparks. He said the numbers are increasing.
Diamond said a recent victim in Washoe County returned to school this school year while the case works its way through the court system. Diamond has assisted in the prosecution of the suspect.
The district said it is also working to support victims when they return to school.
“I am all too aware of this problem,” Superintendent Susan Enfield said of the exploitation of children.
The district will also introduce education from Awaken, a local faith-based nonprofit that raises awareness about sex exploitation and provides help for victims.
Enfield said she is committed to scheduling Awaken to share information with students, starting with every middle school student.
“This isn’t something we can leave to chance or invitation,” Enfield said.
A push for parents to do more
Expect to see more of the district reminding parents of the role families play in school safety. According to WCSD Police Chief Jason Trevino, the district has done a lot already by educating families about not sharing rumors about safety issues, including threats of school violence, on social media.
But he also wants to ask parents to check their child’s backpack before they bring it to school. He said it should be checked for drugs, alcohol and weapons.
“You have a responsibility as a parent to make sure your child is going to school and not taking things to school they shouldn’t have,” he said.
He said using the acronym ACT, the district is suggesting that parents:
Ask your child about their day.
Check your child’s bag before they leave.
Talk to your child’s school if you notice a change in behavior.
“One of the things we have seen time and time again, when we step back and dissect incidents that happen across the county, there’s tons and tons and tons of pre-violence indicators,” Trevino said.
Crisis alert badge system
The district’s crisis alert system, badges worn by staff that enable an employee to signal for help with the push of a button, will be at every school and district facility this school year.
The sensors at schools for the alert badge system have been installed in about half of the district’s schools.
District Chief Operating Officer Adam Searcy said training for employees starts next week and some schools could be using the new system as early as the beginning of September.
It is expected to be fully operational by spring. Searcy said sensor installations in buildings and school grounds are expected to be completed in January.
By pushing the badge — about the size of a credit card and worn on a lanyard — three times, an employee will request help from the school office.
Pushing it more than three times would directly signal school police, who could initiate a lockdown and send law enforcement immediately to the school.
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