Lacey Schools to Add Safety Officers

Two safety officers will join the staff of the Lacey Township school district.

The Board of Education this week voted in favor of formally creating the title of School Safety Officer, or SSO, and hiring two officers to staff the positions.

Carl Bullock, one of the two officers hired, is a retired New Jersey State Trooper who served in that agency's Homeland Security Special Operations section and in transportation security roles.

The other officer, Louis Brignola, is a retired Lacey Township police officer who also served as part of the Ocean County Southern Regional SWAT team and has undergone training in active shooter drills.

The Lacey district "will continue to do all that is possible to ensure the safety of our students and staff," said Superintendent Vanessa Clark.

The district will continue to develop safety policies, Clark said, and currently has in place a system where access to all schools is controlled by locked doors and visitors having to check in at a central location before being allowed in the building.

The SSOs will be responsible for enforcing school regulations and, according to a job description approved by the school board, be able to detect and identify illicit drugs and be familiar with crowd control measures and the state juvenile justice code. The SSOs are also required to be licensed to carry a firearm in New Jersey.

Both officers were hired for a salary of $30,000 without medical benefits.