Friday, April 19, 2013
The police chief, who has run the Boston Marathon several times, sees the events of Monday as a sad, if unsurprising, occurence.
East Greenwich Police Chief Thomas Coyle can't help but think about a conversation he had in Hopkinton, Mass., a few years ago while waiting to run the Boston Marathon. He was crammed into a corral of sorts with many other runners and he struck up a conversation with a man who had come from France to participate in this most prestigious of marathons. "'You know what’s ironic?' I said to him. 'We plan for all these disasters. If somebody wanted to do something, why wouldn’t they do it right at the beginning of the race or right at the end?'" That prescient thought has haunted Coyle this week, following two explosions at the Boston Marathon finish line Monday that killed 3 and injured 170. At the time, the Frenchman asked, "I wonder what…
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The lockdown drill at Hanaford Wednesday was the district's first since the shootings in Newtown.
The lockdown drill at Hanaford Elementary School started like this: Principal Beth Cauley's voice over the intercom saying, "There is an emergency. Lockdown is in effect." Then there was the sound of doors shutting. Just that. No voices. No footsteps. It was only a drill, but it was the first lockdown drill since the shooting rampage at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., left 20 young students and 6 adult staff members dead. Because of that, Cauley had warned students, staff and parents (via email) about the drill. She visited every class on Tuesday and answered questions from students – questions like, "What if I'm in the bathroom?" and "What if we're outside?" She had answers for them. If a child is in the bathroom at the start of…
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George R. Hanaford Elementary School
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Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Town Manager and Police Chief offer their thoughts.
It is unthinkable. Or at least it was until Friday, when a gunman killed 20 children and 6 adults before taking his own life at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. There had been no mass shootings in New England before Friday so we could be excused for thinking before, "Yes, but that wouldn't happen here." It did happen here on Friday and we are all wondering, what if? What if it happened right here in East Greenwich? After conversations with both Town Manager Bill Sequino and Police Chief Tom Coyle and an earlier conversation with EG's juvenile officer, John Carter, here's what EG Patch can tell you. According to Carter, state law dictates each school have 15 drills a year, including two lockdown drills and two evacuation …
EG Bicycle Guy
4:53 am on Thursday, December 20, 2012
Not Very Well. After speaking with educators and students, that is my answer to the question posed by this article. With due respect to the training of the EGPD, by the time they respond, as in Newtown, an attack will be beyond tragedy of epic proportion. Our schools are not designed to resist intruders. People are buzzed in without visual verification. There are no drills or not enough drills. … more ›