SCHOOL SHOOTINGS – WHAT ARE WE DOING TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN?

SCHOOL SHOOTINGS – WHAT ARE WE DOING TO PROTECT OUR CHILDREN?

from: http://www.actiontarget.com/school-shootings-what-are-we-doing-to-protect-our-children/

The Sandy Hook school shooting shocked the very psyche of this nation. I was numbed by its impact, and as a father of two grade school children, it was heart breaking to even imagine what those parents had to endure in the loss of their children.
As the nation mourned, my feelings quickly turned to anger as I began to analyze the incident. I began to visualize as an Immediate Action / Rapid Deployment (IARD) trainer what possible law enforcement (LE) response solutions could have resolved this situation without loss of life. My conclusion was – none.

Here are some common traits in many of these incidents:
The shooters were aware that teachers and faculty were unarmed. (In some instances, “Gun Free Zone” signs were posted outside the school.)
The shooters were aware of the “lock down” procedure and knew that children would not be evacuated or removed from the scene, but instead, would be herded into classrooms behind locked doors.

ADVANTAGES OF USING ARMED TEACHERS AND FACULTY:

There is no need to hire extra personnel, but instead use existing school personnel with more responsibilities.
There is no need to seek funding or create new budgets, but instead rely on the use of school personnel already on salary.
School districts can rely on select teachers and sports coaches to provide coverage during and after school activities, sports events (home and away games), and field trips.
Having more than one armed teacher in a school (possibly two or three at a time) will allow for coordinated first responder engagements of active shooters.
Allows for use of school personnel that have extensive knowledge of the facility they work in and have a better chance of controlling and dominating terrain.
CONCLUSION

Armed teachers may not be the answer to every scenario, but having the advantage of trained school personnel on-site and ready to take immediate action is the true definition of first responder!
Ultimately, it’s not a question of “if” another school shooting is going to happen, but when and where? Will we be ready?



ABOUT JOHN KRUPA III

John is an active duty police officer with the Orland Hills Police Dept. (IL.) and has more than 22 years of experience in law enforcement. He has previously served as a patrol officer, rapid response officer, field training officer, and firearms instructor with Chicago PD. He is a graduate firearms instructor from the Secret Service Academy, FBI, DEA, and FLETC. John is founder and president of Spartan Tactical Training Group and has previously presented at training conferences across the country with the AFTE, ASLET, GTOA, IALEFI, ILEETA, ISOA, LETC, MidTOA, MTOA, NTOA, and TTPOA.