In the wake of the school massacre in Uvalde, police departments throughout North Texas are beefing up patrols in and around schools.
"We realize there's a heightened sense of fear maybe with some families and some students, and we want to provide as much security - literal security and perception of security - that we possibly can," said Fort Worth Police Chief Neil Noakes. "That means not only our school resource officers - more patrol officers, more specialized units, more of our citizen volunteers that come out and patrol. We're going to put everything we can out to make sure students not only are safe but they feel safe as well."
The extra presence is very noticeable.
"Sometimes we'll have more of an undercover component with certain things," said Chief Noakes. "This is not one of those times."
Speaking of school resource officers, the Fort Worth Police Department is in discussions with the city on how to enhance the program for the next school year.
"This is why it's so important for us to have the school resource officers in the schools," Noakes said. "Instead of just a response to the school, we have that police presence there. So if someone does try to make entry that shouldn't be there, we already have that layer of defense on the inside to protect those children."
Mayor Mattie Parker would certainly like to see resource officers in schools of all levels.
"They're in high schools and some middle schools. They need to be an elementary school," said Mayor Parker. "So what does that look like? How can you provide enough resources with just Fort Worth PD and others?"
Chief Noakes says that may be easier said than done.
"Ideally, we'd have an officer in every corner, we'd have an officer in every school, we'd have an officer everywhere we can," said Noakes. "But obviously that's not reasonable, we can't make that happen."
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow NewsRadio 1080 KRLD