Protecting schools takes more than posting a guard

THE EDITOR, Madam:

Recent school burglaries in western Jamaica raise a question: what protection can one person reasonably provide across an entire compound?

On October 10, The Gleaner reported recommendations from St James police for stronger school security. It also highlighted the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s (JTA’s) call for a national risk-based assessment and a funded programme addressing fencing and other security needs.

A guard needs clear duties, suitable training, reliable communication, and a way to summon assistance. The size of the compound, the distance between buildings, available lighting, and the condition of the perimeter should determine staffing and patrol arrangements.

Describing someone as a watchman or a professional guard does not resolve those questions. Training and competence matter, but even a capable officer cannot compensate for every weakness in a poorly secured property.

ASIS International’s Security Management offers a useful perspective. In Sara Mosqueda’s April 14, 2025, interview, ‘Building Safety into the Schoolhouse Walls’, US school facilities specialist Brandon Payne emphasises training, long-term planning, and maintenance. He describes schools investing in security equipment while overlooking the routine checks needed to keep it working.

Jamaican schools considering cameras should ask who will monitor them, how an alert will reach someone able to respond, and who will check that recordings can be retrieved. Footage may help investigators after a theft.

The assessment proposed by the JTA should give each school a practical order of priorities. Some may urgently need stronger equipment storage or repaired doors. Others may require perimeter repairs, better lighting, or revised staffing. The findings should guide spending, with deadlines and named responsibility for completing the work.

There must also be a route for urgent concerns while larger improvements await funding. Security spending must account for continuing costs. Cameras, alarms, gates, and lights need servicing and eventual replacement. Schools should know how those costs will be met before equipment is purchased.

Authorities should lead this effort with school boards, administrators, security providers, police, and communities. Principals need clear guidance on what their schools must provide, what assistance is available, and how unresolved risks should be escalated.

A school should not have to suffer another burglary before a documented weakness receives attention. The guard on duty needs a workable plan and the means to carry it out. Students and teachers need the learning resources that plan is intended to protect.

RENEE WATKIS