When Seconds Count: A holistic approach to school security - Irving ISD

When Seconds Count: A Holistic Approach to School Security by J. Pat Lamb

Enemies against humanity come from no particular group; they are not relegated to ethnic or religious sectors; they can look like us…they can be our native sons and daughters. With this understanding as a basis of our reality, we know that security is not a casual issue; it demands our attention at every moment. Preparing our response demands our best efforts.

J. Pat Lamb
Irving ISD Director of Security and Operations

All of us who work for a school district are concerned about school violence. I don’t know of a single school employee who hasn’t thought about what they would do should an “Active Shooter” enter their building and open fire. Hundreds or thousands of young lives depend upon a timely and accurate response from all of us. Truly, the time of allowing emergency response to fall to others has passed; in this day, each of us must be prepared in a moment’s notice. When seconds count, it will be too late to train; when seconds count, lives will be on the line…lives could be lost.

How will any of us forget the incredible images streaming from Virginia Tech? During a week of historical crises (e.g., the anniversaries of the Oklahoma City Bombing, the Branch Davidians’ incident, and Columbine), we now add unparalleled school violence for remembrance. Innocence has been lost to darkness of soul and families lie shattered, searching for answers. And all of us want to know what it will take to protect our children from senseless acts of violence.

With or without provocation, violence can occur. It takes communities of people to provide for the safety of our schools; truly, all of us must help all of us if we are to ready ourselves for eventualities. It is a lesson we all must learn.

Security experts tell us that we “must” have various pieces of security hardware and software in place if we are to keep our district family safe. How many of us can afford all of those pieces, though? And haven’t we learned that money thrown at a problem does not guarantee immunity from the ravages of evil behavior? Instead, we must manage well what we do have in place and – and this is critical – we must understand the threat to our district. What could happen to our school today? What are the internal threats…the external? What can we do to mitigate these threats?

Courage is having the wherewithal to run towards that which causes greatest fear – not away from it – so that we can embrace it, study it, and hopefully render it manageable. To do so is to take a hard look at our own vulnerabilities: those related to physical aspects of our facilities and those related to the security processes our folks engage in on a daily basis.

Violence and the threat of violence are all about us. The media feeds horrific images into our homes and offices on a 24-hour basis; the shadow of the appalling lengthens with each new story. We’ve grown accustomed to hearing about martyrs in Iraq and (I hope I’m wrong) I sense that we’re becoming calloused to the news of violence perpetrated within the walls of our school buildings. Nerves are raw and emotions are running high ~ parents want to know, need to know, deserve to know that we are indeed managing well our security processes in place.

We are engaged in providing that safe and secure environment. From the board member to the parent volunteer…from the Superintendent to the custodian: each of us plays a role, each of us contributes. We fit into a security plan; without us, the puzzle is incomplete and the protection afforded students and teachers amiss. So what does it take to create the whole?

In building a security program (here I have in mind a police force, security department, crisis management response, counseling response, etc.), we think in terms of an inverted pyramid. We have the broad top, which represents the threat against us; the middle, or what my colleague, Kelly Horn, describes as the “torturous path,” which represents what we have in place to thwart violence; and, the point, which represents the base and begins with a single person.

The Threat

The threat against schools is broad; as we’ve experienced, it ranges from outright violent attacks from those organized and purposeful to random acts of senseless crime. No one can predict if and when someone will strike. And no one knows if that strike will come from within or from without our schools. Instead, we must plan for a multiplicity of threats; those involving our own students, perpetrators outside our realm of normalcy, and even from nature itself.

In determining the threat to your district, I would recommend visiting with your local law enforcement for their impression. As well, I would consider outsourcing the mandated security vulnerability audit pursuant to Texas Education Code 37.108 (Senate Bill #11); get a fresh set of eyes to assess the truth about your security assets and vulnerabilities. Finally, take a look at your schools from the perspective of one who would want to perpetrate crime against a school (both from the perspective of an outsider and a student). Understand how one might attack your school – create, as it were, your own attack plans – then create ways in which to thwart those attacks. By taking these steps, you’ll have a comprehensive understanding of not only the threat but also known systemic vulnerabilities.

