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School Shootings: Law Enforcement and School District Networking

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From the thesis abstract: "School shootings have happened in the past and will happen again. The history of school shootings prompts all stakeholders to look at ways to prevent them from happening, and if they do happen, to be resilient. Change is needed in the prevention of school shootings. The case studies of Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, E. O. Green Junior High, and Beslan school shootings reveal that the lack of information sharing and lack of communication were flaws; and the incidents might have been preventable. Prevention is a key element that both schools and law enforcement need to improve upon. In order to make strides in prevention, there needs to be advanced planning, continuous information sharing amongst stakeholders regarding those individuals that conduct themselves in ways that cause concern, a change in organizational culture with law enforcement and schools regarding sharing information, legal solutions, as well as resiliency if a shooting does occur. School shootings can never be completely preventable; however, it is feasible to have systems that prevent school shootings and increase the safety of the students and the community."

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security; Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)

Topadzhikyan, Tigran

2013-12
K-12 Education: Characteristics of School Shootings, Report to Congressional Requesters

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From the GAO [Government Accountability Office] Highlights: "In addition to the potential loss of life, school shootings can evoke feelings of profound fear and anxiety that disturb a community's sense of safety and security. Questions have been raised about whether schools' approaches to addressing student behavior are a factor in school shootings. These approaches include discipline that removes the offending students from the classroom or school, and preventative approaches meant to change student behaviors before problems arise. GAO was asked to examine school shootings, including the link between discipline and shootings. This report examines 1) the characteristics of school shootings and affected schools, and 2) what is known about the link between discipline and school shootings. To do so, GAO analyzed data on school shootings and school characteristics for school years 2009-10 through 2018-19; and conducted a literature review to identify empirical research from 2009 to 2019 that examined discipline approaches in school, and the effects of these approaches on outcomes of school gun violence, school violence, or school safety. GAO also interviewed selected researchers to gather perspectives about challenges and limitations in conducting research on school discipline and school shootings."

United States. Government Accountability Office

2020-06
Puyallup Fire & Rescue's Response to Active School Shooting Incidents

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"Schools need to be a safe haven for learning. When that comfort zone is damaged by violence, the entire community is affected. Local fire/EMS [Emergency Medical Services], law enforcement, and school administrations need to work together and create an action plan should a school shooting occur. The problem was that Puyallup Fire & Rescue (PFR) had no plan in place to effectively work with law enforcement and school administrators during an active shooter incident. The purpose of this applied research project was to identify elements necessary to effectively respond to and manage school shooting emergencies. The research questions asked are how does PFR and cooperating agencies (law enforcement, school district) prepare for school shooting situations, what specialized resources and training are necessary to safely operate at school shootings, what items are needed for PFR to effectively operate with other local agencies and the Puyallup School District, what do other emergency services and school districts do to deal with school shootings, and what national standards are available to use to handle school shootings?"

United States Fire Administration

Donovan, Patrick N.

2008-07
H. Rept. 117-307: School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act, Report Together with Minority Views, to Accompany H.R. 5428, May 6, 2022

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From the Purpose and Summary: "The purpose of H.R. 5428, the 'School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act', is to direct the U.S. Department of Education (ED), in consultation with the U.S. Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Health and Human Services (HHS), to annually collect and report on indicators of school safety for all school shootings in prekindergarten through 12th grade (PreK-12) schools and institutions of higher education. The bill creates definitions of 'school shooting' and 'mass shooting' for the purpose of data collection. This would also be the first time these terms would be defined in federal law. In addition to the number of shootings, H.R. 5428 requires data collection on a number of factors related to school shootings, including the number of people killed and injured, the demographics of the shooter and victims, and the type of gun and ammunition used, among other factors. The bill also requires a historical collection and reporting of data on prior school shootings."

