After Sandy Hook: A New Approach to Campus Safety?
In the aftermath of Columbine in 1999, law enforcement began to rethink its response to mass shootings. Instead of presuming a quick entry into the scene might do more harm than good, a new line of thought emerged: Neutralizing the threat of the “active shooter” had to be the top priority.
It’s too soon to know whether the tragedy at Sandy Hook will prompt long-term changes in the “best practices” of emergency response, but experts and educators believe a another such tipping point may be upon us.
“What I’m hearing is people being told to be prepared to fight rather than simply hide – that is clearly a change in the advice being given,” Victor Herbert, director of the Academy for Critical Incident Analysis at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, part of the City University of New York. “Teachers had been told to put the lights out, lock the door, and hope for the best.”
While it’s a far cry from districts mandating that school personnel respond with force to an