February 17, 2018
Office of Mayor William Laforet
As the Mayor of the Mahwah Township, I am greatly troubled that neither the Township Council or myself were ever apprised of the threat made by an eighth-grade student several months ago concerning a Township school facility. The Mayor and the Township Council need to be immediately apprised of any and all potential threats concerning our Township and its schools to ensure that swift and appropriate action is always taken. Moreover, the Township residents deserve to be timely notified of any such threats concerning the safety of their children. Our residents deserve better.
To prevent this lack of timely notification from occurring again, as the Mayor I am asking the Chief of Police to immediately notify myself and the Township Council of any and all threats involving the Township Schools. I have also requested that the Chief of Police immediately assign a uniformed, armed patrol officer to each of our Township schools when school is in session to ensure the safely of the students and staff. The presence of an armed uniformed patrol officer in a marked police car at each of the schools will act as a deterrent and provide immediate response time should a threat be made against any school facility in the interim, this will result in additional police overtime costs being incurred, but so be it. Our residents, students and District personnel deserve to be safe when attending the Township schools.
I am also calling on the Mahwah Township Board of Education and the Superintendent to immediately enter into a shared service agreement wit the Township to defray the costs of having a uniformed, armed patrol officer at each of our Township schools to ensure the safety of our students and District personnel. I will be recommending to the Township Council that we waive any administrative costs associated with such assignment to help defray the District’s expense.
We have all witnessed far too many horrific acts of violence against school children throughout our nation. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all of those families, students and staff who are grieving as a result of these senseless and horrific acts of violence. The highest priority of government is to protect its citizens. As the Mayor, I am committed to taking whatever steps are necessary to protect our students and District staff when attending Mahwah Township Schools.
It is imperative that whenever anyone learns of a potential safety threat that they immediately notify the Mahwah Township Police Department and the Mahwah Township School District. As a community, we all have to remain vigilant and work together to ensure the safety of our students and District personnel. Always remember that “if you see something, say something.” Working together, we can prevent any senseless tragedy from occurring in the Township of Mahwah.
Mayor Bill Laforet
This is a good thing