Can We Prevent The Loss Of Life On Our Campuses Due To A Shooter? The answer is . . .

Research has determined that from the Moment of Commitment (the point when a student pulls his weapon and begins firing) to the Moment of Completion (when the last round is discharged) is only 5 seconds. If it is the intent of institutions of higher education to react to this violence, they will do so over the wounded and/or slain bodies of students, faculty, staff and counselors.

Institutions of Higher Education clearly want safe and secure campuses. Members of student affairs are perennially queried by parents about the safety of their campuses. The commonplace answers, intended to reassure anxious parents, focus on the campus police officers and emergency procedures. While useful, these less than adequate efforts do not begin to provide a definitive answer to preventing campuses violence, nor do they make a campus safe and secure.

Traditionally institutions of higher learning have relied upon the mental health community or local police to keep them safe, yet one of the key shortcomings has been the lack of a system that involves faculty, student affairs, counselors and students in the identification and communication process. Recently, colleges, universities and community colleges have begun forming Behavioral Intervention Teams with representatives from all these constituencies. Yet, most have not.

They simply changed their safety/security policies, procedures, or surveillance systems, and they continue spending excessive amounts of money to put in place many of the physical security options. Sadly, these steps are reactionary only and do little to prevent aggression because they are designed exclusively to react to existing conflict, threat and violence. These schools reflect a national blindspot, which prefers hardening targets through enhanced security versus preventing violence with efforts directed at aggressors. Security gets all the focus and money, but this only makes us feel safe, rather than to actually make us safer.

Read our white paper and let us know your thoughts . . .

For a comprehensive and free look at the problem and its solution, www.aggressionmanagement.com/Higher_Education/

Posted by John D. Byrnes at 6/25/2009 12:00 PM
Categories: Higher Education and Aggression Management
Tags: Moment of Commitment Moment of Completion
 

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