Hardening School Facilities Against An Active Shooter
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PLANNING AND PREPARATION
RESEARCH PAPER
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ROBERT PAPE
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DECEMBER 5, 2019
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INTRODUCTION
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?????The Port Washington School Board (hereinafter “the Board”) has retained the undersigned to identify and analyze the current best practices being utilized in the redesign of school structures to mitigate the danger of an active shooter while preserving an environment of safety for students and staff. The project report to the Board will provide the Board with information necessary for its’ consideration as to the feasibility of incorporating one or more school safety design best practices into existing school buildings within the Port Washington School District. It is understood that no school design can eliminate the risk of an active shooter incident, but careful planning can reduce the vulnerability to such a risk and reduce the consequences of such an incident. It is further understood that the reduction of vulnerability to an active shooter incident is not the result of the implementation of one of the foregoing best practices, but rather from a strategic combination of best practices and strategies most adaptable to the risks determined to exist in a particular school facility.
The information in this report will include, but not be limited to, the following:
???????????1. Background information as to risk of occurrence of an active shooter incident, the ???????need for mitigation planning for the potential threat and the need to preserve a safe ??school learning environment.
?????????????????2. An analysis of the components and use of Crime Prevention Through Environmental ????????????????????????Design – CPTED, relevant to the Port Washington School Campuses.
?????????????????3. An analysis of the current best practices currently being researched by Architectural ????????????????????????professionals for incorporation into existing school structures including secured main ?????????????????entry design, distinct floor pattern plans, automatic door locking systems and window ??????????????????????????????????and door glazing techniques.
?????????????????4. An analysis of the current best practices currently being researched by Architectural ????????????????????????professionals for incorporation into new structures or remodeled existing school ??????????????????????????????????????structures, including curved hallways, “wing walls” and “shadow zones”.
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??????A summary recommendation as to the best practices to be considered by the Board for further research and future implementation is also included herein.????
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BACKGROUND
?????Law enforcement agencies define active shooters as “armed persons who use deadly physical force against multiple victims in situations of unrestricted access.”
The incident of an active shooter on a school campus can trace its’ origins to the University of Texas at Austin where on August 1, 1966, a student entered the 307-foot clock tower with seven weapons and ammunition. This shooting incident lasted 96 minutes and resulted in 10 deaths and 30 people wounded, not including 3 people killed inside the tower and the shooter’s mother and wife According to an analysis by the Washington Post, in 2018 there were 24 school shootings in which there were injuries or deaths. Further, more than 228,000 students have been exposed to gun violence during school hours since the 1999 Columbine High School slayings.
Active shooters typically conduct significant preparation and planning.?Active shooter attacks are unpredictable and evolve very quickly. Many such attacks are over within 10 to 15 minutes, often before law enforcement and emergency responders can implement a comprehensive response.?As a result, the school staff must be prepared, both physically and mentally to deal with the situation.
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ACTIVE SHOOTER RISK ASSESSMENT
???????????Active shooter risk is determined by the level of threat, the level of potential consequences of an attack and the level of the school’s physical and operational vulnerabilities. The first step to protecting the students, faculty. employees and school facilities is an understanding of the vulnerabilities present. School vulnerabilities are the physical and operational characteristics of systems and facilities that may result in casualties if a successful attack is commenced at the school. For example, school building floor plan layouts and operational requirements of the educational environment were known to and gave some active shooters an advantage thereby making these school normal school elements potential vulnerabilities. While an active shooter risk analysis is an invaluable tool in determining what safety gaps currently exist and how those gaps can be mitigated moving forward, extreme care must be taken so as not to damage the educational environment in the school. Students want to feel safe, but they don’t want to surrender their liberty or freedom.?A school should not be “hardened” to the point where it takes on the characteristics of a prison.
A risk assessment should examine how an active shooter could exploit existing security vulnerabilities to cause harm to the site, its students, faculty and staff. Risk reduction or mitigation activities focus on minimizing the effects of an attack. School protective design can reduce the risk of an active shooter incident and, if one occurs, can mitigate or reduce the number of potential victims. The overall objective in school protective design is to deny access to the shooter and, if this fails, to ensure the shooter does not have unrestricted access to the entire building.?Slowing or delaying the shooter by seconds or minutes may give law enforcement time to respond and save lives.