The Torturous Path

You and I both know that we cannot prevent all violence against our schools. That’s truly a given. But we can create a torturous path for those who might perpetrate that violence against us. This plan, this torturous path, involves both physical security measures and security processes for our folks to follow.

When we think of physical measures, we understand that there is a friendly tension of sorts confronting us: from being too open on a campus to appearing to be a prison. We’re a public schoolhouse; we want our public to visit, to feel welcome, to get involved. At the same time, “times…they are a changin’.” From pedophiles to deeply disturbed (yet waiting to be provoked) men and women, many are those who may be among our schoolhouse visitors today. One never knows who is entering our buildings; still, it is incumbent upon us to know, to take steps to understand what sort of person is milling around our building with our staff members and our students. Today, the call is for managed control.

When it comes to creating the ideal “managed controlled” campus environment, physical measures such as Controlled Access, CCTV, Motion Sensors, and Metal Detectors come to mind. Used with discretion and in concert with good processes, such as visitor registry, stranger identification (engaging strangers immediately upon notice), and student/teacher training drills (to include emergency lockdown drills), a school would take a quantum leap in providing solid protection for its students and staff. And in recognition that violence still occurs even with the best security in place, a district should consider having a team of counselors to respond to emergencies. This team would assist students and staff in processing grief and would aid in bringing a sense of normalcy back to the campus.

Before leaving this section, I want to address an issue of utmost importance. As was seen at Virginia Tech, we must ensure teachers and/or room occupants have a way in which to rapidly lock doors from within the classroom. The idea that a teacher has to go into the hallway in order to lock the door runs counter to expeditious and safe response. All teachers, including and especially substitute teachers, must have the means to lock doors from within the classroom. In an email I received from a concerned parent, a Marine, he spoke of the “single point of failure” relative to any and all security plans. By this he meant that in light of all the physical security measures we have in place, all security comes to the point of failure when, where, and if the perpetrator can penetrate our security. In the case of Virginia Tech, the single point of failure was the classroom door.

The torturous path that we create deters or distracts the aggressor so that first responders gain precious seconds in order to negate the threat.

The Point: You!

From understanding your threat to putting into place both physical assets and security processes, ultimately security comes down to the person. How motivated is that person working on the campus to pay closer attention to security? Will he sound the alarm when things just don’t seem right? Will he take the time to ensure his students truly understand how to respond should the call to go into lockdown come crashing through to their reality? Will he engage in training relative to response options, or will he simply pay it lip service because he’s just so sure Columbine could never happen at his campus?

Those who have experienced the heart-rending grief of enacted violence against students and staff would like more time to train, of that I am certain. They would value the opportunity to talk through response actions. They would critically review the campus safety plan. They would engage visitors and demand that all strangers be checked out thoroughly. They would cooperate with security and law enforcement to the fullest extent possible. They would not idly sit and allow security to fall into the hands of another; no, they would participate at every level.

It has been said that one person with passion can do more than 99 with an interest. If we are enthusiastic about security or if it’s just another additional duty…it will definitely show.

Each of us who has the task of providing for the security of students and staff members must become experts in our district/campus security plan. We must work tirelessly to bring about needed change if that plan is deficient by way of physical measures or sound procedure. It falls to each of us to help others see the real need of the hour…that though the odds are not great that violence may occur at any one campus, it could happen.

In our district we co-labor with the men and women of the Irving police department in providing life-safety for more than 32,000 students and 4,000 staff members. I am their strongest advocate and work to give them the information they need to do their job relative to campus safety. As a result, they have become a part of my planning, coordination, training, and problem-solving team.

Though the police serve as School Resource Officers on our campuses, I still have a security department. Our motto is “One Call Does All”; we seek to serve our campus no matter the need. Mr. Marion Amick serves as my lead. I asked him to provide what he thinks it takes to build a security program. You’ll find that response in the form of an article entitled, “From the Ground Up,” attached.

