Recently I read a news report where a well know national presenter was interviewed as a “school safety expert.” This law enforcement trainer was quoted as saying there are two steps all schools should take for school security: Training and “laminate” film to cover classroom windows.
The training recommendation is certainly on-target, although we are increasingly advising schools to exercise caution when selecting school safety speakers to make sure that they actually have credentials, credibility and trust that comes from firsthand work experience in preK-12 school settings. A growing number of well-intended, but not necessarily well-experienced in preK-12, school safety trainers come from law enforcement tactical or military backgrounds. Their ideas may work on the battlefields of war zones or on city streets, but their suggestions are often increasingly questionable for child-centered, school settings.
Laminate window film is no quick-fix for school security
The second suggestion by this “school safety expert” was to install laminate film to cover windows in school classrooms. This speaker’s reported belief is that this huge investment would have a substantial impact on reducing or managing school shooters.
We have actually heard mixed results and opinions on laminate film for windows. While film vendors have ramped up their marketing to schools after the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School, Ken Trump was on a workshop panel in New York last year where a state trooper had put the film to the test and was not impressed with results.
Ken also often notes that many media and educators mistakenly believe the Sandy Hook shooter shot through the glass of the actual front entranceway. Yet Ken’s work in Newtown and the police investigation confirmed that it was actually the front building glass next to the entranceway, not the entranceway itself. Following the logic of those pushing laminate film for front entranceways because of Sandy Hook, a school district would have to laminate at least all of the entire ground floor windows in every school to get the desired “guarantee” being sought by those advocating for applying this film.
The cost of putting laminate on every window in a school is also typically very prohibitive. There are legitimate questions as to whether this tactic is the best use of limited resources for school safety. Putting limited resources into best practices such as student mental health support, staffing School Resource Officers (SROs), training school staff on school threat assessment and management, etc. may prove much more beneficial than throwing laminate film on every window in a school district.
A military or police expert is not automatically a preK-12 school security expert
Th recommendation by this “expert” told me that he does not know the implications of recommending certain physical security measures for preK-12 schools and shows a lack of real life experience working in a school district. By making such a definitive statement about laminate film, a speaker could cause school leaders a problem when they are asked why they have not followed the “expert’s” advice. It forces the school leader to explain the realities of school funding and the need to prioritize limited resources, while pitting the public statements of the “expert” with little preK-12 experience against the educators who know that their limited resources can be used for more appropriate safety measures.
While a speaker may be a decorated veteran of law enforcement tactical or military ranks, his or her firsthand experience and functional knowledge of how schools really work may be limited-to-non-existent. School leaders should select someone to perform the critical aspects of helping them who at least has some “boots on the ground” experience in school safety and understands their environment. Simply because a person is a trainer with military or SWAT team boots does not necessarily make that person your best partner in preK-12 school safety.
Chuck Hibbert
Consultant to National School Safety and Security Services
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I could not agree more with Mr. Hibbert. The first question I would ask as a site reviewer is: “What is the purpose of the laminate?” I personally do not see how laminated windows will protect anything in an active shooter situation. As a veteran police officer with past military service, I have also been fortunate enough to have been immersed for a significant amount of time in physical security, and received a number of training courses in the discipline. I can assure any readers that military and/or police service does not automatically make one an expert in security. Some police are now being trained in Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design, which helps officers make some routine recommendations to victims or business owners on how to better protect their properties. However, it takes years of experience and training in specific security topics before one becomes qualified or has the credibility to make expensive recommendations for a facility of critical importance or a public institution such as a school. Facility managers looking for a review team should be asking for relevant security experience and related credentials when persons present themselves as security experts.
On the topic of military and/or police trainers presenting themselves as preK-12 safety experts, we’ve been rather aggressively approached by a company pitching http://www.justsaygo.org.
“Just Say Go” is a methodology being taught by Countermeasure Consulting Group, LLC. Their vision statement is “Countermeasure Consulting Group, LLC has the goal to possess a global reputation as the leading active shooter prevention and workplace violence training company in the eyes of our clients, shareholders, and the community.”
It’s clear they’re focused on adult environments, which naturally makes them “school safety experts” as well.
John Henderson: The laminate is very strong and has a seal around it molding it to the glass. A bullet can penetrate the laminate but will only put a hole the size of the bullet in the glass. The glass will not come out. You can’t beat it out with a baseball bat ( well you can but it takes quite a while). The point of the laminate is to keep a person from gaining entry and to buy time. If you have armed security on campus ( which I believe is a must in EVERY school) it will buy enough time for them to respond before the gunman gains access. However, as pointed out in the article, it is quite expensive and may not be the best money spent on limited resources.
None of the shooters reported about have come through the windows, or fired through the windows. Prevention of school shootings has nothing to do with laminating windows or other upgrades other than access control and addressing the root source of the shootings. Why this is occurring only in the United States on a regular basis is what needs to be examined. Window laminates are an expensive endeavor with little impact on school shootings.
Security film is not designed to stop bullets. It’s sole purpose is to slow down the intruder and give the victim time to react. The national average response time for emergency responders is around 6 minutes and properly installed security film with the right attachment system would greatly increase the time it takes the intruder to gain access.
After 30+ years in the Dept. Corrections and numerous security inspections, including site vulnerability analysis, many years on special response teams, tactical unit and the military. I just want to point out that while using ballistics film on windows does increase the difficulty of entering a facility, it likewise prevents or hampers using the window as an avenue of escape. While maybe no intruders thus far have used windows to enter, they have been used by potential victims to escape, window film would effectively block this egress.
After 30+ years in the Dept. Corrections and numerous security inspections, including site vulnerability analysis, many years on special response teams, tactical unit and the military. I just want to point out that while using ballistics film on windows does increase the difficulty of entering a facility, it likewise prevents or hampers using the window as an avenue of escape. While maybe no intruders thus far have used windows to enter, they have been used by potential victims to escape, window film could effectively block this egress.