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A former Tullahoma police officer made public complaints about the status of School Resource Officers (SROs) in Tullahoma at the Jan. 23 meeting of the Board of Mayor and Aldermen (BoMA).

The claims came from Arthur Barad, former Tullahoma police officer and current deputy with Franklin County Police Department and SRO for Clark Memorial Elementary School in Winchester.

“My goal is to spread the word,” he said. “This needs to happen this year. It should be at the top of every alderman’s agenda. Every school surrounding Tullahoma has an SRO, except for Tullahoma. I know if something happens in Tullahoma, it’s gonna be a s—show.”

In his public statement to the board, Barad stated that the Tullahoma City School (TCS) system only currently has one SRO, who patrols the high school. He recommended that the city apply for funds through the Tennessee Investment in Student Achievement (TISA) grant, which has a one-time SRO grant, which is slated to run out of funding in 1-2 years, according to the TISA document.

He later contacted The News to make a statement, sharing his perception of the state of the TCS and the Tullahoma Police Department’s cooperation with maintaining safety measures.

“The reason I spoke out is because – I can’t get anybody on record, even school administrators or police officers, because they don’t want to burn a bridge,” he said. “And I get that, but here in Franklin County, we drill every Wednesday for mass casualty, active shooter, everything. Firefighters are the triage for emergency incidents; cops aren’t. Cops got the easy part: get to the shooter. The chaos afterwards is what we train [for]. Tullahoma Police Department does not have standard operating guidelines for active shooters. Half of their police department hasn’t even walked into Farrar. They don’t drill; they haven’t done a drill in two or three years.”

Tullahoma Police Chief Jason Williams addressed these claims about the police department’s involvement with the city schools in an interview with The News.

“We’re constantly in the schools,” he said. “The schools are mandated by the state to run lockdown and or security drills. We’re constantly involved with that, both us and the Coffee County Sheriff’s Office. There’s probably not even a two week period that goes by that I’m not in touch with Dr. Stephens, the director of the schools, over school safety. We’re constantly talking about a game plan to how we can look at adding SROs or doing some things.”

He further went on to encourage and welcome public response and questions to both his and Dr. Stephens’ offices, stating that he “always get[s] back to anybody that calls or messages [him].”

“Police and school systems, I think we have a really great working relationship,” he said. “We work together and partner together. The sheriff and I are always in communication about things that could affect us. It’s certainly a team effort, but I feel good about the teams we have in place.”

Barad additionally claimed that the Tullahoma Police Department did not have standard operating procedures for emergency or active shooter situations at city schools.

“They don’t know their response time,” he said. “Ask any cop how long it takes to get from Walmart to the high school, and they should know. No one can argue that it’s the Board of Education or Tullahoma City Schools. It’s not. It’s the police department and the city. If they can’t do it, then let’s have Coffee County do it.”

Williams refuted this, sharing his opinion that standard operating procedures can limit the actions that law enforcement officers can make during an emergency situation.

“To be honest with you, I don’t know many law enforcement agencies that do have a defined policy, just because of the dynamic situation of what could happen,” he said. “You have to be careful not to paint yourself into a corner or create liability for yourself where none previously existed. As far as our training goes for active shooters, our training is to go to the threat and end the threat at all costs. I think it would be very difficult to draft a policy on how to deal with an active shooter.”

Barad made an additional claim about the lack of crossing guards at city schools, claiming the police department should be responsible for filling these openings.

“There hasn’t been a crossing guard on West Side Drive at Farrar in [the school faculty] can’t remember the last time,” he said. “Every now and then, an officer will show up, but he’ll only show up for ten minutes. When I drop off my kids, there’s nobody there. I even asked the school, and they said they call the police department but nobody comes.”

Zach Birdsong, communications specialist for TCS, responded to these statements in an interview with The News.

“We are aware that there is a current opening for a crossing guard,” he said. “This position has been posted for some time with no applicants. Anytime this happens, the local patrol helps as best they can until it is filled, knowing that current calls or needs trump their ability to help in this way.”

He additionally responded to Barad’s statements about the lack of drills and officer involvement in school safety.

“Annually, every TCS administrator conducts a full safety assessment and walkthrough of their campus with a law enforcement member from The Tullahoma Police Department or Coffee County Sheriff’s Department,” he said. “Board policy requires that safety drills are conducted at each campus once annually. Some TCS campuses have completed these drills, while others are still to come.”

As of a public announcement on Feb. 1, the TCS system has adopted the nationally-recognized ALICE emergency training system. ALICE is an acronym, standing for: Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate. According to a letter sent out to parents of TCS students, a certified ALICE trainer conducted training with staff members in the fall of the 2022-2023 school year.