Gary North

Feb. 22, 2010

Times change. So does safety in the tax-funded schools. This report from Marietta, Ohio indicates the extent of the change. It is an open letter from the police depat\rtment.

Dear Marietta City school parent:

Over the past decade we have seen a dramatic increase in school violence and school shootings across the nation. As these events are analyzed, it is apparent that we as law enforcement professionals need to change our approach to safeguarding our children. We should not only be taking steps to prevent a shooting, but we should also be training our students and staff in procedures and techniques that will help them survive the worst case scenario.

Even though the Marietta City School District has taken steps toward securing our school buildings, the fact is that absolutely preventing an unauthorized intrusion is not possible.

Schools across America, including Marietta, have addressed this issue with a procedure called "Code Blue or Lockdown." This system is designed to give a generic alert to staff and students that a problem exists. Once the alert is given the staff locks the classroom door, turns out the lights and secures the students in a far corner of the classroom where they are supposed to remain calm and silent until rescued by the police.

In school shootings around the country we find that many staff/students are killed and/or seriously wounded while hiding under desks, huddled in corners of a classroom, library, or cafeteria. This is the situation that our current "Code Blue" creates. We cannot expect an armed killer who enters our school buildings, with the intent on inflicting harm to our children to simply leave when they find a classroom door locked. Active shooters have already made a conscious decision to kill. Simple locks are little deterrent to a determined person.

Case studies show that in many school shootings the shooter creates as much carnage as they can in a short period of time and then they kill themselves before police arrive. So, how do we give our students and staff a greater chance of surviving an active shooter? We give them more tools, knowledge, training and information to make decisions that will increase their chances of survival.

The Marietta City School District is considering the implementation of a new program that has been proven to increase the chances of survival during an active shooter incident. The new program is a nationally recognized and instructed program developed by law enforcement professionals, working with educators in a major metropolitan area of Texas. The program, known by the acronym "A.L.I.C.E.," is built on common sense principles based on extensive studies of school shootings.

"A.L.I.C.E.", as the developer of the program likes to say, is common sense that is not common knowledge. The program empowers students and staff to move beyond the traditional lockdown procedure which, unfortunately, has been proven to condition our children to failure and helplessness. The "A.L.I.C.E." program teaches our youth to listen, to think, to barricade, to escape, and finally - if the only option is to live or die - to fight back.

In closing, we will not ask or teach our students or staff to make any attempt to subdue an armed gunman if other viable options exist. However, we will provide them with knowledge that if faced with a life or death situation there are methods that can be applied to greatly enhance their chance of survival.

Training will emphasize the best way to survive an active shooter is to escape. When that is not possible, being mentally prepared and having the authority and ability to act will save lives.