SPANISH FORT, Ala. — Baldwin County Sheriff Huey “Hoss” Mack recently spoke at a joint meeting for the Baldwin County Commission and the Baldwin County Board of Education at the 5 Rivers Delta Resource Center. Mack said the department’s purpose in the school system was to aid in the safety of the schools. Mack said the sheriff deputies provide a variety of services geared toward safety to the school system.

On Jan. 3, 2008, an active school shooter training simulation will be held at Central Baldwin Middle School, which is an exercise put on by the Baldwin County Commission, Emergency Management Agency, school board and the sheriff’s department. The exercise will focus on evacuation, active shooter, hostages, negotiation, containment and rescue, Mack said.

Assessments will be made of the safety plan, performance, communication systems and equipment, all in an effort to help make Baldwin County students safer. Mack noted that designated safety officers will monitor the practice.

Mack said in a school crisis that, “Now, you get to the problem as quickly as you can and eliminate the threat.”

A crisis situation requires immediate threat containment as “Minutes save lives.” Mack said he would like to see the exercise conducted in a different school location every year. Though they focus on high schools, one-third of school violence has happened in elementary or middle schools, he said. Officials said a full-scale exercise by each county was mandated to comply with Homeland Security grant guidelines. The cost of the exercise will be an estimated $58,676, which will come from the Homeland Security grant.

Sheriff’s office programs include “Deputy on Campus” in which deputies randomly stop at schools, walk the campus and address any issues that may have arisen. The goal of the sheriff’s department is to have 100 DOC school visits a month, Mack said.

Site visits allow deputies to meet key personnel and become familiar with the schools. Deputies may be called on to speak at schools about a number of pertinent issues including bullies, Internet safety and drugs. They also participate in the Red ribbon week which carries the message of “Don’t use drugs.”

Deputies, when requested by school officials, can perform drug search and seizures on school campuses with the assistance of K-9 dogs.

To encourage a positive first encounter with the sheriff’s office, on the first day of school this year every unincorporated school zone in Baldwin County had a deputy present. The sheriff’s department has also provided more than 14,000 fingerprint kits to all elementary schools and some middle schools, he said.

One program Mack said he would like to promote is “Lunch with a Cop” — a program aimed at middle schools — where a deputy eats lunch with students so they can get to know each other.

He would also like to expand the Sheriff’s Resource Officer program. There is now a School Resource Officer, a full-time and uniformed position, at the Alternative School located in Fairhope. The school board reimburses the salary for the RSO and consults with the sheriff’s office on duties.

Superintendent Dr. Faron Hollinger commended Mack and the sheriff’s office on being proactive. Hollinger said he values the partnership with the sheriff’s office which is making a difference and is open to the programs that he mentioned.