This out from CSD this morning…
Dear Decatur Families,
This Friday, September 20, there is a home varsity football game beginning at 7:30 p.m. Because the safety and security of our students, guests and fans are our top priority, the following will be in place for this Friday’s football game at Decatur High School:
- To assure the safety of all guests, Decatur High School is requesting that all individuals refrain from carrying bags or purses into athletic events. At times, we realize this may be out of one’s control. Please know that all individuals, bags and purses may be subject to inspection prior to entry into events. Persons not complying with this request shall be denied entry. Due to the time it takes to search, and the impact it will have on lines, we ask that individuals not carry bags or purses into athletic events.
- Increased lighting is in the process of being added at the front and back of the campus. If Georgia Power is not able to install it by Sept. 20th, the Decatur Police Department will have its Airlight Truck in place in the upper lot and its Command Trailer in the gravel area between the upper and lower lot. Please understand that in the event of an emergency in the city, these vehicles may be required elsewhere.
- The Decatur Police Department has increased its staff for the event, and the school system has hired additional security personnel from the DeKalb Marshals’ office.
- Band students will follow a specific dismissal procedure, which will be shared with band parents.
At our safety meeting on Sept. 5, other ideas were suggested by attendees.The school system is continuing to investigate other options. I commit to letting you know what changes to expect when attending our campus and events.
Thank you for your ongoing support,
Lauri McKain, Principal
Decatur High School
Great to hear about the lighting and police presence. I’m sure it will be a pain to avoid carrying a bag but you got to do what you got to do. Two questions:
1. I naively thought guns would probably be in pockets in jackets, not bags. I don’t know about common criminals, but I can never find anything in my bag quickly.
2. Where will everyone carry their iPhones now? 🙂
Maybe the caffeine hasn’t yet kicked it, but is there a problem with guns used for robberies inside the stadium that necessitates the need to keep bags at home? I thought all the recent robberies took place outside the stadium gates. And not that I want them, but if the goal is to keep out gun-toting thugs then wouldn’t metal detectors be a more effective solution? As AHID said above, guns can be hidden in jacket pockets (not to mention waistbands, right?).
What was with all the honking this morning at the high school?
The train “gate” kept going up and down for what I assume were track maintenance vehicles to go by on tracks. Traffic wasn’t moving. (At least that is why there was honking at 8:15ish.)
A new cheap iPhone is coming, right? Will that make iPhones less desirable to thieves and muggers? Will we have to start hiding the TracFones?
Thank you Ms. McKain for a reasonable and prudent response to this issue, along with the participation and support of the Decatur PD.
My smartphone was stolen an hour and a half ago from the parking lot in the Downtown Decatur Kroger. I was riding my motorcycle and convinced myself that having one less thing to carry around the store was worth leaving my phone in the bag for the quick shopping trip. Although I was in and out in five minutes, that was all it took; someone must have been watching. Everyone be careful. I was trying not to be paranoid, and talked myself out of common sense.
Not sure if you all heard this on NPR, but it’s unfortunately not a Decatur-only problem.
“By one estimate, 4,000 phones are stolen daily in the US”
http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2013/09/16/222125010/dear-apple-good-luck-against-the-smartphone-black-market
IT doesn’t say how many are by armed robbery, but the article is very enlightening as to what happens to the phone after they are stolen.
Interesting info. Thanks. I savor their disappointment with my Android.
Regarding that article and the new Iphone bio-encryption, I’m not so sure I’d want my thumb to be a necessary accessory for my phone.
Thugs are not going to the games. They are seeking easy prey among the young people milling around afterwards. We don’t need metal detectors or bag searches. We do need better lighting and people (parents, staff, a few police) watching and waiting after games till kids leave.
That’s Number Wang!
Seriously, you are dead-on right.
And onward we march towards the inevitable death of common sense. Metal detectors? Bag searches? No backpacks? Jan above has it right; we are not in need of these silly measures. Everyone, please contact the appropriate person to let them know how unnecessary this is. Once we go far enough I’ll cheerlead (pun intended) for games to be shown on local TV, then I can stay at home and avoid all the hassles of most any public sporting event these days.
The TSA called to say common sense was murdered long ago. Now please remove those shoes like a good little subject . . .