RECOGNIZING THE DUAL PRIMARY GOALS OF SCHOOL SAFETY DESIGN
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As the best practices for school redesign are discussed herein and considered for possible implementation, it is important to focus on the dual guiding goals of school safety. The prior view that the safety and well-being of students begins and ends with the physical security of school grounds is gone.?Today school administrators must act to provide for the “holistic” safety of every student, from physical safety to emotional safety. The role of school administrators in addressing school safety was summarized by Governor Deval Patrick who said, “No child will be able to succeed academically if they don’t first feel safe in school. No teacher will be able to teach at their best if they aren’t confident there’s a plan in place to ensure their school is well prepared for an emergency.” The role of the architect in re-designing school facilities in the era of the active shooter was stated by architect Jay Brotman of the new Sandy Hook Elementary School, who said, “My goal is to lead everyone to more open and accessible schools, instead of prison like spaces. Further, you are not going to raise a good person in a prison.”. It is also necessary to note architect Matt Slagles’s observation that “We’ll never make [the school] completely safe from someone who desires to do harm.”
It is also important to also note that in evaluating the best practices in school safety design, evidence-based design data as it relates to school safety, is largely still emerging. Without supportive data it is often difficult to back up eventual design choices.
AN ANALYSIS OF THE
CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH ENVIRONMENTAL DESIGN (CPTED) CONCEPT
???????????CPTED is a people oriented multi-disciplinary approach to deterring criminal behavior through environmental design. CPTED has been part of risk mitigation since the 1970’s. ?CPTED strategies rely upon the ability to influence those decisions of a perpetrator which precede the criminal act. CPTED attempts to instill in a perpetrator the idea of being detected. CPTED therefore is a blend of psychology and security design, encompassed in the natural environment. CPTED defines three basic strategies for security design: natural access control, natural surveillance and territorial reinforcement. This approach is particularly applicable to schools where outdated facilities are common and existing school building design is not entirely compatible with today’s more security conscious environment.
???????????CPTED builds on these three strategies in the following ways.?For natural access control the strategic placement of building entrances and exits is considered along with fencing, lighting and landscaping. For natural surveillance there is the placing of natural features, normal school activities and school staff to maximize visibility. For example, tactics such a keeping shrubs trimmed and locating windows, so they overlook sidewalks and parking lots “allow people to easily observe their surroundings and ensure eyes on the street.” For territorial enforcement, there is the strategic use of artistic pavement, signage, landscaping and building appearance in use.
?As has been demonstrated in recent statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, many active shooters are set on destruction and are not concerned about their own mortality. This psychological state can limit the effectiveness of pure deterrence initiatives.?However, active shooters do want to be successful in their attack. If the presence of some measures of CPTED incorporated on school property can force an assailant to reconsider the success of the planned attack, there is a chance the school will cease to be a target.?
???????????The most readily used techniques for CPTED access control would require a review of all school landscaping to ensure that buildings are not obscured by overgrowth of bushes and shrubs which could serve as hiding places. Similarly, as most schools allow access to the playgrounds and athletic fields after school hours, ensuring these areas are visible from the surrounding neighborhood and streets, allows the community to help monitor the activities on the school grounds. Similarly, a CPTED review of traffic patterns can facilitate safety and security. Typically, bus parking and private vehicle drop off and pick up should be separated as should vehicular and pedestrian traffic to access the facility. Parking areas should be separately designated for faculty, student and visitors to the facility.
???????????Fences and walls around the perimeter of a school are one of the most effective security methods available but in keeping with the psychology of CPTED, any such technique must be designed with reasonable aesthetics. For example, a school perimeter could be secured through a combination of engineered planters, fixed bollards, traditional fencing and retractable bollards. These techniques prevent vehicles from obtaining direct and proximate access to the school building, which could greatly assist in the detection of someone wishing to navigate the school property for the purpose of doing harm.
?CURRENT BEST PRACTICES IN SCHOOL SAFETY FOR INCORPORATION INTO EXISITING SCHOOL STURCTURES
?Access Control /A Single Secure Main Entry – The most important aspect of school security is preventing the shooter’s unobserved entry onto the school grounds and into school buildings by force or stealth. Correspondingly, slowing down the shooter, allows first responders the time needed to respond. ?
