Authorities are working on a plan to prevent further suicides at Palo Alto train crossings, new Police Chief Dennis Burns told a beginning journalism class on Oct. 28.

Over the past six months, there were four Gunn High School students lost to suicides at train crossings. Burns, who was recently confirmed as Palo Alto’s new police chief by City Council, said, “Basically, our main focus will be those train tracks.”

However, because of budget cuts, the Palo Alto Police Department only has 160 officers, with about a dozen who are on patrol at any given time. Therefore, police are not able to keep an eye on the crossings 24/7, Burns said.

To compensate for this lack of personnel, the PAPD is considering training Palo Alto citizens to conduct a “citizen’s patrol of the train tracks,” Burns said. According to a Palo Alto Weekly article posted on June 5, Gunn students have already tried the idea. However, with police training and assistance, a renewed citizens’ patrol could provide a more organized suicide prevention method.

Burns said that the function of the patrol would be to mainly “observe and report” so that police could become involved if necessary.

Even with an around-the-clock vigilante force at the crossings, Burns said that some parents still might not be satisfied.

“People feel that children are safer if an officer is around,” he said.

Authorities think that learning more about the mental stress that suicide-endangered teens are facing could also prevent suicides. To do this, the police department would be working with psychologists to research what preventive measures could be taken. However, the research process may not bring results quickly enough.

“It’s going to take a long time,” Burns said.

Burns also wants all of his officers to attend a 40-hour “teen crises” class that would help officers identify a person who is in mental danger.