CCPO says data being collected for assessment of adequate measures.
Police have launched a ‘security audit’ for schools and colleges of Peshawar district wherein a form with 23 questions is given to each institute to obtain vital information.
The principal of a local private school told The Express Tribune policemen from different stations are visiting schools and collecting data. “They give you a form which is called School/College Security Audit. You are required to provide the name of the institute, principal’s name, contact number, number of male and female students, name of your security officer and even details of parent-teacher associations, if any,” he said, adding that in addition to this, there are 23 questions which need to be answered in the form. The principal feared police will eventually ask schools to make certain security arrangements in order to obtain a no-objection certificate (NOC) to keep their institutes open.
“These questions pertain to entry/exit points; presence of three barriers at entry points; is there a dropdown barrier at the main gate or not; are there observation points at important positions; do you have CCTV camera at the front, back, left, right walls; number of guards at the main gate; condition of weapons; experience of guards to use these weapons,” said the principal while sharing the questionnaire’s content. He maintained some of the mentioned security measures were very important but others were worrisome for the administration.
“There are questions about whether your institute has sniffer dogs, walkthrough gates, metal detectors, search lights, etc,” he said, claiming it was not possible for all schools to arrange sniffer dogs or buy walkthrough gates. The principal said these were expensive accessories for small and medium schools and contended the dropdown barrier was also unnecessary.
“We are really worried about the security situation these days and even more worried are parents, but security arrangements will cost extra money, which will be an additional burden for small and medium schools along with the parents.”
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Ijaz Khan said there are 2,027 schools registered with the Peshawar Board alone. Besides these, there are institutes operating under the technical education board and the federal government, among others. He said the data collected from schools was for assessment purposes.
“We have made four rapid response force (RRF) teams for the district. These will act in the event of an emergency and we will provide police guards to those schools located in a cluster. But others will have to make their own security arrangements,” said CCPO Khan. “We are asking them (schools) to maintain registers for guests, install CCTV cameras and carry out security drills. In the event of an emergency, they also have an SOS system to alert the police.”
Published in The Express Tribune, January 4th, 2015.
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The terrorists are out to create mayhem and terror; they will find a market, mosque or any other public place to attack unless we go after them and pre-empt the next attack. We have got to get pro-active and not reactive.
This is indeed a tragedy. After such a horrific incident like the one in Peshawar school, we still seem to be have learnt no lesson from it. Here we have typical face saving measures being taken. Instead of proactively confronting the cunning enemy, the CCPO seems to be taking refuge behind the smokescreen of file work. The idea is when the crunch comes, the blame could be easily shifted on the schools. I would request the authorities to take notice and advise the police department to show courage and patriotism. The students are the future of our country. They need to be protected from the nefarious designs of the enemy. Schools are neither designed nor programmed to fight a terrorist. By now this elementary knowledge should have dawned on our smart Chief Minister Punjab. The alacrity with which he made the under and the overhead bridges, demands some such smartness here.
Soon there could be an audit for houses and shops. Security shall become the responsibility of individuals not the government.
Great, national internal security has already been outsources to the military and now they want to outsource it to private/public institutions so that in case another incident happens, they can claim that they were not responsible for providing the security in the first place. The answer is not to build garrisons but rather to address the root cause of militancy.
The Federal Government should fund the Security upgrades and the bill to be paid from Chaudhry Nisar's Budget.
my friend runs a small school. the other day after he received this form he wondered if he ran a school or a blackwater facility. honestly some of the questions asked in this form might get a negative even from the GHQ.
So now everyone knows what the security plan is. I am sure the terrorist will also get their hands on this security questionnaire. So the police can take a nap, every school to defend itself. What about satellite surveillance? That's also the school's responsibility. I had commented previously that forget protocols and check every vehicle, whether there are politicians, ministers or men in uniform. If the people in uniform feel its below their dignity to show their identification to a security personnel at a check point, then such terrorist attack will never occur.
Protecting the schools is not the answer..........getting rid of the terrorists AND THEIR SYMPATHIZERS is the answer and the government has been dragging its feet on this for over TEN years.