Many of today’s school buildings have multiple points of entry which significantly increases the possibility of a person entering the building undetected.?With one main entry to the building which has regulated access control, surveillance and bullet resistant glazing on all windows and doors to resist compromise (as such need was highlighted in the Sandy Hook shooting), schools can maintain more control over visitors to the building. Recently, the shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school focused on the importance of having a single main entrance monitored by assigned school administrators. The single main entry sometimes referred to as the “security vestibule”, should be positioned to allow for the unobstructed surveillance of the lobby doors, stairwells and perpendicular hallways.?Having the school administrative area located on an exterior wall of the security vestibule allows additional surveillance and sight distance observations of visitor parking, student drop off points and exterior routes leading up to the main entrance. ?Where appropriate, unobtrusive security cameras could be positioned to provide additional surveillance. Once the designated receptionist has reviewed the credentials of the visitor, the receptionist may release the lock to the inner door of the security vestibule and allow entrance to the school. In the event of a perceived threat, the receptionist can activate the mass notification system (discussed, infra) and prevent access to the school from the security vestibule. An all-seeing reception desk is what the architectural firm TowerPinkster calls “educational entry panopticon”, based on a type of institutional building and a system of control designed by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. Access control works well in conjunction with other safety strategies within the school facility including establishment of safe zones, development of safe evacuation routes and increased visibility of corridors.
?Automatic Door Locking System – If a shooter does gain entry, the next objective of school safety is not to give the shooter any targets.
???????????Schools can greatly reduce the risk of a mass casualty incident with a locking system whereby with the press of a button all doors within the building are locked. This system sometimes referred to as “Smart Doors”, requires certain electronic hardware to be installed on the doors and through contact points on interior classroom walls.?This type of system has proved effective in its use within several penitentiaries and can be easily adapted and designed to be inconspicuous, so as not to raise any sense of an unsafe environment within a school building.
Distinct Floor Pattern Plans Indicating Safe Zones – Architects are now using various floor color patterns in classrooms with single door access, to clearly designate “safe zones.” In an emergency, students can go to that color on the floor and they would be in the classroom’s “safe zone.” The location of the safe zone is determined geometrically in determining a shooter’s sight line from the hallway.?This technique requires the automatic door locking system previously explained. This technique is especially useful in elementary school settings where it can be practiced using the recognition of colored floor patters.
Mass Notification Systems – School safety requires the installation of a communication system that provides immediate and direct contact to law enforcement. Such systems may be activated in numerous ways depending on the characteristics of the building and school personnel involved. When activated, such systems alert the entire building and proceed to lock down the building according to the building lock down SOP.?Controlled alarm systems like this help prevent incidents such as occurred during the Parkland shooting where the shooter activated the fire alarm which drew students into the hallways. ?Additional features which have been recently added to the mass notification systems are strategically placed motion detectors which begin operation after the completion of the lock down. Such detectors can rapidly help law enforcement determine the location of a shooter within the locked down facility.
Window and Door Glazing – Glazing is one of the easiest ways to ensure school safety. The glazing film “turns a normal glass window into a windshield.” Many glazing design and implementation techniques were initially developed for use in highly secure facilities such as embassies and courthouses to mitigate injuries and damage from events such as bombings or ballistics attacks or forced entry attempts. However, considering the active shooter threat on school campuses, several of these glazing techniques have been adapted for use in schools.?These adaptations have become more readily available for school use and are continually being improved to be more cost effective. Some level of protective glazing, especially for windows and exterior doors, offers significant improvement in protection without the perception of the need for added protection.?In the Sandy Hook shooting, a review of the incident disclosed the shooter was initially denied entry to the school because of lock doors but gained entry by shooting out adjacent windows.
The U.S. General Services Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have developed a window classification system based upon the level of application of window glazing. Window types are classified from Type I to Type III and the average clearing time ranges from 1 minute to 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the window type. It is important to note from the CPTED perspective, when a shooter hits a window or door system expecting it to easily break and it doesn’t, the shooter’s thinking, planning and thought processes are severely disrupted, which in turn allows more time for an effective response.
