Better equipped for emergency situations

“The Go Bag is kind of like a gun, you have it in case you need it but you hope you never have to use it,” Varner said. “It’s simply here for critical incident.”

The purpose of the bag is to have the reaction time of the officer to be quicker in case of an emergency.

“Just because of the times that we live in,” assistant principal Phil Brown said. “Because you never know what is going to happen I think it is necessary.”

With the bags, the schools will be able to react faster to any situation and terminate the threat in less time.

By equipping [the] School Resource Officers, it improves our ability to respond, and is another step in making our school campuses safer.”

— FPD Deputy Chief David Shilson

The Go Bags aren’t the only new gear Varner will have. He is now fitted with a body camera as well.

“The body cameras bring more truth to an already truthful statement because it is recorded,” Varner said. “And also for protection for the police officer, witness, and victim.”

The new body cameras on the police officers will not be recording all of the time; they will be activated by the SRO in the event of an enforcement action.

“Students are already accustomed to security cameras in the common areas of the building,” Assistant Superintendent of Support Services Doug Zambiasi said in a media release. “So the use of these cameras will probably feel pretty standard to the student body.”