School Security Protocols Evolving

Following a recent in district security meeting with our local Chief of Police and the Special Security Liaison for the schools, I was struck by the ever changing and evolving protocols related to security in our schools.  In particular, a new movement afoot Nationally for "Lock Down" procedures that includes "Fighting Back!"  Being a former military man this resonates with me and is more in line with my beliefs as I feel our duty and responsibility to our children goes beyond simply hiding with them and waiting for the threat will pass.

As an administrator I understand and support the need for planning, drilling and keeping order during any crisis.  In most cases the established protocols are effective and should continue be carried out as noted in the following article that appeared in 2007:

Back to Lockdown Basics

Schools have been using lockdown protocols with success for the past 30 to 40 years. Acts of workplace violence, emergency room shootings, K-12 and higher education shooting rampages demonstrate the need for our campuses to have this lifesaving capability.

by Michael Dorn - Also by this author

July 01, 2007 | Comments (0) | Post a comment

A public high school in the Asheville, N.C., region had just conducted a lockdown drill in the early 1970s when the need arose to implement an actual emergency lockdown. A mentally ill individual began shooting beverage cans he had placed on the trunk of a car and had to be shot and killed by local police in the front school parking lot. Though clearly a bad situation, lockdown procedures protected students and staff from the dangerous intruder.

While this traditional type of Lock down works for certain situations, many believe it leaves our students, faculty and staff in a defenseless position, which I agree. Fighting back may be the difference between surviving or simply becoming another statistic.  This new protocol is labeled the ALICE method:   ALICE is an acronym for Alert, Lock down, Inform, Counter, and Evacuate.

Marietta Police Department Patrolman, Patrick Gragan recently gave the same information to their local high school stating, "The most important part about Alice is the E, evacuate, put distance between you and the problem," explains Gragan.

Typical classroom in lockdown mode

Inform does away with code words but more so is about telling everyone what is happening at all times and where the shooter is.

Counter is about distracting and actively stopping the shooter.

When looking back at tragic events such as Columbine, we see that the lock down procedures actually lead to higher casualty/death rates as the procedures yielded defenseless unmovable targets.