Arkansas School District Adds Police Substation

A city in central Arkansas is opening a police substation at a public school campus in response to recent school shootings.

• By Sydny Shepard
• Aug 02, 2018

The Beebe Police Department will open a new substation on a public school campus as part of an effort prompted by recent gun violence on school campuses.

The assistant superintendent of the Beebe School District, Rick Duff, said the idea for the substation came to him after a recent spate of school violence including the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and Santa Fe High School.

The new substation will allow officers to complete paperwork and other duties at the substation, as opposed to traveling back to the main station, which Beebe Police Department Capt. Brain Duke said will create a stronger police presence on campus.

The Arkansas State Police will also have a satellite office in the building, where Duke said two local troopers can report.  

The substation will be in a small building at the entrance of the school districts main campus. The building was being used for in-school suspension students, but since the in-school suspension program was moved to a local high school the building has been without use.

"The good thing," superintendent Chris Nail said. "is that anyone who passes by or comes to the school, they'll see police cars our there everyday."

Beebe campus already had two school resource officers, and the substation will not add any definitive number of officers to the campus at any time, Duke said.

"First and foremost, there will be a presence of officers," Duke said. "[Students} will see marked units on campus more often then they have in the past. With all the violence happening on campuses, I'm sure school officials are constantly worried about it - I know I am. I have kids there."