Keeping Schools Safe

Published by Forum Communications on Oct. 20, 2022

ALEXANDRIA — On May 24, 2022, Salvador Ramos, 18, entered Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas with an ArmaLite rifle and opened fire. He killed 19 students, and two faculty members and wounded 17 others. When a tragedy like this occurs, it raises the question, how safe are our schools?

The Echo Press sat down with three local school resource officers on Wednesday, Oct. 12, to find the answer.

Alec Swanson with the Alexandria Police Department keeps an eye on Alexandria Area High School. Brandon Plumski — also with APD — secures Discovery Middle School. And Nicole Swanson with the Douglas County Sheriff's Office patrols some of Douglas County's elementary schools — Brandon-Evansville, Miltona, Carlos, Kensington, and Garfield. They all think highly of their job and take it very seriously.

The role of an SRO

"Well, the patrol guys would say we take naps and watch YouTube," Swanson said laughing. "I wish that was the case... You quickly find out that it's a lot of busy work; constantly putting out little fires."

It could be dealing with a student caught with an illegal substance, working with social workers and students with issues at home, but mostly, it's keeping the school secure by staying present, visible and vigilant.

Plumski says it is like dealing with a "mini-town" where he is the only cop, or at least, that's how he treats it.

"The hardest thing for me, coming in as law enforcement, was figuring out that I'm not the disciplinarian," Plumski added. "I might have to be but I'm not the chief disciplinarian. That's the principal's and the vice principal's job."

For Nicole, her day-to-day is a little different. She travels from school to school throughout the day, responding to the social worker's needs or concerns of a student, patrolling the school's perimeters and doing security checks on the property. And, sometimes teaching. Currently, she is running Drug Abuse Resistance Education classes at both Brandon-Evansville and Kensington.

"The kids are very receptive of you," said Plumski. "You're kind of that fun person, you know. They might come to you for an issue versus going to a teacher."

"I would say largely 99% of the interactions with the kids are just extremely positive," said Swanson. "They want to ask questions about what you do, and all the gear you're wearing. They want to do these secret handshakes that I'm still trying to learn... The interactions are almost always very positive."

"We honestly have the boss cop job ever," Nicole said. "You go into a school, and they all think you're cool. They want you there. Whereas on the street, the majority of the time, we're not that wanted."

They said that although they are law enforcers, their goal isn't to always take criminal action.

"We're trying to change their behavior," Nicole said. "We want them to make good decisions moving forward in life."

While most of their days consist of friendly interactions with the students, they are always prepared for the worst. Every year, they hold "active shooter" training simulations.

Run. Hide. Fight

So how safe are our schools?

"That's a loaded question," said Swanson who went on to explain that the APD recently held an active shooter training alongside the Alexandria Fire Department, North Ambulance, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office, the school district, and various other community partners.

Swanson said while he couldn't rate the safety level on a scale of one to 10, he could say that if something were to happen — such as an active shooter — local law enforcement are trained to respond immediately.

He added that with the security measures in place and the training that local law enforcement agencies have, he feels very comfortable that if something were to happen, it would be handled swiftly.

Swanson said they also teach an FBI-created curriculum to the students called "Run. Hide. Fight."

"If you're able to run and get out of there, do that. If all you can do is hide, do that. And obviously, last resort, if you need to fight to save your life, we give you permission to do that. We want you to do that," said Swanson.

Swanson added that it's the connection between local law enforcement and the schools that reinforces their training and emergency response.

Plumski said that in the event of an active shooter, they are trained to "stop the threat as quickly as possible."

"Go towards the threat and have the kids go the other way, and stop them as soon as I can," he said.

Active shooter training is conducted yearly. Swanson says local law enforcement invites as many community partners to the training as they can to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding the protocol.

They said for obvious reasons, the active shooter protocol can not be shared but that it is different for each school as layouts and response time differs depending on location.

360 officers. 77 minutes

According to an article from the New York Times, around 360 officers from various law enforcement agencies were on the scene on May 24, at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas. It took them 77 minutes to engage Ramos and end the shooting.

"There's a lot of fear surrounding that incident and every school shooting," Swanson said. "It's hard not to look at it and go 'What the heck' right, that's just human nature."

Swanson says although he doesn't want to play "Monday morning quarterback" and speculate why the officers did not engage sooner, when he hears "77 minutes," it drives him nuts.

"I would hope and pray that I don't do that," he said. "That's not how we train here... We are trained to go to the gunfire and to stop the threat. When we have these active shooter trainings, that's what we do. If our officers hear gunfire... that's where they're going and they're going fast. It's disheartening. It's sad. It's a terrible traumatic experience for all involved down in Texas."

