UB to host 12th annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar March 19

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo will host the 12th annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar, (Re)Committing to an Integrated Safe School Plan, for law enforcement and schools on Thursday, March 19, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Center for the Arts on the UB North Campus.  The event is free, but registration is required.

Using FEMA’s Incident Command System (ICS) for Schools as a guide, project coordinators from the New York State Safe Schools Initiative will present effective school safety strategies and plans to enhance emergency preparedness.   

The New York Safe Schools Initiative is a multi-agency team linking the support and guidance of the New York State Police, New York State Department of Education, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, New York State Division of Homeland Security and the Governor’s Office.  

Veteran members of the Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services and New York State Police will provide valuable hard-learned lessons in developing safe school plans, including dealing with an active shooter.

Afternoon workshops will offer practical enhancements to emergency response plans on topics that include: Crisis Response; Architectural/Design Enhancements Promoting Safety; National Data on School Security Measures; and Differentiating between Rural, Urban and Suburban Safety Issues.

“Safe schools are major concern of communities throughout the United States,” said Clarence (Todd) Laster, special agent in charge of the Buffalo office of the U.S. Secret Service.  “Protecting our children in school is a joint responsibility and partnership between law enforcement and other emergency responders, educators, elected officials, parents and students.”

“School safety happens when we care: care to plan, care to respond and care about our young people,” said Dennis Black, UB vice president for university life and services.  “To make our schools safer, we need to work together and keep working on new approaches and strategies, always demonstrating a great level of care.”

The United States Secret Service, Buffalo Field Office, along with the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, and the University at Buffalo, are founding program sponsors of the Annual Safe Schools Seminar, which is free and open to all who deal with school safety issues, including grade school, middle school, high school and district faculty, staff (administrators, counselors, psychologists, school resource officers, etc.) and school board members; college/university administrators, police officers and other law enforcement officials; emergency first responders; elected officials; and school transportation professionals.

“Bringing educators together with law enforcement and other stakeholders paves the way for a multi-pronged, proactive approach to addressing school violence,” said U.S. Attorney William Hochul. “To be clear, our office will continue to prosecute aggressively those who attempt to harm our children in our schools. But by working together, we have the best possible chance to prevent tragedies from happening in the first place.”

Program sponsors of the Safe Schools Seminar also include the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a member since 2007.  The exclusive seminar sponsor is Utica National Insurance Group, which has provided vital support for the seminar since 2009.  The New York State Police, Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services, Hodgson Russ LLP, the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation, Eastern Energy Control Window Films and UB’s Western New York Educational Service Council join this year’s event as community partners.

For more information about this free seminar, the program and to register, visit https://www.ubevents.org/event/safeschools2015.