AFTER PARKLAND SHOOTING,
NORTH JERSEY STUDENTS SAY
For safety reasons, specifics are
being kept from the public.
“We’re putting out new tactics the
Prosecutor’s Office released to end a
threat,” Kryzsiak says. “The ability
to use more manpower quicker and
get in school quicker, since we rely on
response from other agencies, too.”
Bergen County is in the forefront of
implementing these tactics, Kryzsiak
says. Following an initiative that started
in late 2017, East Rutherford police
undergo 16 hours of active-shooter
training, and will conduct eight hours
of training annually going forward.
Collaboration across many
departments is the goal, because critical
situations anywhere in Bergen County
require assistance from more than one
municipality. “Bergen County is a fairly
unique part of the country. Being so
close to the New York metro means we
have many venues and settings we have
to be conscious of and prepare for,”
says East Rutherford Officer Michael
Pappas.
These maneuvers can serve not
only during school response, but for
potential threats of any type. “It’s all
about the tactical response that can
work in any environment, like com-
mercial or office space,” Kryzsiak says.
Familiarizing all officers — from
the newbie patrolman to the chief —
with these tactics, reinforced through
continuing education, empowers local
police to be the first responders, Pappas
says.
“Unfortunately, this is the world
we live in now,” he says. “We will do
everything to prepare to the best of
our ability. We have to say that there’s
potential, can’t afford to say, ‘That
cannot happen here.’”
Drills serve as practice to cut down
on the guesswork when every second
counts, says Bergen County Regional
SWAT Team member Juan Arroyave.
No mass casualty shootings have
occurred in Bergen County, but there
have been incidents that have required
a SWAT response. One memorable
event involved a gunman who entered
Westfield Garden State Plaza in
Paramus in November 2013, firing
bullets from a rifle made up to look like
an assault weapon. The shooter died by
suicide, but no injuries were reported.
Law enforcement receives reports
after mass shootings to learn how
lessons learned can be applicable to
regional training. Arroyave notes that
the reports from the Newtown, Conn.,
shooting just came into his department.
Pappas says a common miscon-
ception is that a police response is
about predicting what will occur
during what is really an unpredictable
situation. “This is why we focus on
response and tactics instead of pre-
dicting,” he says. “We want to adapt to
any situation with the manpower we
have at the time.”
Like many other area schools, Becton
has a school resource officer. East
Rutherford Police Chief Dennis Rivelli
says Officer David Alberta is in and
out of the schools daily, and teaches
the Law Enforcement Against Drugs
program.
The schools and department have
a great working relationship, which
enables the police to investigate
reported threats, Rivelli says. “It’s our
job to not get complacent about it,” he
says. “[Reports] could end up being
nothing, but we can’t take it as being
nothing.”
In the wake of the Parkland shooting,
there have been calls to place armed
officers in schools.
“It’s not a cure-all,” says Rivelli.
During a recent East Rutherford
Borough Council meeting, Board of
Education President Larry Bongiovanni
reported that Becton is purchasing
new equipment that will allow the
East Rutherford Police Department to
access the school’s security cameras in
real time. The school is also exploring
other security measures in its long-term
planning.
Even with this new training, there is
a significant risk to officers responding
to an active shoot ing.
“We could die doing this, but we
know that. Innocent people’s lives take
priority over officers’,” Rivelli says.
“No matter what happens, we need to
prepare the best we can.” ●
‘NEVER AGAIN’
CASEY BEDWELL-COLL , 14
GLEN ROCK HIGH SCHOOL
“We’ve sort of become
desensitized to it because
there are so many. I tend
to get really scared for
myself, but my biggest fear
is for my little brother. He’s
in fifth grade. Sometimes I think that
I’m going to send him to school and he
won’t come back. It’s come to the point
that thoughts and prayers don’t cut it
anymore.”
ERIC KOPP , 17
WESTWOOD REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL
“I could never imagine
a world where, you know,
my best friend wouldn’t
be there the next day and
I could never talk to them
again. It would be abso-
lutely heartbreaking.
“I think the response at the federal
level is horrific. Seventeen kids are dead
in Parkland and thousands of kids have
died since 1990, and nothing has been
done. About 88 percent of Republicans
and 11 percent of Democrats have
received funding from the NRA, and
nothing gets done in Washington
without talking to the NRA first.”
JEAN WALTER , 17
GLEN ROCK HIGH SCHOOL
“I’ve written a petition
that says what we want:
change. We want a 14-day
waiting period. We want
universal background
checks. We want a ban on
all assault rifles. We want the minimum
age of purchase to be 21. I think that
anyone with a domestic violence record
shouldn’t be able to obtain a weapon,
let alone an assault weapon. They’re
threatening our lives and the lives of our
families, and it’s something that deeply
scares me.”
LAURENCE S. FINE , 14
RIDGEWOOD HIGH SCHOOL
“It isn’t a good idea to
just ignore it and wait until
the next shooting. We
need to do everything we
can to advocate for change
and push for change to
protect ourselves.”
— COMPILED BY HANNAN ADELY
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