United States. Government Publishing Office

2022-05-06
Buildings and Infrastructure Protection Series: Primer to Design Safe School Projects in Case of Terrorist Attacks and School Shootings

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"The purpose of this primer is to provide the design community and school administrators with the basic principles and techniques to make a school safe from terrorist attacks and school shootings and at the same time ensure it is functional and aesthetically pleasing, and meets the needs of the students, staff, administration, and general public. Protecting a school building and grounds from physical attack is a significant challenge because the design, construction, renovation, operation, and maintenance of a facility must consider numerous building users, infrastructure systems, and building design codes."

United States. Department of Homeland Security. Science and Technology Directorate; United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency

2012-01
Preventing School Shootings: A Summary of a U.S. Secret Service Safe School Initiative Report

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"This article dispels the myths and stereotypes about school shooters. Children who attack can be any age and from any ethnic group, race, or family situation. Contrary to assumptions that some of our youth 'just snap'--they don't. They plan. Most official statistics show a steady decline in the rates of school violence. Reports from the U.S. Department of Education show school to be one of the safest places for our children. However, several high-profile shootings in schools over the past decade have resulted in increased fear among students, parents, and educators."

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (U.S.); United States. Secret Service. National Threat Assessment Center

2002
Precursors of School Shootings

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From the Abstract: "This paper analyzes mass school shootings in the United States, stressing their root causes, indicators, demographics, and suggestive guidelines for preventable measures. Data draws associations between bullying, social dominance, and devalued masculinity amongst high school boys. Further, these trends emphasize homophobic harassment and the reassertion of lost dominance through violence. Moreover, research upholds media coverage and self-absorbed behavior as an additional precursor for inspired acts of malice. Journalistic representations of mass school shootings are identified as a source of motivation for vengeful and easily malleable youth. Studies also stress the importance of school inclusivity and interconnectedness, emitting a stark correlation to the level of violence in schools across America. In turn, applicable solutions are best represented by Effective Behavioral Support and violence prevention methods practiced by teachers and campus staff. In addition, school security upheld positive results as well, whether executed by armed guards or fencing."

San José State University. ScholarWorks

Harrington, Branden

2019-05-16
K-12 School Shooting Database: Research Methodology

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"To answer the question 'How many school shootings have occurred' and address the void of centralized and available data, the K-12 School Shooting Database (K-12 SSDB) has been created as a research product of the Center for Homeland Defense and Security. The product is a filtered, deconflicted, and cross-referenced database of more than 1,300 K-12 school shootings from 1970 to the time of publication (updates will be made as new incidents occur) collated from the previously referenced sources as well as new and continued research by the authors. The K-12 SSDB includes detailed information about each incident, a reliability score that quantifies the dependability of the information, and the verified primary source citation(s) (e.g., newspaper article, court records, interviews, police reports) to allow for further academic research."

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security; United States. Federal Emergency Management Agency

Riedman, David; O'Neill, Desmond S.

2018-09
Arming Teachers as a Response to School Shootings [March 13, 2018]

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"In the wake of the February 14, 2018, shooting at Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, President Trump endorsed a proposal to arm teachers as a way to potentially thwart school shootings. The President's endorsement has generated debate about whether this policy option would make schools safer. Proponents argue that arming educators provides a deterrent effect and that armed teachers could respond to an active shooter quicker than police. Opponents argue that teachers do not want the responsibility of countering active shooters; they raise questions about whether teachers can receive enough training to make them effective in an active shooter situation; and they argue that allowing firearms on school grounds could create other problems, such as police mistaking armed school personnel for assailants."

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

James, Nathan

2018-03-13
Viewpoints in Homeland Defense and Security: Viewpoints with Desmond O'Neill and David Riedman - K-12 School Shooting Database [video]

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From the Webpage: "In this Viewpoints, Desmond O'Neill and David Riedman discuss the development of the K-12 School Shooting Database, a project of the Advanced Thinking in Homeland Security (HSx) program. The K-12 School Shooting Database research project is a widely inclusive database that documents each and every instance a gun is brandished, is fired, or a bullet hits school property for any reason, regardless of the number of victims, time, day of the week." The duration of this video is 22 minutes and 30 seconds.

