High School Teachers Get Emergency Cell Phones

In an effort to improve communication during violent school incidents such as April’s mass shooting in Littleton, Colo., local police and school administrators Thursday began delivering thousands of cellular phones to high school teachers across Los Angeles and Orange counties.

Officials said the wireless phones will allow educators in remote parts of schools to quickly alert law enforcement dispatchers during emergencies, enabling police to greatly improve response times to crimes on campus.

The approach--one of the boldest moves yet by law enforcement authorities after a rash of school shootings around the country--is part of a statewide initiative that will see 1,000 public high schools receive donated phones.

Acknowledging that such violent incidents are relatively rare, officials said the phones will provide students with extra protection.

“We are committed to doing all we can to provide . . . students and teachers with a safe environment in which to learn,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca, who helped deliver 10 phones to teachers at Rosemead High School.

Police in Los Angeles County will spend the next few weeks distributing nearly 3,000 phones to 381 schools. In Orange County, nearly 1,000 phones will be handed out at the county’s 94 high schools. Authorities will decide later whether to expand the program to include elementary and junior high schools.

The phone program was born just days after two Colorado students gunned down 12 classmates and a teacher before turning their weapons on themselves. Gov. Gray Davis convened a meeting of police and education officials to discuss security on campus, and learned that many believed that schools were ill-prepared for an emergency like the Columbine High School shooting.

Representatives from AirTouch Cellular promised to donate 10,000 phones and three years’ worth of air time, at an estimated cost to the company of $7 million.

The phones have been modified for school use to allow teachers to contact local police at the touch of two buttons. However, the phones cannot be used to dial any other numbers, and that concerns some teachers.