Concerns Over ASIS School Security Standard: A Need for Balance Between Physical Security and Behavioral Threat Assessment
Guest article by Jason Russell, Founder and President of Secure Environment Consultants (SEC). The recently released school security standard developed by ASIS (American Society for Industrial Security) has prompted concern among educators and mental health professionals due to its heavy focus on physical security measures like cameras, locks, fences, and panic buttons, while offering comparatively […]
Swatting threats, with hoax reports of guns and shootings, target schools nationwide
A hoax school gunman threat at Bay High School in Bay Village, OH, is one of multiple swatting-type threats targeting schools across the nation, according to a Cleveland-based national school safety expert. Last Friday morning before the Bay High School threat, a similar hoax gun threat occurred where the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School […]
Mass shootings: Should schools be held responsible for threat assessments when former students go on a killing spree?
Following the recent mass shooting in Dayton, Ohio, reporters asked me if Sugarcreek-Bellbrook school officials and police handled the situation properly when addressing the shooter’s alleged threats made in high school approximately seven years prior. Did they do anything wrong? What did they do right? Did they do enough? Hindsight is 20/20, but how to […]
FBI failed to investigate Florida school shooter tip; “See something, say something —AND DO SOMETHING” should be new fed mantra
The FBI is the very best at what they do. The problem is that school safety is not something they do as a part of their core mission. FBI agents are not school safety experts. In fact, federal agents don’t regularly work with juveniles. They deal with adult criminals. They typically defer those few juveniles […]
Creepy Clown threats strike schools nationwide
A wave of “Creepy Clown” threats targeting schools across the nation has intensified in recent weeks, creating fear and anxiety in school communities. The threats have included shooting students and teachers. Creepy Clown threats sweep schools nationwide The clown threat makers have been unmasked rather quickly in a number of cases. In Ohio, three sixth […]
Online group “Evacuation Squad” with ties to Russia and Iran claims responsibility for worldwide wave of school bomb threats
An online group named “Evacuation Squad” is claiming responsibility for a wave of worldwide school bomb threats, according to the digital media website Mashable and news outlets in the United Kingdom and Australia. Mashable says that Evacuation Squad is made up of six international members and listed a Russian email address on its social media […]
Swatting, school bomb and shooting threats: Are FBI federal charges coming soon?
Schools across the nation experienced an uptick in school bomb and shooting threats in recent weeks. Many of these threats are believed to have been made by local individuals such as students or former students. But there are also increasing indicators that a number of these threats are “swatting” incidents — hoax threats intended to trigger […]
Study finds rapid escalation of violent school threats
[Originally published: 2/9/15; Updated: March, 2016] A nationwide epidemic of violent school threats is breeding fear, anxiety and frustration for educators, children and parents. While the vast majority of these threats are anonymous and turn out to be hoaxes, they have to be investigated and taken seriously. Hundreds of schools are losing classroom teaching time, […]
School shooting ‘swatting’ hoaxes trigger massive police responses, parent anxiety
False reports of school shootings, bomb threats and other threats made to schools are triggering massive police responses and heightened parental anxiety across the nation. Hoax calls known as “swatting” involve a caller makes a false report to police to draw an overwhelming response including by police SWAT team, thus the term “swatting.” Recent incidents of such […]
Schools face new wave of violent threats sent by social media and other electronic means, study says
More than one-third of violent threats to schools since the beginning of this school year were delivered by social media, email, text messaging, and other electronic forms, according to a new study by our national school safety consulting firm. “The cost of these threats in taxpayer dollars for police response, lost instruction time, and anxiety […]