{"id":1492724,"date":"2022-05-26T08:30:28","date_gmt":"2022-05-26T12:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1492724"},"modified":"2022-05-26T08:30:31","modified_gmt":"2022-05-26T12:30:31","slug":"we-can-do-a-better-job-of-securing-our-schools-when-focus-on-what-works","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-can-do-a-better-job-of-securing-our-schools-when-focus-on-what-works\/","title":{"rendered":"We Can Do A Better Job Of Securing Our Schools When Focus On What Works"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">30<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwe-can-do-a-better-job-of-securing-our-schools-when-focus-on-what-works%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1492724&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In December 2012, I was published in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inquirer.com\/philly\/opinion\/20121231_Guns__common_sense___low-hanging_fruit_.html\"> Philadelphia Daily News<\/a> to offer effective school safety in response to the Sandy Hook massacre.<\/p>\n<p>In 2016, it was the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azcentral.com\/story\/opinion\/op-ed\/2016\/07\/13\/mass-shooting-solutions\/86754248\/\"> Arizona Republic<\/a> that published my five recommendations to address mass violence following the Orlando and San Bernardino attacks.<\/p>\n<p>Now, seven years and numerous<a href=\"https:\/\/www.securitymagazine.com\/authors\/2458-a-benjamin-mannes\"> articles<\/a> and news<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FPwf23E4Xzo&#038;list=PLHrdI4HrIDbCeJtKVM_W0lXAa8LRHNMVC&#038;index=5\"> appearances<\/a> on security later, I find myself writing again in response to the horrendous<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/uvalde-texas-shooting-school-districts-nationwide-security\"> school shooting<\/a> this week in Uvalde, Texas.<\/p>\n<p>As a nationally-recognized subject matter expert in public safety, I find myself once again disappointed at how basic recommendations for school safety have still not been met. I am disheartened at how massacres like Uvalde are immediately politicized by the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/us\/we-are-failing-matthew-mcconaughey-on-gun-control-amid-hometown-shooting\/ar-AAXHoYK\"> media<\/a> and our<a href=\"https:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/biden-uvalde-school-shooting-012901508.html\"> political class<\/a> promotes plans that have little chances of success.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, in response to these horrifying acts of mass violence, Americans tend to oversimplify the issue and distract the nation toward wedge issues. This is because most citizens and lawmakers have little experience in security or violent crime, and they do not know that addressing these issues is more complex than simply \u201cgetting the guns off the street\u201d or \u201cstopping a bad guy with a gun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As someone who has<a href=\"https:\/\/benmannes.com\/mannes-partner-seraph-help-secure-americas-schools\/\"> conducted<\/a> professional security assessments for public facilities, K-12 schools, and colleges, I have made recommendations for fundamental cultural approaches toward security in order to prevent and\/or mitigate future incidents.<\/p>\n<p>Sadly, in the 23 years since the Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, no substantive national policy or guidance regarding school security has been developed. This is largely because our collective response to mass violence is often pivots away from actionable ways to prevent attacks and toward wedge issues like gun control and mental health.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Thus, we lose focus on the fact that the majority of America\u2019s schools today have little to no effective physical security measures, operational (tested) security plans, nor an insider threat investigation program. While education leaders commonly cite a lack of<a href=\"https:\/\/www.the74million.org\/article\/the-state-of-school-security-spending-heres-how-states-have-poured-900-million-into-student-safety-since-the-parkland-shooting\/\"> budget<\/a> or not wanting to \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usnews.com\/news\/articles\/2015\/01\/30\/are-school-resource-officers-part-of-the-school-to-prison-pipeline-problem\">turn our schools into prisons<\/a>\u201d for the lack of school security, it is clear that ignoring this threat and \u201choping for the best\u201d is an irresponsible approach.<\/p>\n<p>In discussing what should be done following an attack, America often seeks a \u201cone size fits all\u201d approach, such as banning AR-15-platform rifles because, as the most common semi-automatic rifle purchased in the United States, they are normally the weapons used in mass shootings. However, the sole gun control \u201csolution\u201d rarely comes from security or law enforcement experts, as our training teaches us to focus on pragmatic approaches, such as<a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2022\/05\/15\/1099009422\/buffalo-shooting-investigation\"> early detection<\/a> of criminal behaviors and how the perpetrator was able to<a href=\"https:\/\/patch.com\/pennsylvania\/philadelphia\/ariel-benjamin-mannes-school-security-auditing\"> access<\/a> his victims, as opposed to merely the weapon used.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>A more effective approach is taken in other countries, like<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cga.ct.gov\/2013\/rpt\/2013-R-0119.htm\"> Israel<\/a>, where a global review of these incidents prompt a continual recalibration of school security, as top-down security protocols exist to address public safety vulnerabilities.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>As someone who has worked closely with school districts and education department officials to conduct system-wide security assessments of operations, facilities, plans, and procedures focused on protection and prevention, I can attest that no basic guidelines exist in America as they do in Israel.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Therefore, the responsibility for creating a stepwise approach to strengthen school security measures and technologies shouldn\u2019t be hinged on external legislation or outside agencies as the responsibility for protecting our children and teachers currently belongs to local school boards and administrators.<\/p>\n<p>A good indicator of whether this responsibility is considered a priority in your area is whether or not your local school district has a dedicated security force or police agency. Major school systems like<a href=\"https:\/\/whyy.org\/articles\/weapon-scans-philadelphia-school-district-middle-schoolers\/\"> Philadelphia<\/a> and New York have metal detectors in many schools, but their \u201cschool police\u201d are unarmed and lack proper training, equipment, or legal authority. In contrast, smaller districts in states like Mississippi and Georgia have full-service school police agencies, even without distinctions like Philadelphia, which has schools consistently rated as \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.phillytrib.com\/news\/12-philly-schools-on-persistently-dangerous-list\/article_0e61d167-45ac-5bf2-9bac-90e1d776cd0a.html\">persistently dangerous<\/a>\u201d by the Department of Education. This is not simply a \u201cred state vs. blue state\u201d cultural argument, evident by the fact that<a href=\"https:\/\/www.baltimorecityschools.org\/school-police\"> Baltimore<\/a> and<a href=\"https:\/\/achieve.lausd.net\/laspd\"> Los Angeles<\/a> have dedicated school police agencies with the capabilities and same authority as their municipal counterparts.<\/p>\n<p>The presence of campus police or armed security is a sign that your local school \u2014 whether it is public, private, or faith-based \u2014 recognizes that these threats indeed exist and need to be responded to in an immediate manner. As was evident in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2018\/03\/04\/opinions\/parkland-columbine-tactics-opinion-gagliano\/index.html\"> Parkland<\/a> shooting, law enforcement tactics designed for hours-long sieges like Columbine and Beslan have shifted to active shooter incidents lasting, conservatively, two to ten minutes in length, which is far faster than the average municipal law enforcement response time. Therefore, schools need to adopt a culture of security that integrates a concentric layering of policy, procedures, and physical security measures into daily practices so that multiple, overlapping elements are in place to keep campuses safe.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.securitymagazine.com\/articles\/84798-managing-physical-asset-risk-the-historical-core-of-most-security-programs\">Concentric<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In December 2012, I was published in the Philadelphia Daily News to offer effective school safety in response to the Sandy Hook massacre. In 2016, it was the Arizona Republic that published my five recommendations to address mass violence following the Orlando and San Bernardino attacks. Now, seven years and numerous articles and news appearances &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":843,"featured_media":1492770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1492724","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492724","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/843"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1492724"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1492724\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1492770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1492724"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1492724"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1492724"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}