In the unfortunate event of an active shooter situation, swift resolution by law enforcement is needed to ensure the safety of students and staff. While many public schools have School Resource Officers (SROs) on site, the involvement of external law enforcement agencies is inevitable. This means schools must be prepared with well-defined policies and processes which need to be designed and drilled with the required law enforcement agencies.
School District and Law enforcement Collaboration
The areas that processes need to cover include:
Activation: When an unauthorized person is suspected or identified on premises, processes are needed to identify and either authorize or remove the person. This process begins with being notified of the threat through various channels, such as emergency calls, alerts from school security systems, or reports from school staff and students. Responses can vary, depending on the situation and need to be clearly communicated and uniformly understood by all stakeholders. Programs such as the Standard Response Protocol developed by The I Love U Guys Foundation are excellent resources to implement to ensure everyone is “on the same page” about the type of response to activate. For law enforcement, activation involves a clear and structured response based on the nature and severity of the threat. This includes assessing the level of response needed: for instance, an unarmed but uncooperative intruder may require a different approach than an active shooter situation. Officers need comprehensive information to tailor their response effectively, such as the location and number of shooters, the type of weapons involved, any casualties, and status of the school lockdown.
Containment: Upon arrival, law enforcement’s first priority is neutralizing the threat as quickly as possible. Mitigating injury and loss of life requires quick access to the school building to contain the suspect to the smallest portion of the school, ensuring the safety of more students, staff, faculty, and visitors. This involves quickly securing areas to protect those inside and prevent any newcomers from being exposed. Effective communication with parents and the community is also crucial during this time. Ideally, the school will have a mass communication protocol in place to help expedite dissemination of crucial information, and giving parents, staff and students instructions on next steps. Parents will naturally want to come to the school to protect their children, so law enforcement must manage this by providing timely and accurate updates and designating safe areas for parents to gather and reunite with children away from threat. School administration and staff play a critical role in this task by enacting their reunification program. The I Love U Guys’ Standard Reunification Method (SRM) program is a great resource to have in place to organize and streamline the process.
Resolution: Law enforcement officers (LEOs) systematically search for the suspect, prioritizing areas where the shooter is likely to be, with the goal of neutralizing the threat as quickly and safely as possible.
Post-Event: After the threat has been resolved, they conduct a thorough sweep of the school to ensure there are no remaining threats. A post-event review is conducted to analyze the response, identify areas for improvement, and update protocols to enhance future preparedness. Communication with parents and the school community continues to be a priority, giving them timely updates like where to find counseling and if/when to resume classes. Schools and law enforcement will also work together to offer counseling and resources to survivors, ensuring they receive the necessary mental health support to cope with the traumatic event.
Classroom Emergency Protocols
One of the key elements of these processes involves the approach to navigating through the school and clearing classrooms, the foundation of school safety.
As officers advance towards the threat, they must clear each unlocked classroom to ensure that no additional threats are present and to protect any potential victims hiding inside.
When LEOs know that the suspect has entered a room with students or staff, they must quickly determine the lock status of the door to form an appropriate response tactic. Depending on whether the door is locked or unlocked, officers may need to obtain a key, breach the door, or find alternative entry points such as windows.
An important aspect of law enforcement training is the awareness of the “fatal funnel.” This term refers to the area directly in front of a doorway, which is the most likely place a suspect will target when they know responders are on the scene and is a safety risk. To mitigate this risk, officers are trained to avoid standing in this vulnerable position. Instead, they approach doors from angles that reduce their exposure, allowing them to assess the situation without placing themselves directly in harm’s way.
How Aegis Aids Law Enforcement During Emergencies
The TownSteel Aegis locks (available in bored and mortise) offers several innovative features designed specifically to assist law enforcement officers in responding to threats more effectively.
One of the standout features of the Aegis locks is the status indicators, which provide instant information on whether doors are locked or unlocked. This functionality is crucial for responding officers, as it eliminates the need to manually check each door handle while proceeding down a hallway. The tragic incident at Robb Elementary in Uvalde, Texas highlights the critical need for this. Those on the scene waited over an hour for a key while the door was most likely already unlocked. (https://cops.usdoj.gov/uvalde).
Aegis locks are equipped with large, visible lettering that clearly indicates the condition of the lock. The Aegis indicators are color-coded based on status and can be recognized immediately. This visual clarity is vital during high-stress situations, allowing officers to quickly determine the appropriate response tactic.
Another key feature of the Aegis lock system is its visibility from multiple angles. Officers can ascertain the condition of the lock without standing directly in front of the door, which is a crucial safety measure. As noted, the area directly in front of a doorway is known as the “fatal funnel” because it is the first place a suspect will likely shoot when they know responders are present.
The integration of Aegis locks into schools provides law enforcement with instant, clear, and visible information on a classroom’s lock status, and can be implemented easily for school districts.
Getting Help and Resources
For additional resources on addressing school safety, you can review guidelines and materials from our partners at Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS).
You can also get in touch with us directly. We’d love to hear your thoughts and comments.
Downloads
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Related Links
- Building a Comprehensive School Security Strategy Overview
- The Classroom is the Foundation of School Security
- LinkedIn Announcement of the TownSteel ‘I Love U Guys’ Partnership:
- https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7191860875010449408/
- LinkedIn Announcement of TownSteel’s new School Safety products: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7169063629105876992/
- TownSteel’s School Safety products overview: https://townsteel.com/school-security/
