Administrative lapses and Arapahoe High Murder

Recent revelations by an Arapahoe High School security guard suggest administrative apathy and a lack of proactivity at Arapahoe High School where a student openly carrying a shotgun entered the school and murdered another student.  Among the allegations are that administrators discouraged staff from reporting on troubled students, ignoring warning signs and attempting to stifle criticism.   See also this article. 

More on Arapahoe High Murder

The student who entered Arapahoe H.S. openly carrying a shotgun entered through a double door that should have been locked.  Instead, it was propped open for easier access for students and staff.   Tragedy often brings irrational responses.  The Sheriff said because the murder was intent on killing "he would have found a way to enter that school."  Arguably if a serious security system was in place the killer might not have been able to enter and might have been intercepted by armed personnel OUTSIDE the school.  The DA said there wasn't anything "that could have been done differently."  Really?  How about a proactive, target-hardening security system?  Where do they find these people?  Perhaps he was talking about he response of law enforcement and personnel. How about some kind of surveillance system, warning system, and more armed personnel (including trained licenses educational personnel) in the school.  Quick action by a janitor and armed school resource office prevented more casualties.  Some have argued that gun control laws kept the shooter from buying an "assault rifle" with a large capacity magazine.  This may be true, but misses the point.  No matter how the intruder is armed, if he or she can't get in the building it doesn't matter what they are carrying to kill inside the building.  Weaponry could be relevant to the results of a confrontation OUTSIDE the school.  However, trained personnel should be armed with weaponry adequate to match whatever the intruder has.  If the system gives these personnel a warning, their chances of a successful, low casualty intervention increases.    Hindsight is always 20/20, but there is no excuse for not being pro-active and using surveillance and communication expertise.   As I have stated before, think "target hardening."  For those who say all these efforts will hurt the learning atmosphere I say:  Would you rather have them dead in warm, relaxed, friendly atmosphere of denial, or alive in a security-conscious one?  Get real!  It can happen any place any time. We have got to face the reality of the existence of  violent people who will kill senselessly.  More importantly, let's not forget about Claire Davis, the innocent victim, and the tragedy of a young life ended senselessly.  Let's not forget about the pain of her friends and family.  RIP.  Don't forget about the pain for the family and friends of the suicidal killer.  Two young people died senselessly.  Keep them all in your prayers.

Common sense and school shootings

School shootings have tended to dominate the news in recent years. Here’s one man’s view based on some of the incidents and the research.  First, over the long haul, school shootings, like violent crime in general, has been going down (in spite of more guns and more licensed gun carriers).  More young people die in swimming pools than in schools.  Roughly 50 times as many young people are murdered AWAY from school than are murdered in school.  This is not to downplay the tragedy of school shootings, but to provide some perspective.  Secondly it’s time to get serious about target-hardening and becoming proactive.  These young people tend to send out hints of their plan.  A planned school shooting in Trinidad, CO was arguably thwarted by a tip to a school resource officer.  Everyone has got to pitch in and start sharing information.   Given young folks’ obsession with social media, that should be an obvious place to start watching.  In the Arapahoe High School shooting the killer approached the school with his shotgun in open sight.  How/why did he get into the school? The presence of an armed deputy who intervened relatively quickly arguably  saved lives. Security cameras, door locking systems, metal detectors and armed police or trained security guards and/or armed, trained staff seem like a good investment.  Hasn’t anyone heard of the concept of “target-hardening?”    The la-la-landers will whine that such actions will harm the “learning atmosphere.” It seems to me that a feeling of security would help that atmosphere.  Young people are flexible and will adjust.   How long does it take to restore that atmosphere AFTER a shooting?  After a while, no one at the school will notice the changes anymore. The wackos and pathological gun haters and fearers will continue to argue against  armed, trained protective  people in school. Get over it and get real about solutions!  It would seem that security needs to be priority one.  Perhaps schools need more counselling and more cracking down on bullying to help the potential shooters before they let loose.  Perhaps parents need more awareness and need to check on their kids more.  Schools and others have got to get proactive.  Parent are required by law to send their children to school.  School boards and administrators have a responsibility to these students.  When obvious safety mechanisms are not in place, boards and administrators should be held accountable.  Let’s top wasting time arguing about gun control, guns and get some things done that might actually work.