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The latest atrocities in Uvalde, Texas highlight a recurring problem; lots of security theater, little security. Uvalde and other schools have all the right security apparatus; single, usually closed entrance, and SWAT drills to practice handling an active shooter. As we now learn, see , ‘Wrong decision, period’: Top Texas cop admits cops botched Uvalde school responseand Texas Gov. Abbott ‘misled,’ ‘livid’ about cops’ delayed response to school shooting (link) the police didn't exactly rush in. Understandable, perhaps; they didn't plan on dying. We make entering schools by law-abiding people an audition for the gong show, yet Salvador Ramos gets a clean shot at lots of people, twenty-one of whom are now dead.
My major concern is that all of this misguided complaining about police officers will cause an officer to react slower to something you might perceive as a threat. That delay could be deadly. Continue to do your job relying on your training, instincts and knowledge: A common thread in the recent national incidents are persons who resist the police. That resistance then creates your counter reaction. We don't run from fights. This department has a history of being respected by the public. Each of you contribute to that daily. Continue to be fair with people and treat them with respect. If someone resists your authorized demands, use your counter reaction as the law allows and you have my 100 support should others complain. If you have done your job correctly, they don't want to get me on the other end of the phone. Above all, do what you have to do and that which the law allows you to do to remain safe.
Back in 2015 I went to drop a cell phone off for my son at his high school. He had called and I said I would leave it at the principal's office. I was greeted at the front door by a friendly and pleasant security guard. I had to leave it with him. We got to talking. I pointed out that back in the day I visited my high school alma mater and went right to teachers' offices, and to my old club offices. Now that would be impossible. He pointed out that there used to be all kinds of entrances and exits that people could use. Now every entrance is a cluster and a delay, all because of the one-off incident in Sandy Hook. We went centuries before Sandy Hook without such rules; are there suddenly hundreds of monsters out there that would kill children? Remember most such tragedies, such as Columbine, involve current students, not outsiders.
Another posting was about a Disabled St. Jude patient who was apparently badly mistreated by the TSA in Tennessee. I have thought long and hard about these issues and started several threads over the last year on this subject. Specifically I wonder why sophisticated, intelligent and busy people, whose time is valuable, don't object to the TSA gelling up the air travel system, with little gain as to stopping terrorism. People meekly take off their shoes, since one person approximately fifteen years ago, The Shoe Bomber's World, tried to blow up a plane with a bomb hidden in his sneaker. Presumably a similar response to the December 25, 2009 Underwear bomber attack would have imposed some difficulties so nothing similar was done to require people to fully disrobe at airports.
The latest atrocities in Uvalde, Texas highlight a recurring problem; lots of security theater, little security. Uvalde and other schools have all the right security apparatus; single, usually closed entrance, and SWAT drills to practice handling an active shooter. As we now learn, see , ‘Wrong decision, period’: Top Texas cop admits cops botched Uvalde school responseand Texas Gov. Abbott ‘misled,’ ‘livid’ about cops’ delayed response to school shooting (link) the police didn't exactly rush in. Understandable, perhaps; they didn't plan on dying. We make entering schools by law-abiding people an audition for the gong show, yet Salvador Ramos gets a clean shot at lots of people, twenty-one of whom are now dead.
Back in 2015 I went to drop a cell phone off for my son at his high school. He had called and I said I would leave it at the principal's office. I was greeted at the front door by a friendly and pleasant security guard. I had to leave it with him. We got to talking. I pointed out that back in the day I visited my high school alma mater and went right to teachers' offices, and to my old club offices. Now that would be impossible. He pointed out that there used to be all kinds of entrances and exits that people could use. Now every entrance is a cluster and a delay, all because of the one-off incident in Sandy Hook. We went centuries before Sandy Hook without such rules; are there suddenly hundreds of monsters out there that would kill children? Remember most such tragedies, such as Columbine, involve current students, not outsiders.
Another posting was about a Disabled St. Jude patient who was apparently badly mistreated by the TSA in Tennessee. I have thought long and hard about these issues and started several threads over the last year on this subject. Specifically I wonder why sophisticated, intelligent and busy people, whose time is valuable, don't object to the TSA gelling up the air travel system, with little gain as to stopping terrorism. People meekly take off their shoes, since one person approximately fifteen years ago, The Shoe Bomber's World, tried to blow up a plane with a bomb hidden in his sneaker. Presumably a similar response to the December 25, 2009 Underwear bomber attack would have imposed some difficulties so nothing similar was done to require people to fully disrobe at airports.
