Students, Parents Will See Police Officers at All Elmhurst District 205 Schools

As mourners in Connecticut hold vigils and plan the funerals for the 20 children and six adults gunned down at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Friday, school children in here in Elmhurst will be getting some added protection from Police Chief Michael Ruth and the Elmhurst Police Department.

Uniformed police officers greeted parents and children at all Elmhurst public schools Monday.

Ruth said Friday that although the department had not received any calls from schools or parents, he wanted to create a visible police presence to "help calm potential concerns and reduce possible anxiety" in light of Friday's school shooting.

"Elmhurst police officers have been directed to increase visible patrols to all of our elementary and secondary schools within the city," he said. "Officers have also been directed to initiate foot patrols to increase the level of visibility and interactive communication."

He did not say how long the additional officers would be dispatched to the schools.

He reminded residents to immediately report any suspicious people or activity to the Elmhurst police by calling 911.

District 205 Superintendent David Pruneau said, "Although our buildings are always locked during the school day, as soon as we learned of the shooting, I sent word to our principals to go into “high alert” mode, related to building security."