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“It’s always in the back of my mind, even when I’m watching them on TV. You’re kind of looking at things. The thing is if I can sit there or any spectator can sit there, and think, ‘Hmmm, that doesn’t look right,’ that’s probably a little bit of a risk there.”

People who are concerned about this issue compare the importance placed on security when it comes to professional sports. They claim that college sporting events do not have enough security, which makes them soft targets. What are the implications of this?

Bill Flynn of the Homeland Security says:

“Stadiums and arenas are a concern, something that we want to pay attention to. Why? Because we’ve seen attacks overseas in resorts, hotels and arenas, so obviously while al-Qaida and the terrorists have attempted to hit hard targets like refineries, soft targets and commercial facilities become more of a target of opportunity.”

I think that McGee and Flynn are raising very valid points here. We all know that college sports is a huge part of our lives. Year in and year out, countless people flock to various stadiums all over the country to witness their teams play. This is especially true during the times of the year when the final games (of whatever sport) come around.

I am sure there would be some who would think that terrorists would not even think of targeting such “insignificant” events. Yet think about it, they know that after 911, the security in major locations throughout the country has been tightened, making it difficult for them to do anything. What would be their next step, if they indeed have one? The soft targets would be the logical answer.

Now I am not trying to incite fear - as I am sure McGee and Flynn are not. It’s just a matter of preventing possible scenarios from happening and not having regrets if they do occur. After all, we are all about keeping our schools safe - why not extracurricular activities such as big sporting events as well?

As things stand right now, though, the NCAA does not seem amenable to the suggestions. The big problem is money. This is where things come at a standstill. Let’s hope that something can be done to keep college stadiums and arenas safer in the coming year.

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So what is the issue here? The incident actually caused an uproar among people who heard about it. There are camps saying that the teacher and the school authorities in fact over reacted. On the other hand, there are those saying that they did the right thing - times have changed and schools have to enact a zero tolerance policy in order to ensure safety.

As I was reading the news article, I was mulling on the incident myself. Did the wood shop teacher do the right thing? Was there a better way that he could have handled the situation? Same thing for the assistant principal - was calling the police in the best course of action?

This occurrence is actually indicative of the dilemma that school administrators are facing, I believe. On the one hand, they know that they must be strict and enforce security measures to the fullest. On the other hand, they must also take each incident in context and analyze the factors involved in each one.

For this student who fashioned a knife out of a piece of wood - in wood shop, no less - it is hard to say whether the authorities took the best course. I would like to think that if I were the teacher, I would have talked to the student first. Then again, I do not have information regarding the student’s background and if he had any history of violence or insubordination. These things would play a big role as to what decisions school authorities should take.

I know I have not said anything conclusive but I do not think I am in the position to do so. What would you have done?

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The best way to solve growing violence in the Iowa City School District, especially at City High, is to increase staffing, teachers and parents said.

More teachers, hall monitors, special education associates and staff members who work with at-risk students are needed to help accommodate growth and safety concerns at City High, said Tom Yates, an English teacher at the school, to school board members at their meeting Tuesday night.

He said the school is working with 175 more students than last year, including 42 new students since the start of the second trimester last month. He said safety and enrollment are issues that are tied together, especially when it comes to reading and writing classes.

“We have about 1,550 students, and we are staffed for 1,350,” said Yates, a City High graduate who is in his 28th year of teaching at the high school. “I thought we made a deal that we were going to have a cap at 24 (students per writing class). We’re not doing what we need to do with those classes.”

Personally, I understand that there should be a cap for classes. I am a firm believer in the idea that the fewer the students in a class, the more effective the learning process. This is due to the fact that the teacher would have more time and more chances to monitor the progress of each student.

How does this translate to school safety? I suppose that if there are more people to monitor the actions of students and the goings on within the school premises, there will be more chances of catching trouble while it is still early. It does make sense, doesn’t it?

Yet catching trouble is not really the same as solving the root of school safety issues, is it? I go back to my main idea that we should be teaching our children to behave responsibly and safely wherever they may be. Again, prevention over reaction. It seems to me that increasing the staff members in school is more of a reactive thing than preventive. Am I making sense?

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I think this is where some changes could be made. It is well and good that safety checks - unannounced at that - are conducted periodically. This keeps school administrators on their toes. However, what sense does it make to fine these schools when there are things that could be improved?

I guess what I am saying is this - what assurance do we have that being fined will encourage the school administrators to get rid of the hazards that are present in their schools? I have no idea how much the fine is - this probably depends on the degree of the violations. No matter what the amount of the fine is, though, wouldn’t it be better to use this money to fix the schools?

