Iredell County Sheriff’s Office Uses Seized Drug Money To Improve School Safety

IREDELL COUNTY, NC — The Iredell County Sheriff’s Office is using money seized from drug dealers to improve the safety of schools and responding deputies.

Sheriff Darren Campbell released details Thursday on steps being taken to harden elementary schools throughout the county. He says his office has spent $45,000 so far to purchase ballistic shields that will be stored in the schools.

Sheriff Campbell says the idea is to have resources readily available for responding deputies should a threat arise. By doing this, deputies will have the tools they need to confront the threat immediately.

This is the first time ballistic shields have been pre-deployed into schools, says Campbell, and was a process that began back in April. The idea came after numerous discussions on how to increase safety and threat readiness following recent school shootings.

Officials say 70% of active shooter incidents are over within the first five minutes, with 25% of them lasting less than two minutes. By having the shields pre-deployed, Campbell says it will help responding deputies have the maximum amount of resources available in the shortest time possible.