Introduction
“Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission” got established to analyze shooting data from “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High school and other mass violence incidents” in Florida and address the recommendations and improvements (Solodev, 2022). The “commission”, which works in the Law enforcement sector in Florida, is made up of sixteen individuals. The “Governor nominates the chairperson and 5 individuals, while the senate president and the speaker of the house of representatives” nominate 5 members each. “Section 943.687, Florida Statutes” states the commission’s most minor responsibilities. It requires it to present a previous report regarding its discovery and ideas to the “Governor, senate president, and the speaker of the representatives in the house” (Solodev, 2022). “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act/ report” following the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School” shooting in “Broward County School District.” Its primary aim is to discuss the issue of “gun violence”, including the violence resulting from guns in school, but the act is not limited to gun violence only. However, this essay will critique the “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission Report (2019)” (Solodev, 2022). The paper will explore preparedness for the issues that could have been fixed before the shooting. This will include “identifying failures in active shooter response, determining, as the scene commander, measures to address the active shooter threat, and exploring how recovery efforts could have improved to save more lives”.
Preparedness
Although it has been months since the shooting at “Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School” children and learners are prone to danger today. More than one hundred campuses do not have a single entry to control or detect intruders. Therefore, preparedness measures include having one entry to manage the intruders, identifying safe places to protect the students or children in the classrooms, and outlining a policy that explains how one can respond to an active shooter. Also, the school could have ensured that each classroom on the campus had a space or place where children could hide from bullets (Mazzei, 2018). Also, there should be enough security cameras in and outside the classroom and portable radios to identify the active shooter quickly. Nikolas Cruz was not welcome in the school. Former classmates and a few administrators knew him as a “potential school shooter.” Despite that, he walked into the school compound. The intrusion resulted in the calls for mandatory IDs, locked gates and doors, and seeing through metal detectors and backpacks (Wallman et al.). The Stoneman Douglas school has one entry that requires visitors to visit the “front office to get on the campus”. Locked gates and doors help in blocking people from entering somewhere else (Mazzei, 2018). The “Stoneman Douglas High School” system failed because the gates and doors were left open.
Even though were several complaints about the gates at Stoneman Douglas School being open, they were all secured when a “South Florida Sun Sentinel reporter arrived on a recent school day (Wallman et al., 2022).” Only a single gate leads to the “front office, and visitors were required to check with the security monitor on a golf cart” (Mazzei, 2018). However, about a quarter of Broward District schools can still not funnel visitors through a single gate. On some campuses, strangers can roam and walk the campus when the doors are open, and they cannot be detected since there are no security cameras. If this issue had been fixed before the shooting, it could have helped prevent the shooting.
Mitigation: If the school had installed security cameras, it could be easier for them to improve access control. The security of both teachers, non-teaching staff and students starts with being in a position to identify who enters and leaves the school premises, thus ensuring that those entering the school have proper authorization and that they are not trespassing. Therefore, the security cameras would help in preventing crimes, thus safeguarding teachers and students. In addition, closing the gates during school hours will help keep students safe. This will help in stopping strangers (Intruders) from entering the school without authorization. Closing the gates will control strangers and dangerous animals like folks from entering the school. Also, having hiding places in classrooms helps students to hide in case of an emergency like violence. Also, the school should have emergency doors and paths to enable students to escape and keep safe in case of violence.
Response
In the shooting that took seventeen students and teachers, the response to the crisis or shooting was all a failure. There was a slow response from the police, and the chaos among them contributed to the massacre. Wide criticism focused on Peterson, a deputy sheriff, who heard the exploding gunfire and failed to stop the shooting (Mazzei, 2018). However, the response, on the other hand, went much far. About seven officers ran to campus after hearing gunshots but stood “outside the building and lost much time scrambling to retrieve bulletproof vests from their cars”. In addition, the security monitor saw the shooter entering the school but did not do anything to alert the students. Also, the “mental health counsellors knew well that the gunman/ shooter was troubled” but failed to clearly understand how dangerous he had turned out to be (Mazzei, 2018). The school failed to have radios that did not work, thus leading to communication issues between law enforcement agencies and the medical practitioners or responders. Also, after an evaluation, the commission “found that eight deputies from the Broward District sheriff’s office ignored the protocol for the active shooter that asks one to pursue the gunman and disarm him” (Police Executive Research Forum 2022).
Also, the security system failed, for the gates were left open and unsupervised, allowing the gunman into the school. The “security monitor saw the gunman” walking into the campus with a distrustful or doubtful bag but did not approach him or call the radio to alert the rest of the people in school, thus a “code red” (Mazzei, 2018). Instead, the “security monitor” called the red code three minutes after the shooting. There could have been mitigation if all these people had “been notified and had a chance to react”.
Mitigation: If the police responded fast to the gun violence in Stoneman Douglas High School, more lives could have been saved. Police wasted time standing outside the building while the gun shooting was ongoing. Even though Nikolas is blamed, the police are also to be blamed since seventeen people died because of their negligence. At least they could have done something to prevent more deaths. In addition, mental health counsellors knew well that Nikolas was troubled and failed to examine him more to know how dangerous he had turned out to be. If they had done their work, Nikolas could be in a mental school and not roaming, for he was not mentally fit. Also, the security guards/ monitors failed to notify the school that a stranger had trespassed. If they had notified the teachers and the students, lives could have been saved. Therefore, security guards must be on the watch out and check everyone entering the school premises.
