Surrounded by school district officials and law enforcement agencies, Sheriff Martin Cuellar and the Webb County Sheriff’s Office recently hosted the semiannual School Safety Meeting.
These twice-a-year meetings are held in accordance to changes to state law established by the 2023 Texas Legislature.
During the meeting, Sheriff’s Office representatives spoke about ongoing improvements to radio interoperability and how all participating agencies will benefit once the system is fully operational.
Another topic discussed was chain of command protocol and joint incident command between agencies during critical situations.
“I thank the school districts, private and parochial schools, and all the partnering agencies who joined us during today’s meeting. It’s gatherings such as this meeting where we all brainstorm together with one goal in mind: The safety of our students and school employees,” Cuellar said.
According to the law, the sheriff of a county with a population of less than 350,000 in which a public school is located shall call and conduct the meetings to discuss school safety, coordinated law enforcement responses to school violence incidents, law enforcement agency capabilities, available resources, emergency radio capabilities, chain of command planning, and other subjects.
“There is great value in these semi-annual meetings where Sheriff Martin Cuellar keeps us informed of most recent updates and the wealth of resources available to keep our schools safe,” said Oscar Perez, Laredo ISD Executive Director for Health and Occupational Safety Support Services. “The open forum allows our school districts to continue our seamless communication and collaboration with all law enforcement entities to provide for the safety our students, employees and school community.”