An alternative could be to require the schools to pay money that will go directly into solving the safety problems in their buildings. Maybe the fines that are levied could be funneled into “fix a school” programs or something like that. However, this may not be the best course of action - as we all know, money and action have a way of getting lost somewhere in the depths of bureaucracy.

Another thing about the inspections of Hawaii public schools - it seems that the authorities are not disclosing the names of the public schools wherein they found safety violations. Their rationale is that they do not want to single out specific schools. I suppose they are trying to protect the reputation of these schools. The good intention is apparent. Sometimes, though, good intentions do not really mean much.

Aren’t the parents and the school children entitled to knowing whether their schools are safe or not? If I were a parent, I would rather know what the real situation is. That does not immediately mean that I would stop letting my child go to school. Maybe, more proactively, I would be able to do something to help resolve the situation. Parents being in the know could actually be a good thing - they can take certain steps to ensure that repairs and other safety measures can be employed.

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Six teenagers were wounded by gunfire Tuesday in a shooting at a school bus stop in Las Vegas, Nevada, local police said.

The shooting took place near a high school in northeastern Las Vegas, and the victims were between 16 and 17 years old, police spokesman Marc Joseph told reporters.

Joseph said the shooting was possibly related to an altercation which took place on Monday.

“It appears to be juveniles …around 16-17 years (old),” he said. “As the juveniles exited the bus, the shooting took place, which resulted in 6 people shot.

“At least 2 suspects are outstanding, at least six victims transported to the hospital.”

He added that police had already detained some of those suspected of involvement in the shooting.

The assault came after a gunman murdered four people Sunday at two religious centers in Colorado, before killing himself, and in a year that saw the worst ever US school shooting at Virginia Tech University, where a deranged student killed 32 people.

There is no mention of the shootings being related to schools and school safety in this news clip but it does make one wonder - is this occurrence something that should concern those who are working in the field of school safety?

The teenagers were aged 16 to 17 and were all from Mojave High School. The cause of the shooting? Reports say that it was about a girl. Apparently, there was a fight earlier within the school premises which was broken up by school police. This ended in some students being arrested. Sheriff Doug Gillespie says that he believes that the fight is linked to the shooting which occurred later in the day.

This statement does make the incident related to school safety. Yet how do we deal with something like this? Though the fight occurred with in school premises, the shooting was outside of the school. Is that something that school safety officials can deal with? More so, do they have to deal with it?

I honestly do not have a concrete answer except that I think the issue, once again, goes beyond securing our schools. I think that the solution to problems like this one lies in the upbringing of our children. If we rear them to be law abiding and respectful of others, shootings over a girl may be avoided. It may be symptomatic of seeing the world through rose-tinted glasses, but that is the only solution that I can come up with right now. What about you?

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1. Establish a Crisis Planning and Management Team which includes faculty, staff as well as your security, safety and emergency response providers, including, if possible, a representative from local law enforcement. Leading this CPMT should be one or two individuals with experience and/or knowledge re crisis planning.
2. According to James McGinty of the Public Agency Training Council, “School Crisis Management Teams at district and site levels utilizing the nationally recognized Incident Command System, which provides a comprehensive organizational structure, role assignment, and decision-making process to prepare for and respond to all types of crises”are crucial to the resolution of catastrophic as well as “routine” violence and/or crisis.
3. Schools – and I am talking all schools from elementary to graduate school – need to establish definitive policies and procedures codifying a:
   • Chain-Of-Command regarding all crisis situations, from harassment to hostage situations. Establish who will be in charge of each response level to various types of crisis. Appoint a Crisis-Director and Sub-Commanders, if the director is unavailable. This chain should be publicized throughout the school (district).
   • Codes and Communications are crucial in every type of crises. Establish methods of communicating to everyone in the school system, including students, parents, teachers, security personnel and other staff.

Ø The Nature of the Emergency. Communicate to all the nature or a situation, either in clear language or through subtle codes on a public address system what is happening, where it is happening, who must assemble in the specific Staging Site, where, who must attend to the crisis, etc. In the case of a shooter in the halls, for instance, students and teachers might need to either evacuate the building now, or lock down, while security personnel need to rush immediately to a pre-planned “Staging Area (assemble-point)” where he/she/they can be briefed.

Ø Lock-Down or Evacuate. Establish a protocol regarding circumstances demanding immediate and coordinated responses, such as Locking-Down or Evacuating the building(s).

Ø Identify personnel who will have access to secured areas.

Ø Lockdown and Evacuation (Fire) Drills. Conduct pre-planned, announced and coordinated Lockdown and Evacuation Drills as well as a few spontaneous and realistic drills.

