WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Reaction from Palm Beach County School District Police Chief Frank Kitzerow after hearing about the Knoxville, Tennessee school shooting. "My thoughts and prayers go to everyone up there in dealing with that situation. It's very traumatic and it reminds us about the fact that we have to be vigilant and there's a reason why we do all of these things in Palm Beach County."
The police chief said there are two parts to safety.
"We start working to left of the x and the x is the catastrophic event occurs. We hope we never have to get to that," he said. "We do a lot on prevention, intervention, and diversion, and threat assessments. The other component is having a really strong toolbox and we hope that we never have to open up that toolbox but if a catastrophic event ever occurs, I want people to know that we are ready."
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He said they also partner with other public safety agencies.
"We are not just standing at a bus loop, we are out in the middle of the night, we are out following up on leads and threats. And every morning before the sun comes up, we want to make sure that all 187 schools are what we call a code green and everything is good to go."
Kitzerow said they can also track all of the school buses in real-time, which shows the buses' location, speed, and daily schedule.
Watch below Palm Beach County School District Police Chief Frank Kitzerow talk about safety in schools.
