school shootings prevention
After the tragedy on Friday, December 14, 2012 in Connecticut President Obama said that something has to be done to prevent these acts from continuing regardless of the politics. Many of us are giving thought to what that could be. I have an idea for a series of actions or program that could be taken and implemented that will have a positive result. It is a remedy for the most urgent aspect of the problem and does not address all the circumstances that produce the horrible outcomes we have seen. Specifically it is a series of measures that will allow for an effective response at the scene and provide for a deterrent for commission of these crimes. This was sent to all of my state legislators (Delaware) and most of them in Maryland and Pennsylvania. One responded.
Here is the idea in the form of a list:
1. Allow any public school teacher or employee that meets the physical and other qualifications to attend their states police academy in order to become a certified and fully qualified police officer.
2. Install lockers in multiple locations in every school that are designed to be stocked with weapons and tactical gear intended to meet the expected attack.
A. An analogous threat is fire. Fire extinguishers and smoke alarms are in schools now to prevent death and injury. Gunmen are threats to safety that can be met with analogous procedures and equipment.
3. Issue keys or combinations for the lockers that hold the weapons, vests and other equipment to the teachers or others who have graduated from the training program.
A. Not all lockers need to be equipped with weapons. Only the ones near the trained personnel’s work locations will carry the needed equipment. For additional security ammunition could be kept at locations other than the weapons lockers.
B. The identities of the trained individuals and the locations of the equipped lockers should be treated as classified information.
4. When an attack commences the trained personnel will initiate a defense in accordance with the plan previously established by the appropriate state authority, probably the State Police.
5. Details of the program will be publicized so that those considering attacking a school may be deterred.
“Portraits of the Victims” on CBS Boston
