PREVENTING COLUMBINES AND SANDY HOOKS

Christian author and former police official Greg ‘Gadfly’ Doyle responded to "Stopping An Armed Homicidal-Suicidal Maniac" (12-17-12) with a workable plan on how to make schools safe and prevent shootings like those that occurred at Columbine High School and Sandy Hook Elementary School.

PROTECTING SCHOOL CHILDREN FROM ATTACKS BY ARMED INTRUDERS
By Greg Doyle

After I promoted to detective, Upland [California] High School had a huge problem with non-students gaining access to the campus during school hours. Around 1991/92, we had a shooting on the perimeter of the campus between two non-students. After Upland PD apprehended a suspect, the Upland Unified School District Board of Trustees and the superintendent invited me to attend a closed session meeting to ask me what I thought was the most effective way to minimize the risk of another shooting.

Having worked that campus as a School Resource Officer, and observing the habits of the staff and student on campus and the police responses, I came to the conclusion that the most effective response was to harden the target (the campus), restrict access to non-students by the installation of barriers, and retrain the staff. The idea was based on common crime prevention models that discourage opportunists from choosing a target that was easy to attack. Much like the principle of placing a locking device on a car steering wheel to discourage car thieves, an opportunist will most likely move on to an easier target.

The School District took my recommendations and erected 10-foot-high see-through metal fencing, which had no foothold capability. They gated off access with the same type of material. Teachers and staff were re-trained in responding to and handling crisis situations involving intruders. Since that improvement, Upland HS and all schools in the district received the same fencing and training. No shootings have occurred in over twenty years on any school sites in that district.

And I suspect access to the school was the most critical factor in the shooter's ability to harm staff and students. Yet I doubt it will get any traction in the press or from the current Administration. We shall see.