OSOYOOS TIMES-May 27, 2009
By Karen Knelsen
Osoyoos Times
Blueprints of schools within School District 53 have been added to an online database available exclusively to police.
The program, called School Action for Emergencies (SAFE), is administered by the RCMP and the goal is to include every school in Canada.
The program is designed to be activated in the event of a mass response by emergency personnel for any number of reasons.
Justin Smith, a civilian member of the RCMP in Penticton and the local spokesman for the program, said the program can be adapted to fit different scenarios including bomb threats, inclement weather and natural disasters such as earthquakes.
School districts send copies of their schools’ blueprints to the RCMP and then RCMP members actually take photographs of the schools’ interiors and exit points, Smith said.
There are more than 1,750 schools in RCMP jurisdiction in B.C. and of those almost 400 are already in the database and nearly 1,000 are being prepared for the project.
“We’re hoping that it never gets activated,” Smith said. “But we want it there just in case.”
Juleen McElgunn, superintendant of schools in this district, said she’s happy local schools are now part of the program.
[email protected]
