Hutto’s police chief has been credited with an initiative on school safety. Chief Jeff
Chief Jeff Yarbrough recently received the 2022 Law Enforcement Award for Professional Achievement from the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement for the creation of a school safety model called the Four Pillars of School Policing. The program is considered a blueprint for effective and transformative school safety and policing.
According to the Hutto Police Deparment, the model is a multilayered approach to school safety in areas that include safety and security concerns such as internal and external building hardening, rapid and effective active shooter response, and threat mitigation. It also focuses on equity to ensure that police officers are trained to recognize the individual needs and value all students.
Yarbrough created the first school district police department in the country to have social workers within the department to assist students struggling with substance abuse as well as social, emotional, behavioral and mental health challenges. Yarbrough says he is proud to be part of the Hutto family and is thankful to have been able to make a positive impact in the area of school safety throughout the state of Texas and the nation.