Our stakeholders deserve to know what we’re doing to safeguard their children. As a result, I have written an Open Letter to them and posted it on our website (http://www.irvingisd.net/ppage/district_security_letter.htm). I would recommend that you do the same.

My bottom line for security is that no one will suffer severe injury or death while on our property or at a district-sponsored event. What’s your bottom line?

You and I have been given an enormous challenge to provide a safe and secure environment. We are indeed privileged to do something which has significant value. People depend on our best efforts.

We are in this position by virtue of trust. The impact we can make is endless. We must stay the course. We can never quit… because our enemies won’t! And they are counting on us to fail. Failure is not an option!

At the end of the day, hope drives destiny and that which is right will always overcome the evil in the world. The good always prevails. Christopher Reeve said it best; his words are eternally true with respect to providing security: “All of us need to help all of us.”

Thankfully, and this is the point I wish to leave with you, in the United States, where there are an estimated 125,000 schools, some 54 million students daily engage in the process of education in relative safety, security, and peace. This happens because communities of people work hard to keep the environment free from hostilities. And while it is not feasible to believe we can provide total and complete security, I continue to believe that the public schoolhouse is the safest place in the community because good people sweat the details of that security behind the scenes.

http://www.tasbo.org/PDFs/May%2007%20Newsletter.pdf

Attachment:

From The Ground Up
Building A Modern Security Team

- By Marion Amick, Irving ISD Security Supervisor

The purpose of this paper is to supply the novice security manager the tools to properly assess his department and district, and to guide him in growing a modern security department capable of operating in today’s threat climate.

Prologue

When faced with the rather daunting task of providing for the safety and security of all the students, visitors, teachers, administrators, workers, buildings, and all other assorted people and property for the Irving ISD, an overwhelming part of me gladly accepted the job. But a small, (and very vocal), part of me was screaming “What have you gotten yourself into?”

I can imagine that many others have felt exactly the same way, in my position. And although it’s perfectly normal to feel that way, it doesn’t have to be anywhere near so formidable. I was lucky enough to make some very knowledgeable and helpful contacts, and find even more help through official agencies.

This paper is written in an effort to help jump start the security manager new to the school environment. It is not meant to be seen as a comprehensive, all-inclusive list, but rather as a starting point for the individual to launch from. I wish you all the best.

Making an Assessment

Let’s begin at the beginning. Let us assume that you’ve just been handed the title of Security Supervisor for your district. Where to begin? Before you start issuing directives, and changing schedules, you should take some time to get to see the existing organization. Since security is a 24-7 job, take the time to come in and observe each shift. Look for the different challenges presented to each shift, and take note of how they are being met, and by whom. Odds are good that the jobs being performed by the early evening shift are very different than the jobs being done by the overnight shift. List the challenges, and how they’re met, and set about trying to see if there is a better way to deal with them.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not telling you to re-invent the wheel! If your current methods are working, you should hold off on changing them, if just for the sake of change. It’s okay to ask questions as to why the organization deals with the situations in the manner that they do. But, if you see a situation that isn’t being met, or can be met in a more productive manner, don’t be afraid to earmark it for change.

And while I’ve got you here, bouncing from shift to shift, let’s take a minute to talk about your officers. Who are the leaders? The ones that the rest of your force looks to for guidance? I’m not necessarily talking about the senior people or the higher ranking folks. I’m talking about the guy (or gal) who the other guards look to for guidance in how to do their jobs. You should look for this person (or persons) and latch on to them. Seek out their advice. Odds are they’ve been here, doing the job for a while, and have a pretty solid handle on exactly what your district is trying to accomplish.

Once you’ve spent a few weeks studying your job, and all the challenges and people who contribute to it, you’ll be much better equipped to handle the changes you’ll need to make. Knowing and understanding the capabilities of your department, and the strengths and weaknesses of your officers, is the first step in making the department your own.

