Saline and Pittsfield Police Make Agreement To Help Protect Saline Schools

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Police departments routinely cooperate with each other in investigations and public safety operations. But now the Saline Police Department and Pittsfield Department of Public Safety have entered into an agreement regarding how they protect and investigate incidents at Saline Area Schools.

“In the past, when Saline police and Pittsfield Township were involved in an investigation, they would inquire about something about an incident involving a student and they had to go to that student’s home, if that home were in the City of Saline for example, that would mean that the Pittsfield Township Police Department would have to contact the City of Saline and [ask permission]. In the meantime, that slowing down an investigation,” Superintendent Steve Laatsch said. “So the agreement now is that both the City of Saline and Pittsfield Township have an agreement together with the schools to say ‘We work together for school safety, investigations and so forth’ so there is a blanket agreement that whether it’s Pittsfield Township Police or Saline police, if it involves our students and schools, they don’t have to worry about touching base with each other before investigating, or before they get involved in working with the schools. What that allows for is a better response time for all parties involved.”

The agreement was made between the two law enforcement agencies and the school district. No formal resolution was necessary from either the Saline City Council or the Pittsfield Township Board of Trustees, according to both chiefs.

“The document is more of a protocol than an agreement (no one has actually signed anything) that all three entities are committing to. It is a protocol that establishes how we, [the] PTPD, SPD, SAS, handle responses for threats involving Saline schools facilities, students, teachers and staff,” Pittsfield Director of Public Safety Matthew Harshberger said in an email. “The protocol clarifies how PTPD and SPD establish jurisdiction and specific contact representatives from SAS, PTPD, and SPD who must be notified whenever a threat is received or identified, along with establishing who and how we collectively respond and investigate to ensure safety.

School safety has been a perennial and often politicized issue in the United States for several decades. The agreement between the SAS and both police departments simply streamlines the investigative and protective process.

Image Credit: Scot Graden, former SAS Superintendent.

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