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Los Fresnos CISD School Security & Safety
- Updated: August 20, 2022
Emilio Flores
Los Fresnos News
Los Fresnos, Texas — On August 4, 2022, Superintendent Gonzalo Salazar led the Los Fresnos Rotary meeting inviting Deputy Superintendent Operating, Jimmy McDonough, and Chief of Los Fresnos CISD police, Joe Vasquez.
Here is a breakdown of the presentation McDonough alongside Chief Vasquez presented:
Los Fresnos CISD was happy to share that they have doubled their total amount of officers for the district. Having one officer at each of the elementary schools and for special activities, Chief Vasquez will assign appropriately. McDonough says they will also have multiple at the secondary campuses (Middle School and Highschool). He states that “No matter what, you will have one officer full-time.”
McDonough emphasizes the fact that the school district has done everything it can to have high-level protection for the students going back this 2022-23 school year.
“The change is that we’re adding nine officers,” McDonough shares they won’t just have patrols but will have officers stationed at each campus.
This new initiative will add over $400,000.00 in salary costs alone (which is recurring). There will also be a $42,000 initial start-up cost to pay for equipment like radios, uniforms, weapons, badges, and other things the district would need for their Police Officers.
At the Rotary meeting, one of the questions asked was how difficult was it to obtain 9 more officers for the Los Fresnos School district. The question was followed by McDonough stating how very fortunate the board was for acting quickly on this matter.
He says, “We beat the rush.” Because of that, the district was able to get approved. Chief Vasquez says there are “Seven on board and two in the process.”
McDonough “If we did not start in May, we would not be able to have all those slots filled.” He says, “We were very lucky.”
Los Fresnos CISD has had its own independent Police Force for more than twenty years according to McDonough. LFCISD has also continued to improve its partnership and collaboration with the local Police Department and other local law enforcement agencies.
Los Fresnos police department assistant chief Rodriguez shared that since the Uvalde shooting the department has been having meetings constantly to ensure they are staying up to date on equipment. “We have breaching devices,” he further shares they, along with the fire department have tools to get into just about any facility quickly and effectively.
Los Fresnos PD has regular meetings with the School district’s police force; Rodriguez mentions training together to ensure the new officers get proper training, including active shooter training.
“We are going to continue to train on a one-to-one bases with officers from the school district to ensure this doesn’t occur in our district itself.” Rodriguez ends by saying the Los Fresnos PD is here to protect all of Los Fresnos.
Many people at the meeting thanked the district along with the PD for keeping Los Fresnos safe.
