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Changes look to make schools safer in Duval after latest security risk assessment

Authorities in Duval County are working to make sure schools are safe for students and teachers.

A grant worth $4.4 million dollars was used to tackle some of the biggest issues in schools following the most recent Security Risk Assessment that covered all 156 schools in the district.

“Security begins and ends with people, so everyone must be involved in making our schools safe and secure,” says Michael Edwards, director of the Duval County Schools Police Department.

Edwards tells us they chose to focus on six areas of concern following the assessment, and most of the work has already been done.

They’ve increased lighting, added fencing, created a visitor management system, a student ID badge system and added walk-through metal detectors. The final step is to continue adding more security cameras throughout the county, but Edwards says the ones in place right now are already serving a purpose.

He points to a shooting earlier this year near a spring football game at Terry Parker High School where the cameras played a big part in figuring out what happened.

“It was a part of the new camera system where we have deployed cameras not only to the inside, but the outside of the school,” Edwards says. “It helped capture that event.”

But he says the work won’t be done until there are even more cameras in place.

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