MONROE, N.C. — Monroe Police are disguising themselves as high school students to remind school staff to be on alert.
Channel 9’s Gina Esposito learned it’s part of a Monroe Police operation to ensure school’s are keeping up with security.
The disguised officers were able to get inside multiple schools, no questions asked, dressed in jeans and a hoodie.
Police said they’ve been doing this since 2018. The idea came from an SRO assigned to Union Academy which then expanded to all schools in Monroe.
In every operation undercover officers were able to get into the school, police said.
“One time a student allowed an undercover officer to come in a door and the teacher gave him a late pass even though he didn’t belong there,” Lt. Morgan Malone of the Monroe Police Department said.
In another operation, an officer walked into a high school, signed under a student’s name and sat through a class, Malone said.
They’ve tested two schools this year, including Union Academy Charter. Police say an officer disguised as a student got in and walked around for 20 minutes. Parents said students were then reminded to wear their badges.
“After every operation the school resources officer debrief with the school administration, so whatever the issue was.. I believe one was that they were able to access through a maintenance gate that was unlocked,” Malone said. “Certainly that was taken care of after the fact.”
An officer also visited Rocky River Elementary disguised as a staff member, Malone said.
Union County Public Schools said one of its staff members stopped them and sent them to the front office.
While the officer was stopped, Malone said officers have always been able to get inside, and the goal is to change that.
“I think as a parent it’s definitely frightening,” Malone said. “It’s something we have to think about, but hopefully it will be a tool and the education will help the school and even the students in the school understand that they can’t get complacent; they have to keep their guard up.”
Channel 9 reached out to Union County Public School about these undercover operations.
School leaders said they support this effort, and they conduct their own safety assessments.
The district added that they work with other law enforcement agencies and score each school’s vulnerabilities. The results are then reported to administration, so they can make the needed changes.
The district says it expects staff members to be leaders in identifying people who don’t belong in schools.
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