Incorrect Data in the Aftermath of Troutman, Oregon

Incorrect Data

When dealing with school safety, it is important to use proper data to drive your efforts.  In the wake of the Troutman, Oregon school shooting, bad data has been put forth and swept along by social media, giving the impression that schools are not as safe as they used to be.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Blaze notes a journalist, Charles Johnson, who examined the faulty data from the group Everytown for Gun Safety, a gun control group funded by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg.  Of the 74 "school shootings mapped by the Everytown group, Johnson found issues with 33.  Everytown included every type of shooting imaginable, including, according to Mr. Johnson, some shootings that were only loosely associated with a school.

Analysis

This spring I released a study called Relative Risks of Death in U.S. K-12 Schools. In that report, the definition of an Active Shooter Incident was defined, using the definition put forth by the US Department Of Homeland Security. That definition is, "An Active Shooter is an individual actively engaged in killing or attempting to kill people in a confined and populated area; in most cases, active shooters use firearms(s) and there is no pattern or method to their selection of victims.” This definition separates school shootings from shootings that take happen to take place at schools.

From the year 1998 through 2012, there were only 22 Active Shooter Incidents in K-12 schools.  These incidents resulted in the deaths of 50 students and 12 staff members.  Half of those incidents involved no fatalities, while of the other 11, three (Columbine, Red Lake and Sandy Hook) resulted in 46 (70.8%) of the 62 fatalities.

Active Shooter Incidents are terrifying, chiefly because their target selection is random.  That means anyone at the school is a potential target.  Targeted acts of violence, while dangerous, indicate a community violence issue in which the school is involved along with the community.  Active Shooter Incidents are targets of opportunity; schools just happen to be selected as a target because they have a high number of potential victims.  While one can predict violence at school in a violent community, we have thus far been unable to predict when a school will become a target of an Active Shooter.

School safety is a serious issue, and it is one about which we should have an on-going discussion.  We do no one any service at all by making it a fallacious discussion, using bad data.

Shooting Attack @ Reynolds HS

Shooting Attack in Oregon

Around 8:00am Pacific Time, it was reported that a person dressed in black, with tactical gear including a helmet, and armed with what appeared to be an AR-15, walked into Reynolds High School and opened fire.  Thus far one student is confirmed dead, as is the male shooter.

Early reports have the shooter found in a restroom by a police robot, indicating that he killed himself.

Reynolds is reportedly the second largest high school in Oregon, with over 2,800 students.

Analysis

As always with such events, early accounts have to be taken with a grain of salt.  This has been reported as an Active Shooter Incident, but that may change if the student who was killed was targeted by the shooter.  By DHS definition, targets in an Active Shooter Incident are randomly selected.

Please continue to watch as information is developed and vetted.

Pray for the family of the slain student, and for all the students affected by today's incident.

SPU Hero Releases Statement

SPU Hero

Jon Meis, the man who peppered spray the shooter at Seattle Pacific University, then held him in a choke hold until police arrived released a statement which read, in part,

"To my brothers and sisters at Seattle Pacific University, and my brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the nation and the world,

Words cannot come close to expressing the tragedy that occurred this past week on our campus. Like everyone else, I would hear of these horrible events on the news, but go home knowing that it could never happen to us. On Thursday, my life changed. I was thrown into a life and death situation, and through God’s grace I was able to stop the attacker and walk away unharmed. As I try to return to a normal life in the aftermath of this horrible event, I pray above all things for strength for the victims and their families. While my experience left me in physical shock, I know that many people are dealing with much greater grief than I have experienced, and in honesty I probably would not be able to handle myself right now if I had personally known the victims.

...

However, what I find most difficult about this situation is the devastating reality that a hero cannot come without tragedy. In the midst of this attention, we cannot ignore that a life was taken from us, ruthlessly and without justification or cause. Others were badly injured, and many more will carry this event with them the rest of their lives. Nonetheless, I would encourage that hate be met with love. When I came face to face with the attacker, God gave me the eyes to see that he was not a faceless monster, but a very sad and troubled young man. While I cannot at this time find it within me to forgive his crime, I truly desire that he will find the grace of God and the forgiveness of our community."

Analysis

Jon Meis has followed up his heroic actions with humility and grace.  In Staying Alive, we write about using words to heal, not hurt, after an incident.  Meis' words are a perfect example of how to use words to heal after tragedy.  We write that putting our feelings into words can help a person see the situation more objectively.  Jon has done an excellent job of doing this, and doing so in a positive way.

He is truly a remarkable young man.

Teachers Train in Active Schooter

Teachers Train

The Alabama Association of School Resource Officers conducted Active Shooter Training for educators recently.  The training was different in that the educators were training like the law enforcement officers.  The used guns with simmunitions, real-life guns that shoot paint bullets.

This type of training puts the educators in the shoes of the police officers, and gives them a glimpse of what an Active Shooter Incident is like from their perspective.

Analysis

The Indiana School Safety Specialist Academy conducted similar training a couple of years ago at the Muskatatuck Urban Training Center, specifically in an old hospital.