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security

O'Neill, Desmond S.; Riedman, David

2018-10-15
CHDS School Shooting Safety Compendium [website]

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From the Website: "Shootings and other violent acts continue to take place in schools across the nation. These horrific events have continued to increase in number and impact. In response, the Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) is developing a School Shooting Safety Compendium to aid officials and researchers on the topic."

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security
K-12 School Shooting Database [website]

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From the Website's "About Us" Section: "The K-12 SSDB [School Shooting Database] includes detailed information about each incident, a reliability score that quantifies the dependability of the information, and the verified primary source citation(s) (e.g., newspaper article, court records, interviews, police reports) to allow for further academic research. The scope is widely inclusive to allow for a comprehensive view of the issue Through the inclusion, rather than exclusion, of criteria that are cross-referenced, unfiltered, and agnostic, users can conduct more detailed analyses of gun violence in schools within their areas of interest from which to make better informed decisions about school safety."

K-12 School Shooting Database
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: H.R. 4301, School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act

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This is the Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate as ordered reported by the House Committee on Education and Labor on September 18, 2019. From the Document: "H.R. 4301 would require the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to publish an annual report on school crime and safety, including statistics on school shootings."

United States. Congressional Budget Office

2019-10-11
H. Rept. 116-701: School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act, Report Together with Minority Views to Accompany H.R. 4301, Including Cost Estimate of the Congressional Budget Office, December 28, 2020

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From the Document: "The Committee on Education and Labor, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 4301) to require the Secretary of Education, in consultation with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to publish an annual report on indicators of school crime and safety that includes data on school shootings, and for other purposes, having considered the same, reports favorably thereon with an amendment and recommends that the bill as amended do pass."

United States. Government Publishing Office

2020-12-28
Congressional Budget Office Cost Estimate: H.R. 5428, School Shooting Safety and Preparedness Act

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From the Document: "H.R. 5428 would require the Secretary of Education, in coordination with the Attorney General and the Secretary of Health and Human Services, to publish an annual report on school crime and safety, including statistics on school shootings. Based on the cost to prepare similar reports, CBO [Congressional Budget Office] estimates that it would cost $1 million over the 2022-2026 period to collect data and write the annual reports; any spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated amounts."

United States. Congressional Budget Office

2022-04-27
Preventing School Shootings: A Public Health Approach to Gun Violence

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From the thesis abstract: "Gun violence in America must be addressed at the highest levels of society. Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech were attacks on the very fabric of America. School shootings represent attacks on our nations' future. A public health approach to gun violence focuses on prevention. Public safety professionals, educators and community leaders are squandering opportunities to prevent horrific acts of extreme violence. Preparedness is derived by planning, which is critical to mobilizing resources when needed. Rational public policy can work. Sensible gun legislation, which is accessible through a public health approach to gun violence, neither marginalizes nor stigmatizes any one group. University administrators must fully engage the entire arsenal of resources available to confront this pernicious threat. The academic community can create powerful networks for research, collaboration and information sharing. These collective learning environments are investments in the knowledge economy. In order for the police to remain relevant, they must actively engage the community they serve by developing the operational art necessary to cultivate knowledge, relationships and expertise. Police departments must emphasize strategies that improve performance. Police officers must understand the mission and meaning of 'To Protect and Serve' and the consequences of public safety, which often comes at their personal peril. Gun violence in America is a public health epidemic and preventing it requires a collective responsibility." A 7-min, 6-second video interview on this thesis is also available at the following link: [https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did= 736902]

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security; Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)

Welch, Edward J.