The Importance of a Baseline

In the film “Heartbreak Ridge”, Clint Eastwood’s character is being harassed by a superior officer for failure to follow his training exercise “to the letter”. He is exasperated by Eastwood’s manner, and finally gets around to asking him why he deviated from the training schedule. Although a bit campy, you can’t help but love the reply. “Major, I can’t fix it, if I don’t know what’s broke.”

Part of the next step is a lot like the Eastwood quote. You’ve gone on all the different shifts, you’ve visited all the campuses, and seen all the tasks that your department has been handed. Now, you have to decide exactly what is working for your department, and what is not. Once you’ve done this, you’ll need to draw your baseline.

Okay, then, what’s a baseline, right? A baseline is a written statement of all your current capabilities and vulnerabilities. It is the place of your beginning. For example, when I first took over the security department, and found that we were using motion detectors inside almost all of our buildings, I thought everything was just perfect. But, as I conducted my assessment, I noticed, (and was also told from some of my better officers), that we were far from 100% operative with our motion detectors. I had to find out just how many of my detectors were working, and how many were not. After we began an aggressive program to locate each motion detector in the district, and determine if it was working or not, I found out that we were only at approximately 78%! Seventy-eight percent was just too low! So, one of my first priorities became getting our motion detectors up to 95% or better. I had a similar experience with the district lighting.

My point here is, each and every one of you will have different challenges unique to your district and department. Without an honest reckoning of all of your strengths and shortcomings, how can you ever hope to begin to make any kind of meaningful change? By keeping proper written records of all of your initial challenges, you’ll be able to know exactly where your department is at any given time, and equally important, you’ll be able to document your growth and improvement. This will provide you with relatively clear goals for your department!

Okay, so you’ve begun your baseline. You’ve listed all the busted locks, blind alleys, improper techniques, and failed systems. You’ve got lists of schedules, lists of meetings, lists of bus routes. You’ve got enough paperwork filling up your in-basket to choke a very large horse! Odds are you feel like your drowning in a sea of paperwork, and are overloaded with district information. How, amongst all this chaff, do you get to the wheat?

First, you need to perform a bit of triage. You’ll have to prioritize your tasks. Make three piles out of all the incoming paperwork:

Things that are critical and should have been done yesterday!
Things that are important and need to be done as soon as possible.
Things that are of low priority, and can be put off for now.

The critical things naturally have to take precedence over all the rest. These are the major issues. Things like alarm systems, and health and safety issues should be in this stack.

The important issues are ones that, although they don’t have to be faced right away, they will become your critical issues of tomorrow, if put off for too long. Important issues will be different for every district, depending on the current condition of your department.

The low priority issues are ones that you can safely put off until you get a better handle on the more important things handed to you. For instance, getting that squeaking door hinge oiled might be nice, but why not wait until you put out the fire in the room before you begin looking for the oilcan.

Okay, so, you’ve done your baseline, began recording all your tasks and goals, and prioritized all your jobs. What next? Now you can roll up your sleeves, and plunge into your work. You should have all the necessary paperwork in front of you to give you guidance on where to lead your department. I’d suggest taking your findings and written goals to your boss, and running them past him. Odds are he’ll be able to provide you with a fresh perspective! Remember, the one who stands out in the security field isn’t the guy who never has to ask for help. It’s the guy who gets the job done, no matter how he gets there.

Identifying Your Vulnerabilities

So, you’ve got the department up and running and things have leveled off. You’ve made some changes, but not as many as you thought you’d have to. Everything is running more or less like you’d like it to. So, why isn’t this the end of this paper? Because you’ve just found out that you have to deal with Senate Bill 11.

What is Senate Bill 11? It was written in response to the rising violence found in our schools. It starts out with the phrase:

“Each school district shall adopt and implement a multi-hazard emergency operations plan that addresses mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery as recommended by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for use in district schools.”

You can find out more about it at http://tlo2.tlc.state.tx.us/statutes/ed.toc.html under the heading Education Code, Chapter 37, 37.108.

