All is calm at Ridgevale
The plan was so secret that only a few people were aware of it, thus making it as believable as possible.
The JMPD, ER24, Roodepoort Police’s sector commanders, the Roodekrans Neighbourhood Watch and DMS Security all descended upon Ridgevale Primary School earlier this morning (9 September). Sniffer dogs were seen being led into the school grounds in a hurried manner, and pupils and staff members were seen walking in single file towards the sports field, where they congregated.
All this happened because the school received a bomb threat. However, the threat was part of a larger plan by Social Crime Prevention, who wanted the school to practise an emergency evacuation drill.
The plan was so secret that only a few people were aware of it, thus making it as believable as possible. The drill was so realistic that even some of those involved in cordoning-off the school and assisting with the evacuation were not in the know.
“We wanted to make it as believable as possible for the pupils. If they’d been aware that it was a drill, they would have taken it lightly. We wanted to gauge the response, not only of the school but of the residents around it as well. In cases of emergency, the school pupils must know how to evacuate,” said Constable Shumikazi Mbuli from Social Crime Prevention.
The emergency drill was also held to determine the effectiveness of the communication lines between the different parties involved, while still following protocol.
“We followed normal procedures and we are happy to say that things went well. We simulated different scenarios with the children and anything that could go wrong went wrong,” said Mbuli.
School principal, Tennessee Jordan, was pleased with how the event was organised and coordinated between the different sectors.
“This was an important lesson to our pupils on how to react in emergency situations. We had the all clear from the Gauteng Education Department and today went well,” he said.
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