2013-03
Viewpoints in Homeland Defense and Security: Thesis Series: Preventing School Shootings: A Public Health Approach to Gun Violence [video]

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From the Video Description: "Gun violence in America must be addressed at the highest levels of society. Newtown, Aurora, and Virginia Tech were attacks on the very fabric of America. School Shootings represent attacks on our nations' future. A public health approach to gun violence focuses on prevention. Public safety professionals, educators and community leaders are squandering opportunities to prevent horrific acts of extreme violence. Preparedness is derived by planning, which is critical to mobilizing resources when needed, Rational public policy can work. Sensible gun legislation, which is accessible through a public health approach to gun violence, neither marginalizes nor stigmatizes any one group." The duration of the video is 7 minutes and 6 seconds. The complete thesis can be accessed at the following web address: [https://www.hsdl.org/?abstract&did=736339]

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security

Welch, Edward J.

2013-05-14
When the Shooting Stops: Recovery from Active-Shooter Events for K-12 Schools

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From the thesis abstract: "Since Columbine, untold resources and planning efforts have been dedicated to active-shooter response by schools and public safety officials. Perhaps this is as it should be, but the almost exclusive focus on response has come at the expense of recovery. Active-shooter events were studied to identify and analyze gaps in recovery planning and operations. Research suggests that a comprehensive K-12 recovery plan with a phased approach would have enabled a faster and smoother recovery. There are no federal requirements for such a plan, and fewer than two-thirds of the states require a crisis plan for schools. The most important elements of active-shooter recovery for K-12 schools were determined: evacuation, relocation, and parent/student reunification; counseling and mental health therapy; funerals and memorials; post-incident staff reduction, suicide awareness, communication with non-English-speaking students and families, and donation management. Based on the lessons learned from six active-shooter incidents, steps are recommended for the successful"

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.); Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.). Center for Homeland Defense and Security

Berglund, Douglas A.

2017-12
Platte Canyon School Shooting: Textual Analysis of Morrison Suicide Letter

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This document is the Federal Bureau of Investigation's analysis of the suicide letter left by Duane Morrison. The analysis was undertaken to provide some possible behavioral characteristics and information on the author.

United States. Federal Bureau of Investigation

2006-11-29
PTSD Research Quarterly [2014]

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This edition of the "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Research Quarterly" features the cover article "Impact of Mass Shootings on Individual Adjustment," by Holly Orcutt, Lynsey Miron, and Antonia Seligowski. Other articles described or linked to in the pdf include the following: "Social Support, World Assumptions, and Exposure as Predictors of Anxiety and Quality of Life Following a Mass Trauma"; "Effects of Media Exposure on Adolescents Traumatized in a School Shooting"; "Peritraumatic Dissociation and Experiential Avoidance as Prospective Predictors of Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms"; "Adjustment Following the Mass Shooting at Virginia Tech: The Roles of Resource Loss and Gain"; "Posttraumatic Stress Among Students after the Shootings at Virginia Tech"; "Longitudinal Evaluation of the Relationship Between Maladaptive Trauma Coping and Distress: Examination Following the Mass Shooting at Virginia Tech"; "Prior Sexual Trauma and Adjustment Following the Virginia Tech Campus Shootings: Examination of the Mediating Role of Schemas and Social Supports"; "Acute and Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms in a Prospective Gene X Environment Study of a University Campus Shooting"; "Differential Predictors of Transient Stress Versus Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: Evaluating Risk Following Targeted Mass Violence"; "Three-year Follow-up of Survivors of a Mass Shooting Episode"; "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Survivors of a Mass Shooting"; "One-year Follow-up of Survivors of a Mass Shooting"; "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder in Survivors of a Mass Shooting"; "Prospective Trajectories of Posttraumatic Stress in College Women Following a Campus Mass Shooting"; "Malignant Memories: PTSD in Children and Adults after a School Shooting"; "Controlled Followw-up Study of Adolescents Exposed to a School Shooting - Psychological Consequences after Four Months"; and "Malignant Memories: Posttraumatic Changes in Memory in Adults after a School Shooting".