In a nutshell, this bill outlines the state requirement of each district identifying its vulnerabilities every three years. Much like the assessment you did on your department and the district, only of greater scope and depth. There is a web resource available to you at: http://www.txssc.txstate.edu/txssc/downloads/TxSSC/Audit/Campus%20Safety%20and%20Security%20Audit%20Toolkit%202007.pdf

You can find many helpful resources through the Texas Education Code, local law enforcement, and through various professional security establishments.

Among the many tasks presented by this bill, you will be asked to identify different threats in your district. Listed below are a few:

Internal	External
drugs bullying gang activity code of silence	gang activity irate parents & non-custodial parents vandals thieves arsonists pedophiles terrorists

While performing this audit of your district, I cannot stress enough the importance of getting your administrators and board members involved. Having them well informed of the law, and of your need for their help in compliance with the law, can make the difference between this being an issue that stops you dead in your tracks, or allows you, and your department, to shine.

And while I’m speaking about getting the administrators involved, let me pass on something that was stated by Mr. Ken Trump, a national expert on school security. He said, “While we may avail ourselves of today’s modern technology, and all the opportunities it brings us, we’re basically stuck. Until we can get teachers to do two simple things, all the technology in the world isn’t going to help us. We need to get teachers to 1) lock doors and windows, and 2) to engage visitors in a positive manner. Once we can get to that point, then we can really begin to implement our technology.”

Another way in which you might want to engage teachers and administrators, is through the use of “table-top training”. By assembling a school’s emergency reaction team, and presenting them with realistic scenarios to engage their thinking, and get them to think “outside the educational box”, you can help train them to respond to a variety of potential crises situations.

Growing Your Team

Okay, you’ve gotten past Senate Bill 11. You’ve probably discovered things you had no idea were a problem in your district. But, that’s okay, because you’ve already got all the guards you need, and all the funding you can use. Right?

If you answered yes to that last question, then congratulations. You are leading a charmed life. But, if you’re like the other ninety-nine percent of us, you’ll probably want to add more officers and equipment. And unless your school board has a very large money-tree, getting the approval for the additional officers won’t be easy.

At the risk of sounding repetitive, keeping good and updated records, and having allies on the school board who understand security needs, will quite probably be your two best bets in this endeavor.

So, let’s say you get the green light to add to your security team, what’s the best way to proceed? I can’t tell you who to hire. That will depend on the talent pool you have to draw from, and how they will fit with your existing team. What I’d rather do is get you to thinking about the long term growth of your department.

Essentially, if you are growing your force, or if your current force does not have the experience you want in your department, you have one of two choices. You can hire from without, or grow from within. Hiring from without means bringing security officers in who have a stronger security background then the folks you currently have employed by the district. While this is the fastest way to raise the expertise of your department, doing so excessively runs the risk of alienating the existing core of officers. Someone who’s put in many years in your district may feel threatened if you choose to bring in outsiders who might replace them! Also, higher experience usually means a higher expectation of pay.

If you have the resources available to you, you might want to train your current employees up to the level you desire for your department, instead. It takes longer to achieve the experience level you’re after, but you will generally have a more loyal employee at the end of it all. And maybe the best method is some combination of the two. The only one who can answer that is you.

I will offer this bit of advice, however. Regardless of how you choose to grow your department, you will find that there are basically two types of security officers. Reactive and proactive.

Reactive officers are generally reliable individuals. They look like all your other officers. They show up to work on time, and they can be counted on to bring a dish to the department pot-luck dinner. Unfortunately, that’s about as far as their initiative goes. A reactive guard is one who walks past the burnt out light, every night, and never says one word about it, because if he does, he knows that it’ll just mean more paperwork for him. If you ask him to, he’ll gladly write it up. But, left to his own devices, he’ll never even notice it’s out.