CURRENT BEST PRACTICES IN SCHOOL SAFETY FOR INCORPORATION INTO NEW SCHOOL STURCTURES
????Curved Hallways - Curved corridors to “reduce the sight lines” of an active shooter. The most recent use of curved hallway design being implemented for a new school building is found in the Fruitport Michigan High School in August 2019, with full completion in 2021.?As the district superintendent Bob Szymoniak has stated, “reduced sightlines will reduce a shooter’s ability to do harm.” In keeping with the focus of providing safety without the oppressive appearance of safety, initial reaction to the curved hallway technique is that the curve is not too obvious in the hallway. The objective of the design is to reduce a shooter’s sightline. There has been some initial reaction as to this technique in that it equally reduces the sightlines of SWAT teams or other first responders to the scene.
Wing Wall Protrusions – Architects have begun to design “wing walls” into new school structures.?Wing walls are made of concrete and stick out perpendicularly about four feet from main walls in corridors and in classrooms to reduce sight lines and serve as a place for students to hide. ?Classrooms have also been designed with an internal wing wall to block a shooter’s line of sight into the classroom from a hallway widow. Some internal wing walls have been designed to hide approximately 33 persons behind the wall.
Shadow Zones – As a further adaptation of the wing wall is the creation of a classroom "shadow zone"?for students so that a shooter will not be able to directly see them when peering into a classroom. Shadow zones incorporate the variable placement of classroom doors, and the variable placement of classroom door windows.
Install Safe (“Shelter in Place”) Rooms – Specifically designed safe rooms are made from reinforced concrete capable of withstanding automatic weapon fire and capable from being locked from the inside.?These rooms are designed for multiple purposes.?For example, the new STEM curriculum offered in high schools requires specifically designed open spaced rooms for the collaborative group work required by the curriculum.?Such rooms while used for educational purposes for most of the time, could be used as safe rooms in times of emergency, whether natural or intentional. To some extent, safe rooms may be designed within existing school structures depending on the existing construction components forming the proposed safe room parameters.
CONCLUSION
???????????The foregoing analysis of school safety measures focus on risk reduction or mitigation of casualties, damage and disruption from an active shooter incident occurring on or in Port Washington school property. School safety in the era of the active shooter is not about the one thing that will make a school safe.?Rather, it is about doing many things, that when combined in strategic fashion (“layers of defense”), make the school safer than it was before. The combination of implemented safety techniques will support the three layers of defense that school safety recognizes.?The first layer of defense is the barrier of the property.?The second layer of defense consists of the area from the barrier of the property to the exterior of the building.?The third layer of defense is the inside of the building. For architects to be successful in designing school safety measures, they need the input from students, faculty, administrators, first responders, emergency managers and the community at large. As Scott Weber, an Allied AIA member and professor at Virginia Tech has said “… [school safety] it’s not just the outside coming in, it’s the inside erupting.”
?Further complicating the architect’s function is the balance that must be struck between school safety and the visual signifiers of potential threats. High fences, metal detectors, bullet proof glass and obtrusive CCTV systems will have an overall negative impact on an overall feeling of safety and the learning environment. Additionally, risk assessment for a school shooting incident is not a “one and done” practice.?Rather, it is a continuous process to evaluate the vulnerabilities of a school building, activity or operation and to continually take steps to reduce the risk from the perceived vulnerability.???
RECOMMENDATION
The Port Washington School District should conduct a detailed risk assessment for an active shooter risk for its facilities.?From this assessment, the District will facilitate the design and implementation of an appropriate combination of school safety techniques as outlined herein, and such other techniques as may be necessary to consider for mitigation of risk stemming from vulnerabilities expressed in the risk assessment. Such safety techniques will be integrated into school operations, activities and facilities at as reasonable a cost as may be determined.?
Submitted:?Robert Pape
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REFERENCES USED
·??????Active Shooter Preparedness by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, retrieved from: https://www.dhs.gov/active-shooter-preparedness
·??????Active Shooter How to Respond U.S. Department of Homeland Security, May 28, 2019, retrieved from: https://www.dhs.gov>publication>active -shooter-how-to-respond.
·??????K-12 School Security Guide and School Security Survey (2nd Edition), retrieved from:
www.dhs.gov/publications/k-12-school-secutiy guide
·??????Active Shooter Recommendations and Analysis for Risk Mitigation by Raymond W. Kelly, NYPD.
·??????Insight, Safe School Design, SMMA, retrieved from: https://www.smma.com/blog/designing-safer-schools
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1 年Thank you.
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