National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (U.S.)

2014
School Shooter: A Rapidly Growing Problem for Homeland Security

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From the thesis abstract: "School shootings have significantly impacted many aspects of our lives across the United States. They first became a recognized problem in American society in the 1960s and have since continued to increase in frequency and severity. Casualty numbers from school shootings have steadily increased since 1990, and even though such shootings are rarer than homicide, mass murder, and off-campus violence, they have a great impact on a community. Normally, techniques and tactics used by school administrations and law enforcement change over time to adapt to growing threats. Cases such as the University of Texas shooting in 1966 and Columbine High School in 1999, for example, led to changes in law enforcement tactics. While UT Austin and Columbine are landmark examples, from 2000 to 2015, there have been 45 school shootings. Attacks in Sandy Hook Elementary School and Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have focused demands for change, and school and law enforcement procedures have not yet adapted to the rising threat. This thesis examines how educators, first responders, and law enforcement should respond to school shooters today using threat assessment processes and facility security upgrades."

Naval Postgraduate School (U.S.)

Kennedy, Dylan F.

2018-06
Public Mass Shootings: Database Amasses Details of a Half Century of U.S. Mass Shootings with Firearms, Generating Psychosocial Histories

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This article provides an overview of the release of a National Institute of Justice funded research project on mass shootings in the United states. From the Article: "Persons who committed public mass shootings in the U.S. over the last half century were commonly troubled by personal trauma before their shooting incidents, nearly always in a state of crisis at the time, and, in most cases, engaged in leaking their plans before opening fire. Most were insiders of a targeted institution, such as an employee or student. Except for young school shooters who stole the guns from family members, most used legally obtained handguns in those shootings. Those are prominent traits of persons who have engaged in public mass shootings - that is, a shooting that kills four or more people - collected in a comprehensive new database of identified U.S. mass shootings from 1966 to 2019. The data on 172 mass public shooters cover more than 150 psychosocial history variables, such as those individuals' mental health history, past trauma, interest in past shootings, and situational triggers. With support from the National Institute of Justice, The Violence Project database has drawn data exclusively from open sources such as social media sites and online newspapers. The aim is to build a broader understanding on the part of the public, the justice system, and the research community of who mass shooters are and what motivates their decision to discharge firearms at multiple people. As part of the project, researchers also separately interviewed persons in prison who had engaged in mass shootings, in part to look for shared traits."

National Institute of Justice (U.S.)

2022-02-03
Prior Knowledge of Potential School-Based Violence: Information Students Learn May Prevent a Targeted Attack

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"In the wake of several high-profile shootings at schools in the United States, most notably the shootings that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, the United States Secret Service (Secret Service) and the United States Department of Education (ED) embarked on a collaborative endeavor to study incidents of planned (or targeted) violence in our nation's schools. Initiated in 1999, the study, termed the Safe School Initiative (SSI), examined several issues, most notably whether past school-based attacks were planned, and what could be done to prevent future attacks. The SSI employed a method similar to an earlier Secret Service study, the Exceptional Case Study Project (ECSP), that examined targeted attacks on public officials and public figures (Fein & Vossekuil, 1999). […] As with the ECSP, the SSI employed an operational focus to assist those involved with school safety to improve prevention efforts by increasing knowledge of targeted violence in schools. By studying past incidents of targeted violence in schools, the Secret Service and ED examined whether pre-attack behaviors of perpetrators could be identified to prevent future attacks. […] The SSI findings highlight that in most targeted school-based attacks, individuals, referred to as bystanders in this report, had some type of advanced knowledge about planned school violence. Despite this advanced knowledge, the attacks still occurred. This study aimed to further the prevention of targeted school-based attacks by exploring how students with prior knowledge of attacks made decisions regarding what steps, if any, to take after learning the information. The study sought to identify what might be done to encourage more students to share information they learn about potential targeted school-based violence with one or more adults."

