Stepping up to lead by example is what one leader at Columbia County School District recently did.
At a recent training for the Columbia County School District Police, Associate Superintendent Penny Jackson had a neuromuscular device, or Axon, device used on her. Having this device used on officers is part of the training because, if they have to use the device, they know what it feels like and how long it’s going to last, said Police Chief Gary Owens.
“Every officer has to be neuromuscular, has to be tased to use that word, to experience that so they can realize after five seconds, it’s over with,” Owens said. “So, here’s another reason why, that was the main reason. The second reason is if you have to use a device of that nature, you know exactly what a normal deployment looks like. So if something odd was to happen you know that’s not right. I guess, anything we can use to de-escalate a situation.”
Owens said they don’t call the device a taser, instead they refer to it as an Axon device because it’s from Axon International, who designs neuromuscular incapacitation devices for de-escalation.
“In our world, we would so much rather de-escalate a situation before we have to go to a use of force option that would escalate more,” Owens said.
When it came to the recent training, Jackson said she was having a conversation with Owens and thought if the district is expecting its officer to go through having the device used on them, then she wanted to do so, too, because that’s how she was raised.
“My dad was military and military police, and I didn’t think anything about it,” Jackson said. “I was just trying to lead by example, but also anyone that was apprehensive, which rightfully so, I just wanted them to know I was in it with them. I was not going to ever ask them to do anything that any of us wouldn’t do.”
Owens said Jackson doing that “spoke volumes” about her.
“The minute I walked into the room and had the response from the officers, it was well worth it because it was five seconds of pure torture, but at the end of the day, that’s just what we do as leaders,” Jackson said. “We do it for our teammates and make sure they know if we’re going to ask something of you, we’ve either been there and done that or we’ll certainly try our best to do it along with them.”
Jackson said the experience was and wasn’t what she was expecting.
“It was five seconds of probably the most pain I’ve ever been in, but when it was over, it was over,” Jackson said.
Owens added that Jackson was standing up quickly and ready to go. He added the good thing about the Axon device is that it’s quick and safe to use.
The department received a grant for de-escalation and used it to purchase the Axon devices and a virtual reality (VR) device, Owens said. The VR device is used by staff, including officers and maintenance staff, to put them in a situation and see how they can handle it.
“One of the de-escalation exercises may be that the officer may have to go to a neuromuscular device or may have to go to deadly force, but again we want to make sure everybody understood that we went for a grant that Georgia approved for de-escalation,” Owens said. “It was a huge undertaking to get, but when we got it, it was a great opportunity for us to say hey, this is another tool we can use to mitigate a circumstance without having to go to some sort of force.”
Pepper spray is another device that can used, but if that is used it gets into the ventilation system and can affect the whole school, Owens said.
But the shock from the Axon device isn’t the only training the police officers go through. Owens said there is mandatory training the state requires, including qualifying yearly with their firearms and going through de-escalation exercises. But the school district police department does more than that.
“We start adding other classes, that’s why we train a week after school and a week before, so we start adding things like use of force, de-escalation,” Owens said. “We put into a real scenario, like an active shooter scenario, we work with the sheriff’s office and use their shoot house…it puts you in a real-world environment where you’re training so the actual bad guy shoots back, so it gives you that thought process and you’re clearing buildings and things of that nature.”
The department is also using this time as an opportunity to update its legal status with the juvenile court and with the district attorney’s office, Owens said. Any laws or procedural changes will also be updated.
This year the department is working with the Air Marshals because an airplane fuselage is like a bus, Owens said.
“They deal with hostile, aggressive people and removing people in those confined environments, so we’re working with them this summer to do those type of exercise with them,” Owens said. “We also reached out to our bus people, so they’re going to have volunteer. Bus drivers are coming in to see what that’s about, putting body cameras on them so we can share this training exercise with the bus people.”
There are 42 members of the department, which includes two support staff, Owens said. One officer is at every school and two at every high school. The officers hired have years of experience on the job and go through hundreds of hours of training that is specific to their job.
“I can tell you right now the officers we have, every one of them takes school safety to the extreme,” Owens said. “…these kids form these bonds with these officers that they have not formed with the sheriff’s department, not for lack of trying. It’s because we’re interacting all day long…so they are very aggressive when it comes to protecting. They want to protect those kids.”
Jackson said the Columbia County Board of Education recently approved hiring a safety training officer, which will benefit the district. This person will help take safety drills and other required safety aspects to another level. They will work more in-depth with the school resource officers and other staff members on different safety aspects.
The school district is also looking to hire a security officer, who will be a non-certified officer who helps with parking lot security, Owens said. According to the job description, the person will help students and staff find empty parking spaces and prevent people from parking in unauthorized areas, monitor parking lots and buildings, monitor students and student entrances before and after school and more.
All of these hires and training are part of the departments goal to be able to keep students safe.
“If I can diffuse or de-escalate, that is the goal, that is the ultimate goal of everything. Deadly use of force is permanent,” Owens said.