                                                  Indiana educators move in a 'diamond' formation

I had the privilege of acting as the "red team", which means I played a bad guy.  I had previously received certification from the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Basic Active Shooter Doctrine, and had conducted previous exercises with the Academy.

Watching the educators learn how to move as a response team offered me additional insights into teaching educators tactics.  The teachers and administrators who were involved in the training were eager to learn, and the exposure to the tactics gave them a new-found respect for law enforcement.  In that regard, the training succeeded.

But as far as providing educators with the tactical skills needed to survive in those environments, the two day training fell far short.  I recall in one scenario, a teacher stuck her gun around a corner, turned her head away, and opened fire into a room.  While giving those around the teacher a good chuckle, it was not a sound tactical move.

All in all, the training was excellent, and the educators involved learned a lot.

The personality types of educators does not often lend itself to the learning of tactical skills.  This concept will be examined further in future blog posts.

Taking an Active Role in Active Shooter Training?

fox4kc.com

Teachers and staff in the Grandview School District are being trained to do more than locking down and waiting for police in the event of an Active Shooter Incident.  They are being trained to take a more active role, especially in the critical first few seconds.

Missouri state law requires active shooter training in all of it public and charter schools.

Analysis

The training above is a good thing, provided it meets some common-sense criteria.  Staying Alive involves taking a thoughtful, rational approach to planning and training.

1. Is the content of the training based on valid research?
Too often schools participate in training, especially Active Shooter training, using information that has not been researched, nor has been proven effective in the field.  uch programs have already been implemented in parts of the U.S., causing huge workman's compensation claims as staff members are getting injured during the training.

2. Are the instructors of the training certified as instructors?
Often, due to budget constraints, schools will hire a law enforcement officer to conduct Active Shooter training.  While the officer may have the best of intentions for the school, is the officer certified, at a minimum, as a law enforcement instructor? 

3. Are you being presented to, or are you being instructed?
A presentation is when information is given to a passive audience.  It will often involve numerous media slides and videos that show the concepts that the presenter wants to share.  A question/answer session at the end of the presentation does little to change the passivity of the audience.

Instruction takes place when a proper teacher/student relationship has been established.  Has the instructor broken down skills to be learned into sub-skills?  Does the instructor follow a logical progression of sub-skills to skills?  Does the instructor utilize the appropriate learning methods for his/her audience?  Is the student held accountable for retention of the knowledge learned?

4. Does the training create capacity, or will frequent "retraining" be required?
Schools will often hire consultants to conduct Active Shooter training.  Are these consultants working with the schools to make future use of consultants for that particular skill unnecessary, or are they working with the schools to create the capacity of the school to sustain the skills learned?  Sometimes consultants will "certify" school personnel, but will then state the personnel have to "re-certify" after a certain time period, necessitating the consultant return to provide the "re-certification".

Schools that do not take these factors into account may find themselves liable while implementing the concepts they learned, and finding out they don't work, or don't work well.  They need to do their due diligence, and take a thoughtful, considerate approach before implementing new training that will fundamentally alter the way they respond to a particular crisis.

Proper training will survive the scrutiny.

Crimes against Children Report 6-5-14

Texas Man Sentenced for Child Pornography

Kansas City Man Guilty of Producing Child Pornography

Las Vegas Man Sentenced for Transportation of a Minor with Intent to Engage in Criminal Sexual Activity

Pigeon Forge Woman Sentenced for Child Pornography Offenses

Illinois Man Arrested and Charged with Transporting Child Pornography

Take 25 Initiative announced by the FBI, Community Partners

Hammer Attack on a Student in School

School Hammer Attack

A woman who was well known at Lafayette Elementary School in Oakland, California lured a 9-year old student off of the school playground and into a restroom.  There she used a hammer to assault the girl.  A security guard and a teacher entered the restroom and stopped the assault.  The woman was arrested and is being charged with assault with a deadly weapon.  The child was taken to a nearby children's hospital, where she was reportedly doing well.

Analysis

Hammer attacks are actually very common, unfortunately.  They are easily obtained, easily concealed, and make fearsome weapons.  Yet too often, educators who are given scenarios involving hammers do not utilize the proper life-saving steps in the first thirty seconds.

Schools, more and more, are focusing primarily on Active Shooter protocols, even though there were only 22 Active Shooter Incidents in K-12 schools from 1998 to 2012.  Over 5,000 scenario-based assessments all across the country shows educators, some of whom were trained in Active Shooter training like A.L.I.C.E or Run, Hide, Fight, are not utilizing the proper life-saving steps for weapons incidents not involving an Active Shooter.

Knives can be deadly.  Hammers can be deadly.  Educators need to be trained to view all weapons as the same in regards to response protocols.  Research by Dr. Gary Klein shows the best way to train is to use realistic, scenario-based training.

In the book Staying Alive: How to Act Fast and Survive Deadly Encounters a couple, Erin and Abe Singh, were brutally attacked in their home by an assailant armed with a hatchet and a hammer.  Safe Havens International has an excellent video detailing their story.

Staying Alive: Abe & Erin's Story