DAPHNE, Ala. — Daphne Police officers at Coffee with the Mayor Thursday discussed ongoing preventive measures in public schools.

Sgt. Robin Snider and School Resource Officer Mike Williams visit Daphne public schools daily to teach children safe behavior, according to officials.

“On a normal day we try to rotate all the schools … including grammar schools,” Snider said.

Officers said they talked to middle school students about the same issues before nude picture trading at Daphne Middle School made headlines. Three DMS sixth-graders and a seventh-grader — two boys, two girls — earlier this month were suspended for five days in connection with the photo trade and general cell phone use; portable communication devices are banned within the county’s public school system.

“About the Daphne Middle School incident: We just had a five week program with them before that telling them not to bring cell phones, bring guns, blow up the school … ,” he said. “The biggest problem we’ve had is second- and third-graders with nude pictures on the cell phones. That’s not only a Daphne problem, that’s a nationwide problem.”

One technique police use to deter such distractions is encouragement, officials said.

“Some of them need attention. I go up and pat them on the back and tell them, ‘I’m here to help you get an education.’ If they get an OCS (on-campus suspension) I’ll tell them it’s not the end of the world. I’ll say, ‘You come back to school tomorrow with a better attitude,” Williams said.

Officers said the students are not the only people in need of information.

“Parents need to be educated too,” Snider said.

Police Capt. Daniel Bell gave a hockey analogy to beg parents for interaction.

“How many hockey players do we have in here?”

No response.

“Me neither. I don’t know a thing about hockey, but I can tell you if my child started playing hockey, I would go get a book about it.”

He said that parents should learn about anything their child is interested in.

“Parents always seem to say, ‘I don’t understand it; I don’t know what to do about it,’” he said of cell phones and computers. “There’s no reason the parents can’t participate as well. Learn about the phone together.”

Knowledgeable parents can utilize parental controls and enter codes to protect youngsters from adult materials on the Internet.

Officers also addressed weapon-toting teens and drug use.

Random drug checks and annual campus-wide searches discourage students from carrying contraband, Bell said.

Schools have metal detecting wands to prevent arms and police conduct annual checks to search out security weaknesses.

“We send undercovers on campus (without a visitors badge) … teachers should detain them,” he said.

Police also call in fabricated emergency situations, he said. They have the school lock down, then officers walk the campus in search of wanderers.

Officers agreed that paying attention can prevent negative situations.

“In my opinion, we live in one of the safest cities there are, but that doesn’t exclude the criminal element from coming to us,” he said.

Sharon Cureton, human resources director, asked whom parents can contact, for more help.

“Who can I call if I hear children talk about certain kids with drugs and things?” she said.

Snider and Williams said the public can report the problem to police, who will communicate with school officials.

“If you have any kind of suspicion, just give us a call,” Bell said.

To reach the Daphne Police Department, call 621-9100.