From the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department:
Our sympathies and prayers go out to everyone associated with the terrible tragedy today at the Sandy Hook Elementary school in the community of Newtown, Connecticut.
Your children will hear about this incident through friends or others and so talking with them about it in a calm way is a good idea. Give them a chance to talk about how they feel, reassure them, and help them (and you) not to feel overwhelmed. Discuss with them about people reporting to schol officials if they see someone who does not belong on campus, or hear someone making threats. Here are also some tips on Safety Tips on traveling to and from school: https://local.nixle.com/alert/4873808/
Schools are one of the safest places kids can be. Yet we know that a tragedy like this causes great concern for any people. As a result, you will notice an increase presence by deputies near schools today and for the next several days. Please feel free to speak with the deputies you see and ask questions or comment about what is on your mind about school safety.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department works closely with all schools, public and private, within our policing jurisdiction to enhance safety for students and staff. Preventing these tragedies is a goal of law enforcement, schools and society as a whole. When an incident at a school does occur, it is our mutual goal to rapidly, safely, and efficiently resolve it. Each school is required to have a School Safety Plan specific to that campus that addresses most types of incidents. Sheriff's deputies train for a variety of emergencies in strong partnerships with school staff, who are dedicated to the education and safety of children. There are procedures in place, such as shelter in place, evacuations, and lockdowns that can be implement depending on the given situation. As we often do, deputies are again reaching out and visiting schools to ensure they are familiar with the layoutof the school grounds.
Notifications:
New notification systems have been added over the last several years. Many schools have the ability to create a message and call registered phone numbers or to email or text parents and guardians when necessary.
Meanwhile, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (and many other policing agencies in Los Angeles County and beyond) have also implemented routine and emergency notification systems.
We strongly encourage parents and all residents of Los Angeles County to register for these notification systems so that we can keep you informed as rapidly and directly as possible whenever needed. Below are many of these notification systemsthat range from calling your home or cell phone during emergencies (Alert LA County), Text and Email (Nixle.com), website, Facebook and Twitter:
Emergency and Routine Messages from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department:
1. ALERT LA COUNTY emergency telephone notification system. Register your cell phone and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) (home computer) phones for emergency messages from police agencies in Los Angeles County:
http://portal.lacounty.gov/wps/portal/alertla
2. Website of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (translates into over 60 languages):
www.lasd.org
Websites for each patrol station of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department can be found at the below link. Links to station Text & Email Nixle.com, Twitter and Facebook accounts can be found on the right column of their home pages:
http://nixle.com/alert/4843791/
3. LASD EMAILS and/or TEXT messages (via NIXLE) from the NEWSROOM of Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
Visit www.Nixle.com
and register for "Nixle" alerts from "LASD – HQ Newsroom (SHB), Los Angeles County Sheriff" PLUS your local sheriff's station area. Or, text your zip code to 888777 to receive text alerts only. Standard text messaging rates may apply depending on your calling plan. View NEWSROOM (Nixle) EMAIL / TEXT messages here, even if not subscribed from the Newsroom of Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department: http://nixle.com/lasd----hq-newsroom-shb-los-angeles-county-sheriff/
Each LASD patrol station has their own LASD Text and Email notification through www.Nixle.com
4. FACEBOOK of the NEWSROOM of Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department:
http://www.facebook.com/LosAngelesCountySheriffsDepartment
Each LASD patrol station has their own Facebook page.
5. TWITTER of the NEWSROOM of Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department:
@LASD_News
View LASD Twitter here, even if you are not subscribed Twitter:
http://twitter.com/#!/lasd_news
Each LASD patrol station has their own Twitter handle. You can fnd them by looking who @LASD_News is following on Twitter.
6. YOUTUBE of the NEWSROOM of Sheriff's Headquarters Bureau, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department:
http://www.youtube.com/LACountySheriff
7. Specific Needs Disaster Voluntary Registry
http://snap.lacounty.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=app.registryLogin&CFID=231331&CFTOKEN=55341881
8. LA Crimestoppers - confidential/anonymous email/ text/ phone call crime reporting to police agencies in Los Angeles County:
http://lacrimestoppers.com/
Partner to prevent or report crime by contacting your local Sheriff’s station. Or if you wish to remain Anonymous, call “LA Crime Stoppers” by dialing 800-222-TIPS (8477), texting the letters TIPLA plus your tip to CRIMES (274637), or using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org
Leroy D. Baca, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department
