Fort Meade Schools Safe, Officials Say

In the wake of a deadly shooting at an elementary school in Connecticut, a top security official at Fort Meade said that parents should not worry about the safety of students attending schools on the installation.

Lt. Col. Darrell Sides, the Provost Marshal for Fort Meade’s Directorate of Emergency Services, said schools on the installation are probably safer than most, due to the presence of the military and two police departments nearby.

“There’s absolutely no method that is 100 percent," Sides said. “Someone could break into the gold depository at Fort Knox if they wanted to. However, I think it would be extremely difficult, and I feel like that’s the situation on post.”

Sides addressed the security issue in a video posted on Fort Meade’s Facebook page. He said that the installation has numerous security measures in place, including some that are not known to the public.

There are seven schools on the installation, all operated by Anne Arundel County Public Schools. Most have school resource officers present in the building.

Sides noted that Fort Meade operates its own police department, and that county police are also able to respond quickly to any emergency.

“The second that someone can make that first 911 call, the cavalry is coming and it will be there amazingly fast,” he said.