Measures that should have been employed
As a scene commander the scene, when an “active shooter” is in sight, one should quickly evaluate the “most reasonable way of protecting their own life”. For example, after hearing the code red from the third security monitor at Stoneman Douglas High school, other security monitors ran in and were killed. It should be remembered that the students will follow the lead of those above them in case of an active shooting (Police Executive Research Forum 2022). However, as a commander, I would give out three measures to be followed in case of an incident. They include evacuating, hiding out, and taking action against the gunman. If there are any accessible pathways, one should try and evacuate the premises (Police Executive Research Forum 2022). For example, in this case, there were no escape routes for the students to run to or evacuate. However, one should be sure of the escape route and evacuate whether others agree. They should leave everything behind since their lives are what matters (Homeland Security, 2017). If possible, they should help others to escape and prevent others from “entering the area where the active shooter is” (Police Executive Research Forum 2022). They should give their hands where they can be seen and follow instructions from any officer. However, the victims should not try to help the wounded people.
Second, if evacuation is impossible, they should find a place where the shooter cannot see them and hide. For example, in this scene, Nikolas was shooting the people in his line, only those he could see, and he did not enter any classrooms. Therefore, students are supposed to be out of the shooter’s view, restrict movement options, lock doors and block them with heavy furniture. They should hide behind large or oversized items and remain silent, including turning off anything that could make a noise, like putting their phones on silent mode (Police Executive Research Forum 2022). Thirdly, actions should be taken against the shooter. One should be destructive towards the shooter (“throwing items and improvising weapons, yelling, and committing to their actions”). However, when “law enforcement” arrives, their role is to stop the shooting as early as possible.
Mitigation: The victims/ students starting by protecting their own lives will help save more lives during a gunshot. For example, those security monitors who heard the red code and ran in were killed because they did not start with protecting themselves first. However, one can believe that the rest of those who were killed blindly followed the security monitors without knowledge. Therefore, protecting oneself first would have significantly prevented some of the deaths. Also, lives would have been saved if the school had a hiding place/space. For example, even though Nikolas did not enter any classroom, students ran from the classrooms and went out since there were no hiding places. Finally, at least those around could have acted in a way that could have destructed the shooter to save a life.
Recovery
The shooting survivors at Stoneman Douglas High School come from different races, backgrounds, and socioeconomic status. Even though mass shooting in schools occupies a small percentage of gun deaths in America, the incidents are disturbing since they happen with no warnings (Fetters, 2018). However, the survivors are primarily at risk of mental problems (Homeland Security, 2017). Therefore, it is important to ensure that the survivors feel connected to the communities and have ongoing support to help them recover psychologically and emotionally (Fetters, 2018). Therefore, to recover, there are vital measures that should be taken. They include “attending to self-care, paying attention to one’s emotional health, recognizing when you/ those with you need extra support, and avoiding overexposure to the media. In addition, maintaining contact with friends and family, focusing on one’s strength base, and talking to others as needed” (Fetters, 2018). Also, if need be, the school’s management can be changed or re-empowered with its security personnel.
Mitigation: After a shooting in any school, all the students or children are affected, whether attacked or not. A student may not have been directly involved in the shooting. However, they have witnessed their fellow students being shot, dying or injured, which is enough to give them mental torture, and the incident can hardly be forgotten. Therefore, after the gun violence in school, all the students need to be counselled, for they are affected physically, mentally and psychologically. Also, counselling will help the students not to live in worry. The affected people in that incident were not only students but also teachers. For example, even though some of the teachers at “Stoneman Douglas High School” were arrested, like the headteacher/principal, he was also affected mentally. It was hard for him to see his students being killed. Therefore, all the victims should be given equal consideration to enable them to move on with life quickly.
Conclusion
In conclusion, shooting in schools and campuses is a problem that should be treated with much consideration and attention. Enough and adequate preparedness should be done in every school in America and worldwide. Security cameras should be installed, gates are closed and heavily guarded, and no intruders should be allowed in a school. The security assessment should be done in every school, and in case of any violence, not just gun violence, there should be an active response. However, all the organizations, including ” the government, school, law enforcement, and the communities,” are accountable for providing security and safety in schools and adopt the urgency of establishing and implementing protocols to ensure children’s safety.
References
Fetters, A. (2018, August 27). The developing norms for reopening schools after shootings. The Atlantic. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2018/08/how-schools-decide-when-to-reopen-after-a-shooting/568666/
Homeland Security. (2017). Active shooter recovery guide. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency CISA. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.cisa.gov/publication/active-shooter-recovery-guide
Mazzei, P. (2018, December 13). Slow police response and chaos contributed to Parkland Massacre, report finds. The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/us/parkland-shooting-florida-commission-report.html
Mazzei, P. (2018, December 13). Slow police response and chaos contributed to Parkland Massacre, report finds. The New York Times. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/12/us/parkland-shooting-florida-commission-report.html
Police Executive Research Forum. (2022). The police response to active shooter incidents. Retrieved September 17, 2022, from https://www.policeforum.org/assets/docs/Critical_Issues_Series/the%20police%20response%20to%20active%20shooter%20incidents%202014.pdf
Solodev. (2022). Office of Safe Schools- Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Act (MSDHSPSA). Florida Department of Education. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.fldoe.org/safe-schools/
Wallman, B., Travis, S., & O’Matz, M. (2022). What is being done to stop another school shooting? Sun Sentinel. Retrieved September 18, 2022, from https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-ne-viz-school-safety-20181206-story.html
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