NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 2, 2018
Contact: Erin Gill, Chief of Staff
Phone: (856)-488-7878
Cell: (856) 952-7636
E-mail: egill@chtownship.com
Cherry Hill Mayor Chuck Cahn and Township Council Authorize Immediate Assignment of Cherry Hill Police Officers to Township Schools.
Top Township officials, led by Mayor Chuck Cahn and Council President David Fleisher, met with top school officials Friday morning to discuss school security at Cherry Hill’s nineteen schools. Mayor Cahn and Township Council have authorized to immediately assign Cherry Hill police officers in schools starting Monday. This is in addition to the daily directed patrols already occurring in and around the schools.
For safety reasons, the specific details regarding the increase in security measures will not be made public, but at the recommendation of Cherry Hill Police Chief William Monaghan, starting Monday, fully equipped police officers will be deployed to the high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools.
“As I said earlier this week, when talking about safeguarding our schools, we need to talk about what immediate measures can be taken. I believe the quickest, most efficient way to have an immediate increase in security is to have fully equipped police officers in our schools,” said Mayor Chuck Cahn. “We are ready and willing to partner with the schools. We have the capability to make improvements today and that’s what we are going to do.”
According to school officials, the Board of Education will be meeting this Tuesday to discuss increasing its security measures– both short and long term. But in the interim, the Mayor and Council have committed to assigning police resources to the Township’s nineteen schools.
“We need to take steps to immediately improve school security while a more comprehensive plan is developed and put into action,” Council President Fleisher stated. “All of town council stands ready to work with the Mayor and school officials to ensure the safety of our children and our entire community.”
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