SCHOOL SECURITY IN THE 21ST CENTURY

SCHOOL SECURITY IN THE 21^ST CENTURY

R. A. Schultz  

I am currently in my eleventh year of semi-retirement, working whenever I damned well feel like it, as a port and maritime security consultant.  I have amassed a grand total of fifty-one years of experience in law enforcement, intelligence analysis, and physical security, and have been a subject matter expert in anti-terrorism and maritime piracy suppression.  I will say, without hesitation, that the answer to the problem of school shootings, as well as attacks in other venues, is NOT taking firearms away from law-abiding citizens, nor is it taking certain types of weapons away from them, or banning “large-capacity magazines.”  These are all Band-Aids on a much larger problem, just to make progturd legislators feel as if they’ve “DONE SOMETHING!”

The answer to school shootings, just as it is with terrorism and simple street crime is TARGET HARDENING through increased security.

Schools, especially those prominently displaying “Gun-Free Zone” signs, are SOFT targets.  And not just soft targets, but target-rich environments.   Bad guys who want to kill for whatever reason, can easily find a school and open up on a large mass of totally defenseless victims.

I’ll offer here some things that can be done to harden school targets.  My list will by no means be all-inclusive, but it will at least be a start.

First, get rid of the “Gun-Free Zone” signs whose only purpose is to advertise that a bad guy with a gun can do his dirty work with little fear of being stopped immediately.  The old adage applies here: “Remember, when seconds count between life and death, the police are only minutes away.”  Cruel, but true.

Next, select from among the faculty those with firearms experience, preferably prior military or prior law enforcement.  Put these people through intensive firearms re-training, including refresher training in pertinent legal aspects thereof.  Deputize them as reserve police or special deputies, and arm them.  Replace the “Gun-Free Zone” signs with signage indicating that faculty members are armed and will defend their students.  Bad guys will go elsewhere to find their victims.  Don’t doubt me!

The school plant itself can be hardened by limiting access.  The main entrance ONLY will be used to enter the plant, and other entrances will be locked and equipped with panic bars to allow escape from the building, but not access. School identification cards can be produced that can be read by devices allowing students to enter and leave the facility.  We even already have the technology to make such cards obsolete with eye identification systems!  This will necessarily slow mass movements of students into and out of the plant, but this disadvantage can be effectively addressed by staggering student schedules.  Metal detectors will be installed at the main entrance.  All bags, backpacks, briefcases, and whatever carried by students entering the plant will be individually inspected by armed security personnel.

Currently, most interior fencing within school buildings is manually operated or electronically operated at the site of the fencing.  I’m referring to the wall-to-ceiling barriers used to close off areas of the school building, usually employed after-hours to prevent visitors from wandering around and possibly pilfering from classrooms.  These barriers should be retrofitted so that they all can be simultaneously activated at one or more locations by selected faculty personnel using their identification card programmed for such access.

Ground floor escape from the building in the event of an active shooter should be accomplished by pre-selected students launching desks through the windows to provide escape for all.  Hiding in a ground floor classroom is counter-productive. Upper-level classrooms might be equipped with telescoping escape ladders to facilitate similar escape.

Finally, active shooter drills should be conducted as regularly as fire drills.

Will implementation of the foregoing recommendations incur extra expense for school districts?  Yeah, so?

Welcome, my friends, to the reality of the NEW NORMAL of the 21^st century.