Proactive officers, on the other hand, are just the opposite. They realize that doing just enough to get by, in today’s threat climate, is an invitation to disaster. A proactive officer will not only write up the burnt out light, but will take the time to walk the campus and ensure that there are no other lights that need to be written up as well.

The benefits of employing proactive security officers are obvious. I tell my department that reactive officers are just guards, and proactive officers are officers. The difference may be subtle, but it’s evident to not only those of us within the security field, but to anyone who has an eye to see. Lack of command presence, being out of uniform, wrinkled or dirty uniforms, and sloppy report writing are all strong indicators of reactive officers. I highly encourage you to fill your department with as many proactive officers as you can. It’s not only good for your department, but it’s also good for the security field in general.

Having said that, I’m not saying that you can’t re-train your officers to be proactive officers. On the contrary, through the use of a strong training program, many officers can be taught to act in a proactive manner. Even your proactive officers can benefit from a well thought out training program.

I recommend the use of a reoccurring training schedule that is augmented by any non-scheduled training that becomes available. And regardless of the type of training received, I make sure that it is always properly documented in the officers training jacket. This shows me each officer’s personal growth, as well as gives me guidance as to what classes I need to schedule for my department. I’ve included a copy of our training jackets at the end of this handout, for your utilization.

Shangri-la Security

While the gist of this paper is written for the security supervisor just starting out, with a small budget, I have been asked to include what I thought was a well rounded, thorough security system. While it may be beyond us to attain currently, it certainly can’t hurt to know the types of systems available, and possible to employ in the future. So, again, let me state that this is only my opinion of what would constitute a “complete” security department.

Dual channel motion detector system used liberally throughout the district.
A good keyless entry system that allows me to control who is entering my buildings.
A good, high resolution digital camera system that employs the following:
- Infra-Red Technology
- Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) Technology
- Interior cameras
- Exterior cameras
- A web based system that can be accessed by the local law enforcement.
Window Breakage Detectors
Infra-red beams placed on rooftops that alert the officer monitoring the system that someone is on the roof.
A powerful computer network that allows for automatic data back-up and storage.
A reliable fleet of security vehicles with:
- Secure Radio Systems
- Docking Ports For Laptops
Emergency phones/panic buttons in classrooms.
School Resource Officers in high schools and middle schools.
Well-trained, professional security officers.

Preparing Your Replacement

After you get every other aspect of your department running like you want it to, you still have a major job ahead of you, one integral in every successful organization. You need to think of your replacement, and how you intend to leave the department for him or her. First, there’s the person. In your department, you may have someone who stands out, head and shoulders above everyone else. Or it may be much harder to determine. Either way, you need to prepare someone to step up and take your position, once you have moved on. Many people view this with a negative light, when in actuality, nothing could be further from the truth. Having someone trained and ready to step up and take the torch you hand them speaks volumes about your ability to lead people. Furthermore, if you are being promoted within the same organization, you will be viewed, for good or ill, on how well that person initially does.

Secondly, if you have a system in place that is logical, and with records well kept and up to date, the transition can be much smoother. Think about it, how many jobs have you taken where you’ve wondered about the guy who was there ahead of you? What about the jobs where you were thankful you had someone who knew what they were doing in place ahead of you? The security field is a big field, but it’s still small enough for your reputation to follow you. Don’t let that be a negative thing.

Looking to the Future

If you stay with your department long enough, you are going to eventually have to ask yourself, where do we go from here? I have limited assets, so how do I know how to best use them? The technology vs. human debate can be daunting. Spending your money on newer technology is always tempting. Technology can play a huge part in your ability to control the security within your district. But, don’t give in to the mindset that technology can ever take the place of a good, dedicated officer. Look at it this way, technology, in a perfect world, should be used to augment that officer, not replace him.

I would like to close by saying thank you for your time, and to implore you, as a security professional, to help spread the word. Seek out others in the field, and share your knowledge with them. Stronger, more secure Texas schools benefit us all. I wish you luck with your endeavor. As frustrating as I know it can be, it is much more satisfying knowing that you are making the difference in the lives of all our children.