On March 19th, 2015, the North Reading Police Department in conjunction with the North Reading School Department, conducted a joint lock down drill and K-9 search of the North Reading High School and North Reading Middle School. The goal of the drill was to test the readiness of the school department in the event that a lockdown had to be initiated. Concurrent to the lockdown was a K-9 sniff search of certain school areas to include the parking area where both students and faculty park their vehicles. This drill was conducted without advanced notice as this would have compromised the integrity of the drill which is designed to see if the faculty is prepared to lockdown their classrooms in an emergency situation.
Chief Murphy and Superintendent Bernard would like to thank all of the students and faculty for their cooperation in this important drill. We believe this proactive approach coupled with other strategies will help make the schools safer and create a better learning environment.
We would also like to thank the many agencies that assisted our community in this drill, including, the MBTA Police, Malden Police, Medford Police, Chelmsford Police, Middlesex Sheriffs, Norfolk Sheriffs and Essex Sheriffs for their participation in this drill.