September is traditionally considered back to school month for most cities and states. Typically, the shift from summer vacation to preparation for the upcoming school year happens around the 2nd or 3rd week in August when families begin to receive messages from advertisers and local stores fill their shelves with school supplies. Unfortunately, there is nothing traditional any longer with our schools, and for that matter, how families, students, teachers, and faculty prepare mentally and emotionally for a new school year.
The country effectively ended the 2021/22 school year on May 24, 2022, with a mass shooting which took the lives of 19 students, 2 teachers and wounded 17 others at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. This tragedy established a new reality that our country’s schools were no longer a safe sanctuary to send our children off to, and that learning to survive had now become an essential part of every school’s curriculum. The fact is, the shooting and killing did not end that day. There were 13 reported school shootings between May 25th – June 20th, 10 of them involved the use of a firearm, and 2 resulted in the apprehension and death of the shooter.
You don’t have to take my word for this, The Center for Homeland Defense and Security has been collecting the data. This group reached out to me and other security professionals to review and analyze their data to determine its usefulness, purpose, and application. The attached report and data dates as far back as 1970 and is current thru June 30, 2022. This link https://www.chds.us/ssdb/data-map/ will also provide you with an interactive view of the 2068 Shootings, 684 Fatalities and 1937 Injuries, which have occurred at schools throughout the United States.
Integrated Security Services, with 28 years of industry experience, and 20 years spent in school security and safety, believes it is time to take a closer look at how security professionals are approaching this crisis. While possessing the tactical knowledge and experience to offer advice and provide essential services, more than ever security professionals must approach this task with common sense solutions that focus on self-empowerment, situational awareness, with a goal of restoring peace & tranquility to our schools.
Schools have always been one of the most dynamic institutional environments with an abundance of risks and vulnerabilities. Caring for and teaching our children is both a challenge and sacred task. Schools are also imperfect and are a microcosm of the world around us. While technology, rules and enforcement tactics are part of the every day solution, to achieve balance, we must also rely on our common sensibilities and look towards a more holistic approach to safety that embraces culture, community, and industry best practices.
My leadership team and I have asked all our school clients to look inward and take a careful look at their life safety program which begins with mental preparedness. Surviving an active shooter event, and any emergency begins with Situational Awareness. Situational Awareness is a mindset, being aware of what is happening around you in terms of where you are, where you’re supposed to be, what role you play within the school and whether anyone or anything around you poses a threat to your school’s health and safety.
Surviving an active shooter event requires delaying the act itself. This occurs in layers when organized correctly. School security and safety breaks down into several interrelated operating systems:
- Structural
- Environmental
- Procedural
- Technical
- Physical Security [Uniform Guard Services]
- Leadership
Within each of these layers are sub-systems that must perform independently as well as collectively to safeguard your school against a potential threat. The relationship between these operating dynamics is what defines any property’s life safety capabilities and emergency preparedness. Also important to remember is that not all security and safety matters are caused by armed predators. Next, it is critical for each school to have a robust intelligence gathering system to identify a mental health crisis amongst students and faculty. Assessing, documenting, and timely reporting will delay an on-campus event.
The Human Factor. We cannot overstate the importance of having an established physical security presence. This is your school’s first line of defense. A well-adapted and trained uniform security professional is not optional. While technology can track, alert, and memorialize a possible security breach, nothing can replace the intuitive human factor to observe, respond and protect. Surviving a mass shooting event or other non-shooting emergency rests with your dedicated security staff. I cannot implore upon all schools to revisit how important a strong uniform presence deters criminal behavior and establishes a first line response. A casual approach to physical security will only serve to reduce your delay tactic capabilities and elevate your risks.
We also highly recommend, if your school has not undergone a recent security and safety assessment, to consider this a smart initial step to take. While recent tragedies at our countries schools have once again made us all feel unsafe, unfortunately, there has been a reactionary, ad-hoc response to purchase trendy equipment or arm teachers to improve the likelihood of surviving a mass shooting; I assure you this is not the answer.
A top-to-bottom assessment will not only provide school leadership with very valuable data, but will establish a blueprint based on site specific observations, best industry practices and manageable solutions that do not conflict with your school’s operating culture. The cornerstone of any effective life safety program requires empowerment along with a layered logistic, that includes but is not limited to policy, planning, technology, and trained personnel to carry out those plans.
At Integrated Security Services, we take school safety very seriously. We are currently providing security services at 17 private schools throughout New York City and are approved security providers by the NYC Department of Administration Citywide Services. Should you like more information on our products and services please visit our website at www.intesecurity.com or contact us 24/7 at our toll-free number (888) 808-9119 to speak with one of our school security experts.