Lots of security theater; little actual security.
While I don't know what sort of useful physical access related to entering school buildings type security measures could be undertaken to reduce the amount of school shootings , your point about most tragedies involving current students as opposed to outsiders brings up a rather little talked about proposal .
Which would be instituting a general policy of sending students who are clearly mentally and/or psychologically unstable ( especially in a sociopathic/psychopathic way ) to schools better suited for their needs , as opposed to putting them in the same schools ( if not necessarily the same classes ) as their non mentally and/or psychologically unstable counterparts .
Now granted this may very well be a nothing burger type proposal , since I'm not really sure how common this practice is throughout the USA currently , but as someone who attended a variety of public schools in the Philadelphia metro area in the 80's and 90's , I can distinctly recall every single one of them having a special needs class containing quite a few individuals with pronounced sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies .
In fact these " behavior disordered " or as we called them " BD " students were very much the preeminent violent troublemakers at all of the schools I attended and while fortunately none of them became school shooters , I have a strong hunch of there being a strong correlation between these types of students and actual school shooters .
Of course the separate/related dynamics of ineffective measures against bullying , lack of right to self defense against bullies , lack of non specifically " jock " oriented physical culture in many schools that would help schoolboys wind down their natural aggression , as well as lack of strong male role models able to show the right path to their male pupils ( among other things I've no doubt left out ) should be rectified as well .
In short IMHO the mentality behind the current form of " No Child Left Behind " policy is what's actually leaving many schoolkids behind and in relation to this topic in a positively bad way .
While I don't know what sort of useful physical access related to entering school buildings type security measures could be undertaken to reduce the amount of school shootings , your point about most tragedies involving current students as opposed to outsiders brings up a rather little talked about proposal .
Which would be instituting a general policy of sending students who are clearly mentally and/or psychologically unstable ( especially in a sociopathic/psychopathic way ) to schools better suited for their needs , as opposed to putting them in the same schools ( if not necessarily the same classes ) as their non mentally and/or psychologically unstable counterparts .
Now granted this may very well be a nothing burger type proposal , since I'm not really sure how common this practice is throughout the USA currently , but as someone who attended a variety of public schools in the Philadelphia metro area in the 80's and 90's , I can distinctly recall every single one of them having a special needs class containing quite a few individuals with pronounced sociopathic/psychopathic tendencies .
In fact these " behavior disordered " or as we called them " BD " students were very much the preeminent violent troublemakers at all of the schools I attended and while fortunately none of them became school shooters , I have a strong hunch of there being a strong correlation between these types of students and actual school shooters .
Of course the separate/related dynamics of ineffective measures against bullying , lack of right to self defense against bullies , lack of non specifically " jock " oriented physical culture in many schools that would help schoolboys wind down their natural aggression , as well as lack of strong male role models able to show the right path to their male pupils ( among other things I've no doubt left out ) should be rectified as well .
In short IMHO the mentality behind the current form of " No Child Left Behind " policy is what's actually leaving many schoolkids behind and in relation to this topic in a positively bad way .
I agree with a lot of what you've said. I am rushing off to my 10:00 a.m. tennis game, and will respond fully later.
The one entrance idea being pushed at the NRA convention by Trump and crowd is so out of touch with the reality of old school buildings without air conditioning that are relying on temporary classroom trailers for overcrowding. Because those same people vote down school bonds and levies for funding.
If mass school shootings are not a concern to you, then sure, have no security measures in place for the convenience of walking into the schools whenever you want. But for many other people, and even people whose children died in a mass shooting, it is important to them even if it rarely happens. The security measures put in place are there to buy time for everyone who needs rescuing. I have security measures in my home for the sole purpose of buying time to wait for law enforcement or attempt an escape.
Sometimes police officers will not actively engage with the shooter and wait for somebody else to deal with it as happened in Parkland and Uvalde. I am reading that maybe an exterior door was propped open at Uvalde. If it had been locked, what would the shooter have done? In Parkland, I can't find how the shooter entered the building. So far I read he was free to walk in. Same question for that situation.
USA just got done with 2 wars. There are nots of infantry vets out there looking for more work. Just start hiring more armed security guards, and the vets will probably just trickle into the job. There ought to be plenty to hire.
I am predicting there will be shootings in other venues besides schools prompting everyone to start hiring armed guards.
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