Ø Training. Regularly conduct realistic and dynamic simulation (Stress Inoculation) trainings that coordinate law enforcement, emergency response teams, teachers and other school staff. Such trainings, run correctly, can inoculate trainees with the type of severe survival stress in a safe environment that will replicate the kind of stress the Crisis Management Team will encounter in a real life situation.

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CAUSES OF SCHOOL VIOLENCE

• A DESENSITIZED (TO VIOLENCE) WORLD VIEW.   Today’s youth seem to have a different perception toward violence.  Perhaps because of violent video games; maybe media coverage of violent crimes; maybe the War On Terror. Who knows for sure?  Truth is, though, kids today often perceive catastrophic violence as a perfunctory part of life.  I recently was involved as a peace officer in a grisly, bloody and tragic gang assassination of three 14-year olds.  I overheard two boys looking at the twisted and mutilated bodies of their friends.  “Man, that sucks,” one boy said to the other.  “How ‘bout me an’ you getting’ us some pizza?”  And that was it.  Man, that really sucks; and, then, hey, how about some pizza.
• EXPOSURE TO VIOLENCE WITHIN THE FAMILY AND COMMUNITY.
• CHILD ABUSE AND NEGLECT.
• POOR PARENTING AND A LACK OF INTEREST IN CHILDRENS’ ACTIVITIES.
• PEER PRESSURE TO ENGAGE IN HARASSMENT, BULLYING, ET AL. OF OTHER STUDENTS AND OTHER TYPES OF VIOLENCE, D/A ABUSE, TRUANCY.
• LACK OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION SKILLS (AND/OR TRAINING, AND/OR POOR CONFLICT RESOLUTION MODELING BY PARENTS, OTHER ADULT ROLE MODELS).
• PERCEIVED LACK OF VIABLE OPTIONS FOR SUCCESS AND NON-VIOLENCE THRU LEGITIMATE MEANS.
• FAILURE TO DETECT AND TREAT CHILDREN EXHIBITING WARNING SIGNS OF BEING TROUBLED, HARASSED, BULLIED, VIOLENT.
• THE EASY ACCESS AND AVAILABILITY OF WEAPONS OF DESTRUCTION IN THE COMMUNITY (HANDGUNS, AUTOMATIC WEAPONS, EDGED WEAPONS, BOMBS).
• “HIGH OCTANE YOUTH.”  CHILDREN, TEENS AND/OR YOUNG ADULTS WHO THRIVE ON ADRENALINE, EXCITEMENT AND WHO SEEK SENSATIONAL ATTENTION THROUGH “SENSELESS” ACTS OF HIGH PROFILE VIOLENCE.

PROACTIVE PREVENTIVE MEASURES

 IN THE NEXT BLOG we will examine some doable measures to recognize and respond to these key factors behind violence.  Some of my suggestions are common sense, based in part on the above factors.  Yet, common sense does not mean that doing what is necessary will be easy.  Nevertheless, I think we can no longer afford to withhold necessary changes because of how difficult, time-consuming or even expensive this undertaking will be.   A quick glance at some of my proposals will include:

SCHOOL SECURITY

• Administrators could launch a comprehensive security assessment.
• School Resource Officers’ role needs to be expanded to include law-related counseling and education to students and staff.  Maybe, combined with probation officers and other resources they can supervise and counsel (“troubled”) students.
• Reporting threats and (potential and real) acts of violence requires an open and non-judgmental climate for students, guardians, parents, etc.  My research shows that the failure to report bizarre and inappropriate behaviors, threats and cascading acts of aggression (most of which resulting in serious acts of violence) was a major contributing factor in school violence.

SUPPORT FOR TEACHERS AND OTHER STAFF

• Working in collaboration with faculty, the administration has a responsibility to enforce school rules using quick, consistent and appropriate actions.

PROGRAMS FOR SUSPENDED/EXPELLED STUDENTS

MUCH MORE on these and other recommendations in the next blog.

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This November, Barnowski led the first DSM training ever in northeast Pennsylvania, and very likely anywhere in the Commonwealth, in an 8-hour basic training at the Wilson Area School District, Easton. Pa. Two Wilson Borough Police Officers and PPCT DSM Instructors - E.B. Bud Shull and John Mazzeo - co-trained this inaugural training program. IT Harry “The Hammer” Wigder led many of the hands-on drills and exercises.

The eleven Wilson teachers and security professionals learned DSM threat management skills and techniques in the following areas:

• PPCT Child Escort Controls.
• PPCT (Fighting Students) Separation Techniques.
• PPCT Physical Aggression Management Techniques.
• PPCT Handgun and Long Rifle Disarming Techniques.
• V.I.S.E. (Verbal Intervention Strategies in an Educational Environment).

