JACKSON COUNTY, W.Va. (WCHS) — Jackson County now has a mobile weapons detection system for secondary schools.

This is all part of the ongoing partnership between the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department and the county school system and what has become known as the Shield Program.

On Wednesday, they launched the weapons detection system at Ripley High School, but it will not stay there. It is an easily mobile system, meaning it will pop up at different schools and different events at unannounced times.

It is the same element of surprise that’s been the unique factor of the county’s Shield Program.

“It goes from venue to venue, school to school at various times various places," Jackson County Sheriff Ross Mellinger said. "Again, the element of surprise is key when you don’t have the funding and resources and staff to cover every school, so you try to make it as random as possible.”

The Shield Program started in 2022, placing deputies at different schools randomly throughout the day. Ideally, detection systems would be in all schools along with a resource officer, but when that is not possible, this is the next best thing.

“Safety is our top priority, not only for our students but for our staff," Jackson County Schools Superintendent Will Hosaflook said. "For our staff to feel safe and for our students to feel safe, that just creates a more conducive learning environment.”

The new weapons detection system system cost $25,000 but did not come out of county budgets. They secured the funding from two local nonprofits, the We Care Foundation and the Jackson County Community Foundation.

“We’re just very blessed," Hosaflook said. "We’re very blessed to have the Jackson County Community Foundation, the We Care Foundation, as well as the sheriff’s deputies working together to make our students and employees safe."

Mellinger said the first day exceeded expectations at Ripley High as they scanned about 300 students coming in. He said this was a big goal for the Shield Program as he hopes it continues to remind the public that they want to be proactive and not stuck in neutral.

“It’s a program I’m pretty proud of," Mellinger said. "It's very unique. I’ve had a lot of administrators and different police agencies reach out to me and ask about the program, and I tell them all the same. It’s not trying to reinvent the wheel.

"You’re partnering with your community leaders and getting the funding in place and doing the best with the resources you have but making things spontaneous and random is really the key. Keep everybody on their toes.”

If everyone is pleased with how the first system works, Mellinger said the two foundations that purchased the first one do intend to purchase another either in November or December.