Swanson went on to say the biggest hurdle cops have to overcome is the fear of running toward the fight.

"Every cop that wears this vest and this duty belt is human," hes aid. "You can train, train, train, train, and train... but when the time comes, are you mentally prepared to run towards gunfire? Because it's easy to say that you're going to, but when it happens, the fear that overtakes your head is very powerful."

"I hope that every person that puts on a uniform puts their best foot forward every single day and stays true to the oath that they took," Nicole said. "That's why I suit up every day."

Nicole went on to say that although training for situations like an active shooter is covered extensively, even after law enforcement school, no one can be truly prepared for that situation until you go through it.

Swanson says the training cops receive is constantly improving. They use scenario simulations to be as realistic as possible so officers know some of what to expect when faced with dangerous, potentially life-altering, situations. They're even trained on how to breathe. Keep their breathing calm and even can help reduce emotional overreactions, which is crucial in emergency situations.

"I wish (civilians) understood that we have that same sense of fear that everybody else does," Swanson said. "And we train to bypass that...but in the moment, shifting from emotion to decision-making, can be difficult."

"We have stressors going on in our lives, just like everybody else," said Plumski, adding that cops have to learn how to shut them out in moments of crisis.

"Our stressful situations aren't just one and done," Nicole said. "We're dealing with different kinds of stressors throughout the whole day. It all compacts and we're supposed to deal with every situation like it's our first one on your shift. It's hard sometimes."

What's the problem? What's the solution?

When asked about why there seems to be a rise in mass shootings within the last 30 years, the SROs say it comes down to a lack of accountability and resources.

"We're allowing behaviors and criminal activity to go by or not have a consequence leading to it more than we ever have," Nicole said.

Plumski added that mental health also plays a factor.

"I think some of that stuff boils down to mental health, including the mass shootings, there's something that leads up to that event," he said. "They didn't just decide that day that they wanted to do that; there's something that led up to that."

Swanson says law enforcement often finds themselves dealing with individuals struggling with their mental health because needed

resources for those people are limited and difficult to find.

Plumski added that Douglas County is ahead of the curve for training dealing with those with mental health issues when comparing the resources of Douglas County to Minneapolis.

"I feel that our administration does a great job of keeping us up to date," he said. "We have the best tools in our toolbox to deal with the situation as best we can."

Alec Swanson

For Swanson, a career in law enforcement was basically a no-brainer. He said growing up, it's all he knew. His dad is a retired state trooper and his mom — a former police officer for Woodberry — currently works as an instructor for Alexandria Technical and Community College's Law Enforcement program.

"Initially, the reason I wanted to do it was because I thought it was really cool. And then you get into the job and you learn that there's a lot more to it than just driving around with your superhero cape on and trying to save people and be cool," he said. "It's the greatest job in the world. You get to go help people every single day, be a resource, be somebody that people can turn to and when they have a crisis moment."

Swanson said never in a million years did he think he would become an SRO. But when the position opened up he was approached and asked a simple question, “‘If your kids are going to the high school, who would you want there if something bad were to happen?”

“I didn't even skip a beat,” he said. “The answer was me. I want myself there."

Nicole Swanson

While she has always had an interest in criminal justice, Nicole's journey into law enforcement began after she was working at a domestic violence shelter in Maplewood.

She soon realized that her position at the shelter limited her in ways she could help families and individuals in need. So, she moved back to her hometown of Alexandria and began working as a 911 dispatcher, a job that she loved until she realized she wanted to be the one responding to the calls.

"I met a couple of really inspiring female officers that continuously had challenges of being a female in a male dominant career and (learned) what kind of things that they could bring to the table for families and others in crisis. That is what I really inspired to be," she said.

Nicole said one of the motivators for her becoming an RSO was the flexibility it gave her to start a family with her husband — officer Alec Swanson. She said the best part about the position, however, is how it allows her to build relationships.

Brandon Plumski

Plumski did not see himself going into law enforcement either. His drive to help people led him to start pursuing a degree in the pharmacy. After a few ride-alongs with some police officers, however, his career path shifted but not his intentions.

"It's not just going out and getting the bad guy, it's truly out there helping people,” he said. “Getting people places to stay and food and things like that — you know people in crisis. That's the main reason why I joined."

He said his main motivation as an SRO is to help the students in any way he can, to be compassionate, and hopefully help change the perspective on what law enforcement means to the community.

"That we're not bad people," Plumski added.