Memphis City Schools Supt. Kriner Cash and Police Director Larry Godwin joined forces Wednesday afternoon to signal “the absolute zero, no tolerance at all for weapons on our campus.”

The two appeared at a press conference at the City Schools office on Avery. Cash said they were particularly concerned because of recent events at some of the high schools. Those events include the “finding of guns with loaded chambers” and what Cash called “a vicious attack” on a student traveling and coming to school.

The data regarding such incidents are up from a year ago, Cash said. Last school year, there had been recorded instances of three loaded weapons and three unloaded weapons at this point compared to six loaded and four unloaded thus far this school year.

“This absolutely will not be tolerated and Direct Godwin and I are one accord on this very serious matter,” he said.

Cash commended the students who made use of the Trust Pays program and came forward to let officials know who had the weapons. The program started by Crimestoppers head E. Winslow ‘Buddy’ Chapman, offers cash awards for information regarding weapons in schools.

Security screenings in schools now reflect a redoubled effort, said Cash, adding that such screenings must be conducted randomly throughout the day in addition to morning screenings.

“Students can be creative if they really want to get weapons into a school,” he said. “That’s why it’s so important for us to continue to build this culture, which I do see coming about, that gets students and staff saying, ‘we absolutely will not tolerate any weapons on our campus.’”

Godwin said the Police Department works as closely as possible with MCS security.

“It’s real simple with me. The school is the community; the community is the school. School safety is public safety,” he said.

Godwin said Police are investigating the recent incidents that prompted the conference.

Police are involved with a number of groups, agencies and initiatives with the goal of interrupting the source of firearms, he said.

“We are not going to tolerate crime occurring in and around these schools. On the way over here I contacted my organized crime commander. We are going to increase patrol,” said Godwin

“We are going to add officers out here. We are going to do it in a covert way. We are going to do it in an overt way. But we are going to address this problem.”

Cash said when the data is examined to get at why students are bringing weapons to schools, it becomes apparent that students feel safe in school. Many of the students involved in weapons scenarios are students that move often from school to school, have been arrested before and have been in and out of the juvenile justice system and may be associated with a gang, he said  

At their new schools, the students may find a different gang that has a stronghold in that school, Cash said.

 “And so when they leave school or are going home from school in their new community, they feel threatened. That is no excuse, however, for bringing guns onto school.”

Cash said MCS is committed to helping with the transition of the students and to helping them get into alternatives other than gangs.

“But our unified message here today is that absolutely, no how will we tolerate weapons in schools and we want to support the full prosecution by the Memphis Police for such offenses.”

He said top MCS officials will be moving through the system to make sure individual school principals and administrators are doing what they are required to do. There will be disciplinary action for breaching policy and procedure, he said.