‘We never want to be complacent when it comes to safety’: HCPS gears up for school year with weapons detectors at each campus

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Every public school in Henrico has weapons detectors. This is something the county and other school districts have rolled out over the past couple years. The expectation is that every day, everyone goes through these scanners before entering as a layer of protection.

“We never want to be complacent when it comes to safety," said Director of School Safety for HCPS John Casullo.

With a background in law enforcement, Casullo's been a safety officer for five years, and became director in this role around three years ago.

After the county tested different types of weapons detectors, they landed on Open Gate -- detectors that can scan people with backpacks, purses and bags.  

“They were just the perfect fit for a school environment," Casullo said.  

Casullo said they learned a lot in the beginning about where to strategically place the scanners to make sure it didn’t impact students getting to class on time.

Due to each schools’ unique layout, the safety office and administrators from each school worked together to devise specific plans. He said once a plan was figured out for each school, things began to run “pretty smoothly.” 

Plus, all secondary schools have a school resource officer from the Henrico County Police Department. Every school has at least two security officers, but can have more depending on its population size. They're hired by the school system and trained by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.  

However, an incident in December at Henrico High School when a student stabbed another student, posed questions about how effective these layers of security are.  

The county told 8News that an investigation into the incident is still active and they cannot provide details as to how the weapon made it onto the campus and past the weapons detectors.

Henrico isn't the only school system putting these layers of protection in place -- Chesterfield County middle and high schools have weapons scanners, as do Richmond City schools, which also require clear backpacks.  

Casullo said feedback from students, parents and staff has been primarily positive and that safety is on everyone’s mind.  

“We like to always go over and above in Henrico and we’re always gonna add extra additional layers just because we feel like that’s our obligations," he said.  

Casullo also said there are monthly active-shooter drills and the county is always reviewing them to ensure they’re up to best practice. 

Students also carry I.D. that indicates they are in fact a student. These cards have other functions as well, including to check out their laptops or get lunch.

“Henrico is in a good position to provide safe environments for our staff, students and community," Casullo said.