TX School Police Chiefs Hold First Conference Since Uvalde Massacre

Inside a conference room at the Marriott Riverwalk hotel in San Antonio, the Texas School District Police Chiefs’ Association held its annual conference this week. It was the first meeting of association’s members since the Uvalde massacre.

Most officers attending the conference waved off questions about their reactions to the Uvalde shooting and instead wanted to talk about why they were in San Antonio this week. Most poured into a presentation by the FBI on active-shooter training that was closed to non-police officers, the Texas Tribune reports.

Chief Bill Avera was willing to talk about the evolution of school policing or about their own districts.

“The biggest benefit of coming to this conference is we meet other people that are in similar situations to us,” said Avera, 67, the police chief at Jacksonville ISD and a vice president for the school police chiefs’ group. “The time to exchange business cards is not during a crisis. I need to know who my partners are, and I need to know you before stuff hits the fan.”