Protective Services
David Grissom
Director of Protective Services
Dave began his career as a sworn officer with the Hobart, Indiana, Police Department. Hobart is a small community in northwest Indiana with a population of about 25,000. While serving as an officer, Dave was in charge of all internal investigations in addition to serving as the Hobart School District SOR Officer where he taught the D.A.R.E. program to fifth-grade students and coached high school basketball and baseball.
Dave was eventually promoted to Detective Bureau Commander before retiring from the force in 2013.
Since then, Dave has been responsible for the Beaufort County School District's security, investigations, and emergency management. He is the liaison between the district and area law enforcement.
Dave is a graduate of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia and a proud veteran of the U. S. Army. He also enjoys coaching basketball and baseball at H.E. McCracken Middle School.
Dave can be reached by email or call 843-322-0777.
Protective Services oversees district-wide security for all district and school buildings and enforces security initiatives and school security audits including Emergency Management (Emergency Management Planning, School District representative on the County EOC, School District representative on the Recovery Task Force), Internal Investigations (Investigation at the School and/or District Level), and Liaison with area Law Enforcement (School Resource Officer Program in ten schools, Coordinate with Police/Sheriffs on Cooperative Initiatives)
PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES
- Security fencing
- Improved exterior lighting
- Digital security cameras installed or scheduled to be installed, in all schools
- Live Eye--All high school (and some other school's) website security cameras viewable to law enforcement in emergency situations.
- Photo ID required for staff in all schools.
- School readiness (security) audits.
- Re-design of school lobbies to force, by design, visitors to enter main office prior to gaining access to the school. Installed or being installed in all schools.
- Visitor sign-in system, with sex offender check, installed or scheduled to be installed in all schools
- Intercom/cameras installed, or scheduled to be installed, in all school on the front doors to the schools.
- Keyless card access scheduled to be installed on all schools.
- Law enforcement K-9 drug sweeps (encouraged at high and middle schools.)
- School Stat; crime mapping of arrests and certain crimes at each school on a daily basis with data recorded on large maps of the district.
- Cooperation relationship with area law enforcement.
- Rapid Responder System in all schools. Website-based pre-planning with First Responders for emergency response to all school. Including, but not limited to, police, fire , EMS staging areas, parent re-unification area, evacuation routes and sites, hundreds of photos of each school from both inside and outside, photos of key utilities, gas shut off, water, electrical etc, contact teams, individual school response plans.
- Flip Chart in all classrooms. Flip chart-style books with the 16 most probable scenarios that will require teacher or staff action. Books contain bullet points for immediate actions for teachers to take control of and contain an emergency.
- Classes for staff and teachers (Personnel Protection, How to Communicate with Angry People, Inhalants, Gangs, etc.)
- Investigations and case preparation on internal investigations.
- Available to respond to all schools for support or consultation on security matters or disturbance related issues.
- Available to senior staff on law enforcement related issues.