United States. Secret Service; United States. Department of Education

Pollack, William S.; Modzeleski, William; Rooney, Georgeann

2008-05
School Resource Officers: Law Enforcement Officers in Schools [June 26, 2013]

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"Schools have a mission of great importance to our nation--they are responsible for keeping our children safe while educating them and helping prepare them to be responsible and productive citizens. The December 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, that claimed the lives of 20 children and 6 adults, has heightened congressional interest in school security. Policymakers have begun debating whether school security can be further enhanced, and if so, how best to accomplish that goal. A wide variety of proposals have been offered at the federal level, such as funding for expanded mental health services for students, funding for training on mental health awareness for school staff, funding to assist schools in improving school climate, funding for more school counselors, and funding for more school resource officers (SROs) or other armed security personnel. […] This report focuses on one of these proposals--the renewed focus on providing federal funding for more SROs as a means to preventing school shootings. It examines the distribution of and current number of SROs, the potential sustainability of any increase in the number of SROs, and the effect that SROs may have on students and the academic setting. It also examines what available research studies suggest about the extent to which SROs may reduce school violence. These are issues Congress may consider while contemplating an expansion of SRO programs."

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

James, Nathan; McCallion, Gail

2013-06-26
School Resource Officers: Law Enforcement Officers in Schools [February 6, 2014]

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"Some policymakers have expressed renewed interest in school resource officers (SROs) as a result of the December 2012 mass shooting that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT. SROs are sworn law enforcement officers who are assigned to work in schools. For FY2014, the Administration requested $150 million in funding for a Comprehensive Schools Safety Program under the Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) program. Congress appropriated $75 million for a Comprehensive School Safety Initiative. Congress required the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) to collaborate with key partners from law enforcement, mental health, and education disciplines to develop and publish a comprehensive strategy and model for school safety. Within the amount provided, $50 million is for pilot programs to improve school safety consistent with the school safety model published by the NIJ. The remaining $25 million is for research and evaluation into potential root causes of school violence. […] Two federal grant programs promoted SRO programs: the COPS in Schools (CIS) program, which was funded until FY2005, and State Formula Grants under the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities Act (SDFSCA), which was funded until FY2009. The CIS program provided grants for hiring new, additional school resource officers to conduct community policing services in and around primary and secondary schools. Local educational agencies could use funds they received under the SDFSCA State Formula Grant program for, among other things, hiring and training school security personnel."

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

James, Nathan; McCallion, Gail

2014-02-06
Ten Essential Actions to Improve School Safety: School Safety Working Group Report to the Attorney General

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From the Introduction: "Although statistically they are rare, school shootings and mass casualty attacks have an enormous impact on our communities. This impact often leads to immense pressure on school administrators and law enforcement officials to 'do something' quickly to protect our children in school. Hasty and reactive decision-making often results in implementation of new policies and adoption of new equipment and technology based on scant--if any--evidence of their effectiveness. Understanding this challenge, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) asked its School Safety Working Group to identify from a law enforcement perspective the 10 most essential actions schools, school districts, and law enforcement agencies can take to prevent mass casualty attacks in our nation's schools and, when prevention is not enough, to respond rapidly and effectively to end the threat as quickly as possible to save lives. While the cost associated with some of these strategies may be significant, for others it is relatively modest. It should be noted that critical actions described in this document are applicable not only to school shootings but also to all areas of school safety, including weather disasters and traumatic events such as student suicide."

