Geezah
10-13-2006, 09:50 AM
The officer leading the inquiry into Kent Police's response to a school intruder in Canterbury has said the force "got this one wrong".
St Stephen's Junior School made four calls to the police after the man threatened pupils with a wooden baton, but no officers were sent there.
Kent Police said the inquiry would be thorough and its findings made public.
Senior officers are also investigating the incident itself to bring the offender to justice, police said.
The force said the first two calls were made on a public line, the third was a 999 call from the head teacher, and the fourth was also from the head teacher, but not on the 999 system.
Deputy Chief Constable Jim Barker McCardle said: "We treat all incidents at schools very seriously.
"We deal with more than 850,000 calls a year, most of which are dealt with to a very high standard.
"We got this one wrong. We should have responded to the school and we didn't."
The force has since reviewed procedures for dealing with calls from schools and has developed a new protocol for dealing with serious or immediate threats, which has been issued to schools across Kent and Medway.
Chief Constable Michael Fuller, who ordered the inquiry, has apologised in writing to Stuart Pywell, the head teacher involved, after he made a formal complaint about the police response on 27 September.
The armed intruder got into the school through the back door and ran amok, brandishing the baton and threatening the children.
Staff said the man ran along the corridor "threatening and gesticulating" to the frightened pupils.
He told them: "You're dead, you've had it, you're all dead."
After the attack, Mr Pywell said it left people feeling scared and vulnerable and hoping that the police would arrive to protect them.
He said it was sheer luck that no-one was injured in the incident, after which the man ran off.
Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6047228.stm)
This is not a gun rant, I'm just amazed with what has taken place over here this month, that no-one over there thought they should send Officers to the scene?
St Stephen's Junior School made four calls to the police after the man threatened pupils with a wooden baton, but no officers were sent there.
Kent Police said the inquiry would be thorough and its findings made public.
Senior officers are also investigating the incident itself to bring the offender to justice, police said.
The force said the first two calls were made on a public line, the third was a 999 call from the head teacher, and the fourth was also from the head teacher, but not on the 999 system.
Deputy Chief Constable Jim Barker McCardle said: "We treat all incidents at schools very seriously.
"We deal with more than 850,000 calls a year, most of which are dealt with to a very high standard.
"We got this one wrong. We should have responded to the school and we didn't."
The force has since reviewed procedures for dealing with calls from schools and has developed a new protocol for dealing with serious or immediate threats, which has been issued to schools across Kent and Medway.
Chief Constable Michael Fuller, who ordered the inquiry, has apologised in writing to Stuart Pywell, the head teacher involved, after he made a formal complaint about the police response on 27 September.
The armed intruder got into the school through the back door and ran amok, brandishing the baton and threatening the children.
Staff said the man ran along the corridor "threatening and gesticulating" to the frightened pupils.
He told them: "You're dead, you've had it, you're all dead."
After the attack, Mr Pywell said it left people feeling scared and vulnerable and hoping that the police would arrive to protect them.
He said it was sheer luck that no-one was injured in the incident, after which the man ran off.
Link (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/kent/6047228.stm)
This is not a gun rant, I'm just amazed with what has taken place over here this month, that no-one over there thought they should send Officers to the scene?