Not just another day at Colts Neck High School

BY DAVE BENJAMIN
Staff Writer

PHOTOS BY DAVE BENJAMIN Teams of police and tactical officers make their way down a corridor at Colts Neck High School where an intruder has been reported — all part of a training exercise held April 20. A typical day at Colts Neck High School begins with the Pledge of Allegiance, a message from the principal and student announcements over the public address system.

“The scores from yesterday’s lacrosse game were ...” said a voice coming from the loud speaker. “Tsunami T-shirts will be on sale, and if you wear them tomorrow, you’ll be excused for the rally.”

Law enforcement personnel enter Colts Neck High School as the search for an intruder — part of a planned drill at the Route 537 school — gets under way. But April 20 was not a typical day. It was the sixth anniversary of the tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., a day remembered for the senseless death of high school students and a teacher at the hands of two teenagers.

With those memories in mind, it was on this day that high school administrators planned a lockdown drill to simulate the events that would take place in the event that an intruder entered the school.

Law enforcement officers go room to room during the search. Principal Wayne McChesney described the procedure that would be followed if it were determined that an intruder had entered the school.

“We report to the Colts Neck police that we have an intruder,” he said. “Colts Neck police in turn secure the area and contact the Monmouth County Emergency Response Team (MoCERT). MoCERT comes in here, takes over and locates the individual.”

At that point a lockdown would go into effect throughout the Route 537 school. Faculty members would lock their classroom doors and would remain with their students in the classrooms until told by school officials or police to leave.

Once inside a classroom, officers order all occupants to place their hands behind their head as they search for a possible intruder. “The police officers are considering this [drill] as real,” said the voice over the loud speaker. “You are to follow their directions. Students are to stay in their rooms and remain quiet. Consider this as [if it were] real.”

Within a few minutes of the initial call to police, Colts Neck police officers arrived at the high school and secured the perimeter of the building. Other officers entered the school.

“These are the initial responding officers,” said Colts Neck police Sgt. Frank Leccese. “They determine where the suspect is and secure the entrance hallway.”

Another announcement over the loud speaker reminded students and faculty members, “This is a drill. I repeat, this is a drill. We have an intruder at Colts Neck High School.”

Within minutes the MoCERT officers arrived, along with the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Department Mobile Command Unit and Howell police officers, including a K-9 unit.

As the MoCERT officers enter the building, they set out on a search of each classroom. Students and teachers are asked to raise their hands, and then they are escorted to a secure area by police, where they remain until the drill has ended. During this drill, the auditorium was used as the gathering spot.

In comments to the students after the drill, Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Robert A. Honecker Jr. thanked them for taking part in the exercise.

“This is important for school safety,” Honecker said. “In Colorado a high school (Columbine) was subject to attack, and many students lost their lives. Some of the protocols and procedures that have been put in place by your administrators and teachers have been the result of what we’ve learned from that tragedy.”

Honecker said a number of things were also learned about how law enforcement personnel should interact with schools, should a situation like that occur in Monmouth County.

“We had the cooperation of your administration in the exercise today that was conducted by MoCERT,” he said. “You’re looking today, students and teachers, at some of the finest trained police officers in this county. [These] police officers have been selected for this detail. [Each officer] had to undergo rigorous training in order to do one thing — to make sure that if there is an incident in any school, you’re going to have the very best of law enforcement seeking to protect you.”

Honecker said the officers volunteer their time and effort to make their county safe and secure.

“Thank you for having us come to train at your school,” said Capt. Jeff Mayfield, squad commander. “It’s kind of ironic that we are training on the anniversary of Columbine. It was not by design, but it makes you aware of how important it is.”

Mayfield said the officers who are called to a site where there may be a dangerous situation do not know what to expect.

“We could come face to face with gunfire, explosives, or anything else,” said the squad commander. “These officers come in and take control of the situation.”

While the April 20 drill at Colts Neck lasted an hour, Mayfield said that in different circumstances students and teachers might have to wait longer for a resolution.

“You have to be patient and remain as calm as you can until the police officers come and get you out,” he said. “You have to follow the lockdown procedures that are in place. It may save your life and the lives of the people who are in the classroom with you.”