SALT LAKE CITY — With school finally getting underway Tuesday in the Salt Lake City School District, Mayor Erin Mendenhall, along with police officials, introduced a new program aimed at getting students to and from the classroom safely.
The Safe Passage operation will see uniformed officers out on the street and on their motorcycles near three westside schools: Blackman Elementary, Jackson Elementary and the Horizonte Instruction and Training Center.
Mendenhall and police chief Mike Brown said the program is a way to reassure students and their parents by getting the children school with what essentially amounts to a police escort.
Thanks to the pandemic, in some cases it might be the first time for some students actually heading into their physical school building.
“They’re going to see police officers, marked police officers; they‘re going to see motor officers, they're going to see the [school research officers]; but yeah, they’re going to see officers walking with them to and from school," said Chief Brown. "So that’s a good thing, maybe settle some nerves and also, parents are a little bit concerned to sending their kids off for the first time, so hopefully this will be a good way to kick off the school year and do it safely.”
For those who live, work and represent the westside communities, it is reassuring for them to know the city cares about their students as much as the students in the rest of the district.
Parents are being reminded to have their students use a crosswalk, preferably one with a crossing guard, and to always look both ways before crossing any street, even if they’re in a crosswalk.
