He presented information at the Keller City Council's June 7 meeting on the various steps the police department takes in conjunction with Keller ISD to keep schools safe.
The school security discussion comes two weeks after 18-year-old Salvador Ramos opened fire in a conjoined classroom at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, killing two teachers and 19 children, according to multiple news reports.
Fortune said during the presentation that all sworn officers undergo rapid response training—specifically, advanced law enforcement rapid response training through Texas State University in partnership with the FBI and U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance. Officers also undergo rapid response policy training and emergency operations and incident command training.
In addition, Fortune noted that Keller ISD has three school resource officers. One SRO is assigned to Keller High School, the second is at the Keller Center for Advanced Learning, and the third responds to all middle schools, intermediate schools and elementary schools as needed.
Each high school also has two security specialists, each middle school has one, and elementary and intermediate schools have a mobile team of five security specialists, Fortune said.
The police chief said all officers have access to the master keys, cards and floor plans for all schools. Officers are also armed with patrol rifles, rifle plates, tourniquets and vehicle medical kits.
The police department also ensures all teachers and middle school and high school students undergo the Civilian Response to Active Shooter Events training developed by the ALERRT Center at TSU, Fortune said.
In the future, Fortune said the police department and school district will explore active shooter training for elementary students in addition to looking at more ways to improve safety in schools.
“There is not one single solution that's gonna 100% prevent these things from happening,” Fortune said. “There's a lot from a legislative perspective, from a budget perspective ... from a police perspective and a councilman perspective and community perspective that will affect these things.”
