After the Parkland, Florida, school murders, the question on how to secure our schools has been hotly debated.A system of facial recognition allowing entrance is being discussed; the critics are saying it is not a perfect solution, they are correct, it is not perfect. The question to be asked is do we dismiss the good because it is not perfect? I say no.
Having been involved in security to include nuclear security as I have, you soon realize security is a package deal with many types and levels. The best programs are in depth; like a military defensive position, you have belts of security. If the enemy breaches one you fall back to the second, or in the case of the Russian doctrine, up to the fifth defensive belt.
The identifying and stopping of an intruder as far forward as possible is a goal of any security package. Once a mass murderer gets into the facility, it is too late, and a failure of the security envelope.
To be honest, no security system is perfect; however, I can guarantee you 100% that I can secure a school building; just lock all the doors and bar the windows, allowing no students, faculty, frogs, dogs, hogs or humans into the school. It will not educate the first student, but it will ensure a safe place.
Security is a balancing act; to much and it hinders the mission of a school, too little and it may allow bad folks to enter and do bad things.
The murder of the young and innocent in a historically safe place scares us all and it should: however, statistically a young one is in more danger riding in Mommy’s and Daddy’s mini-van to school or in their own home than in a school. OK, go on and call me a heartless bleep who wants to see dead children for stating that fact.
One of the absolutes in politics is that you should never say there is nothing I can do to fix it, or it is not a major problem. Mass-murders in schools are terrifying and outrageous; we all want to do something, anything, right or wrong makes no difference, just do something. Facial recognition is a tool, a piece of the puzzle, a start, but is it the most cost-effective security measure? Probably not.
Let’s look at the Bath Township, Michigan, school attack, one of the worst in out nation and in our area:
“Andrew Kehoe was the 55-year-old school board treasurer, and was angered by increased taxes and his defeat in the spring 1926 election for township clerk. He was thought to have planned his “murderous revenge” after that public defeat. He had a reputation for difficulty on the school board and in personal dealings.“An explosion devastated the north wing of the Bath Consolidated School building, killing 36 school children and two teachers. Kehoe had used a timed detonator to ignite hundreds of pounds of dynamite and incendiary pyrotol, which he had secretly planted inside the school over the course of many months. As rescuers began working at the school, Kehoe drove up, stopped, and used a rifle to detonate dynamite inside his shrapnel-filled truck, killing himself, the school superintendent, and several others nearby, as well as injuring more bystanders.
“During rescue efforts at the school, searchers discovered an additional 500 pounds (230 kg) of unexploded dynamite.” Wikipedia.”
So how do we prevent a modern-day Andrew Kehoe from murdering children today? Do we ban school board members from schools? Do we profile anyone who has lost an election? Bath Township is some 79 miles from us, just north of Lansing. Would facial recognition have kept him out of the school?
The argument can be made it is now more difficult to purchase high explosives than in 1926; however, the availability of how-to information on making your own explosives or poison gas in most libraries or on line (The Anarchists Cookbook is an example) renders that not much of a deterrent.
The facts are that every school is different and every community unique; no one size fits all in school security. We need to add local law enforcement leadership to the school administration; School boards need to partner with the police and make security a priority, one that does not adversely impact a school’s mission.
The unpopular truth regrettably is that nothing short of closing all schools can guarantee complete security of our schools or complete safety of our children in them.
I agree. There are no simple answers for complex issues. As I wrote a year or so ago, I mentor in a Grand Rapids public elementary school. In the application, I provided information about such things as criminal history, background, education, career, and references. These things were checked, I presume diligently. I was issued a GRPS identification card. The standard times for children to enter the building is staffed by a school employee. The rest of the time the doors are locked against entry. A visitor, like me for example, stands in front of a device and presses a button which alerts the office. The device has a camera and radio. If the visitor is recognized and has a valid ID, the door is remotely unlocked. Otherwise, the visitor states his or her business, and is directed in to the office to sign the log in sheet, which includes name of visitor, purpose of visit, and signature (the log in is for all visitors, including those with IDs. Visitors log out when leaving. This seems reasonable and efficient, but it is not perfect. While I may be mentally emotionally fit today (generally, overall), there is no way to know if I’ll be shall be stable tomorrow on next month. This imperfect system is good, I think, but wouldn’t have prevented Andrew Kehoe from his horrific attack in Bath, Michigan.
Hell must have froze over. I agree with you again on a well written article.
So well put, Mr. Bob.
It is one thing to wax nostalgic about the past, when kids roamed free and all institutions were open to any and all who would enter. It is another to be aware that we live in a vastly different climate than what I knew as a kid.
At the church we attend with our son and daughter-in-law, children are checked in at a central kiosk, and parents and children are issued name tags that identify who “belongs” to whom. Each classroom attendant checks these tags against each other when children are claimed after church. At first, this seemed so unnecessary to me, so “military” if you will. But when I considered family “kidnappings” and the ability of a stranger to abduct a child from such a mildly chaotic situation as after church hubbub, I quickly decided that this was a good and measured system to deal with life in the new century.
As always, I liked learning about your military background in security and the science behind how you do it.
Thanks for a great piece.