ALL 11 of the Wilson Staff passed the final Practical Exam. The initial reaction to the training was positive and the Wilson Area School District has indicated it will likely ask for more DSM Basic Trainings for its staff.

“I am looking forward. We are moving forward on this,” Barnowski projected. “School violence is a real problem and I think this program can go a long way to making teachers safer, making our children safer.”

The NCC DSM Instructor cadre includes Barnowski, Mazzeo, Shull and Wigder, plus other very skilled and capable officer-trainers, including City of Bethlehem police officers Jason Fulmer, Chris Benton, David Strawn abd Sgt. Joe Gross. Northampton County Adult Probation Officer Bernie Mikulski rounds out the training cadre.

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FIRST of all, a word about X-Ray Powers.  I have researched and trained Managing Workplace Violence (the educational setting is one of the more violence-prone settings in the U.S.) for years.  Everything I have researched and observed leads me to the conclusion that observation skills (X-Ray Powers) can provide our teachers with Signatures of Danger that, if followed up on, can prevent over 85% of all school (Workplace) violence.  Problem is, in my opinion, many teachers and security personnel observe the following danger signs and actually sense that something is wrong, but they do not realize what they are seeing is a signature of danger.  There are those who even recognize the signs but either don’t know what to do to stop the oncoming attack or ignore the signs in the hopes that what they fear (the deadly threat) will somehow go away.

There are two generic deadly attacks I am considering here:   The Outside Invader involving one or more non-students who dynamically enter the school, using either weapons secreted in the school environment during a previous entry.  The adult degenerate who took over an Amish Schoolhouse near Lancaster, Pa. and sexually attacked and shot to death several girls is a grisly and tragic example.

•         The Disenchanted Student who has stewed and fomented over real or perceived grievances, either liberates weapons he has secreted, or, carries a concealed handgun or long rifle into the school environment, and, at a time he chooses for his own particular reasons, liberates the firearm and unleashes fiery death and terror on as many innocent students and teachers as he is capable of.  Do I have to state the legion of serial slayings?  Virginia Tech.  Columbine.  Recently, Montgomery County, Pa.  Read any paper and in a short time you will see a real attack or you will hear of a planned attack aborted days before the “planned Columbine-like attack—“ 
• RED FLAGS:  INDICATORS OF A CONCEALED WEAPON. 
•        If the students is concealing a long gun (shotgun, rifle, machine gun, etc.), it will have to be a duster, raincoat or overcoat.  In several terrorist attacks the shooter was outfitted in a heavy coat in warm weather.  Should set off an alarm.  Also the student will have an uncharacteristic stiff-legged gait with one leg.
•        The student-terrorist will index his firearm (subconsciously touch the weapon through his clothing) to reassure himself that the gun is where it is supposed to be, from time to time as he walks.
•    If the handgun is in a coat pocket, its weight will make that side of the jacket swing away from the body as the assassin walks.  To keep this from happening, the gun-wielder will hold that side of the jacket to his side.
•    The Bad Guy will also hold the side of his coat when he sits – otherwise the hidden gun will make a telltale sound as he sits in the chair.  He will also hold the side of his coat where the gun is secreted as he rises from the chair.
•  If the gun is secreted in a jacket pocket, an observant person can tell because:
  • The collar of the coat will be unusually tight against the student’s neck.
  • One side of the coat will hang lower.
  • When firearm is secreted in the waistband in the small of a student’s back, the youngster will lean forward in the chair while seated and will make a telltale move with his strong hand toward his back and lean forward before he draws the gun.  This person will also walk with a restricted gait because of the weight and shape of the gun in his waistband. The person with the gun in the small of his back will sit, more likely than not, where others cannot view his back.
• A firearm, or even an edged weapon, carried in a potential serial killer’s waistband will alter the way a person walks.  Keen observation (X-Ray Powers) can easily detect a person change his stride as he walks down a flight of stairs, his stride on one side shortened, stiffer.  The same when that person steps up.
•  It is hard to predict how and when the Classroom Terrorist will choose to draw the weapon.  It is likely that he will not, if he senses the teacher is aware and is vigilant.  Unfortunately, this type of terrorist is highly unpredictable, and in many cases the student will want to liberate his instrument of death unobserved, but, oftentimes, if he senses he has been “made,” he will quickly liberate the weapon(s) and attempt to attack for pure “shock value.”  In the latter case, the Bad Guy will likely have to pull up a sweater, dig inside a jacket, or fish his weapon out of a belt, and all those moves should be a warning sign to an alert teacher, who, hopefully, will act suddenly, decisively and effectively.

IN the next posting:  My SPEED Threat Management Techniques for disarming and/or disempowering the gun-wielding Classroom Terrorist or serial killer.

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