BURLESON COUNTY, Texas (KRHD) — The Burleson County Sheriff's Office has increased law enforcement presence at all school campuses in Somerville, Snook and Caldwell following a deadly weekend shooting on 6th Street in Austin and other current events around the world.
Watch the full story here:
Burleson County Sheriff Bill Rios announced the move Monday morning in a Facebook post, describing it as a proactive initiative with no specific threat to local schools.
Chief Deputy David Simmons said the department is committed to keeping students safe.
"All of our extra deputies are panned out over the schools and we're just given an extra police presence because we care about our kids," Simmons said.
Sgt. Randy Jackson, the Burleson County Sheriff's Office public information officer, said the added presence is about reassurance.
"So I mean, I think anybody would appreciate a little extra presence from the schools, especially with the things that are going on, climate in the world," Jackson said.
Jackson emphasized that the increased patrols are not in response to any local threat.
"We're going to be walking around just saying hi, you know. Again, there's no threat. We're just here to, just to give that extra proactive approach," Jackson said.
The sheriff's office is encouraging residents to report anything that seems unusual.
"If you see anything suspicious or just looks out of place, it doesn't hurt to make a call and always make a call. We'd rather respond to something that turns out to be nothing than somebody ignores something that could be something," Simmons said.
Taylor Locke, a local resident and owner of The Humble Place in Caldwell, said she supports the decision.
"Protecting our children, our teachers, and all those in our community that are doing the, the good work there, we absolutely need to, to make sure that we do what we can to keep them safe," Locke said.
"I think it absolutely makes sense, sadly that they're going to need extra protection at this time, and we should make sure that of all the ways that we're spending our time, energy, and money, that protecting our children is at the forefront of that," Locke said.
The sheriff's office said it will continue having additional deputies patrolling schools alongside full-time school resource officers.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