United States. Department of Justice. Office of Community Oriented Policing Services

2020
Understanding School Safety and the Use of School Resource Officers in Understudied Settings

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From the Abstract: "School safety has been an increasingly salient topic for policymakers, educators, and students alike. Several recent high-profile school shootings have only served to bolster efforts that were already in place to keep students safe at school. One of those approaches, the presence of law enforcement in schools, has seen rapid increases over the last several decades, particularly in elementary school settings. Often referred to as school resource officers (SROs), such law enforcement officers have become a central part of many students' school experiences. This report presents an overview of work conducted to examine the roles of SROs in the previously understudied settings of non-urban elementary schools. The project used a mixed-methods approach to explore the motivations for placing SROs in schools, what SROs do on a day to day basis, how these activities relate to a variety of outcomes for school stakeholders, and how these beforementioned actions and outcomes vary across settings. Drawing on interviews, focus groups, observations, administrative data, and a large-scale survey, the findings of this study speak to many salient aspects of SRO implementation. The results help inform the political motivators that make adoption of SROs a preferred solution for promoting school safety, our understanding of how SROs interact with students, and how SROs impact schools. This report includes findings from this study and concludes with a series of practical recommendations for policymakers and practitioners."

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (U.S.)

Curran, Frank Christopher; Fisher, Benjamin W.; Viano, Samantha L. . . .

2020-04
Mass Murder with Firearms: Incidents and Victims, 1999-2013 [July 30, 2015]

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"In the wake of tragedy in Newtown, CT, Congress defined 'mass killings' as '3 or more killings in a single incident' (P.L. 112-265). Any consideration of new or existing gun laws that follows mass shootings is likely to generate requests for comprehensive data on the prevalence and deadliness of these incidents. […] According to the FBI, the term 'mass murder' has been defined generally as a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered, within one event, and in one or more locations in close geographical proximity. Based on this definition, for the purposes of this report, 'mass shooting' is defined as a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms, within one event, and in one or more locations in close proximity. Similarly, a 'mass public shooting' is defined to mean a multiple homicide incident in which four or more victims are murdered with firearms, within one event, in at least one or more public locations, such as a workplace, school, restaurant, house of worship, neighborhood, or other public setting. This report analyzes mass shootings for a 15-year period (1999-2013). CRS analysis of the FBI SHR dataset and other research indicates that offenders committed at least 317 mass shootings, murdered 1,554 victims, and non-fatally wounded another 441 victims entirely with firearms during that 15-year period. The prevalence of mass shooting incidents and victim counts fluctuated sporadically from year to year. For the period 2007-2013, the annual averages for both incidents and victim counts were slightly higher than the years from 1999-2007."

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

Krouse, William J.; Richardson, Daniel J.

2015-07-30
School and Campus Safety Programs and Requirements in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and Higher Education Act [December 19, 2012]

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"In the United States, more than 75 million students are enrolled in elementary and secondary schools and institutions of higher education (IHEs). During the 2009-2010 school year (most recent data available), there were 33 school-associated violent deaths in elementary and secondary schools. In 2010, students aged 12-18 were victims of approximately 828,400 nonfatal crimes at school, including thefts, simple assault, rape, sexual assault, robbery, and aggravated assault. At IHEs in 2011, about 31,823 criminal incidents were reported as having occurred on campus, including 16 incidents of murder, 3,396 forcible sex offenses, 2,440 aggravated assaults, and 20,072 burglaries. The December 14, 2012, shooting deaths of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, have heightened concerns about school security. Safeguarding the security of students as they pursue an education is a paramount concern of federal, state, and local governments, as well as the school districts, schools, and institutions that enroll these students. Both the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLBA; P.L. [Public Law] 107-110), and the Higher Education Act of 1965 (HEA) contain requirements regarding crime and student safety. The ESEA also includes specific programs that support efforts to prevent school violence. While the HEA does not authorize specific programs to address campus crime and security issues, Section 485(f) of Title IV of the HEA contains statutory requirements related to campus crime and security, known collectively as the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act (Clery Act). Institutions must comply with these requirements to participate in the federal student aid programs and other programs authorized by HEA Title IV (e.g., Pell Grants). This report discusses these provisions and programs as they apply to elementary and secondary schools and IHEs. It begins with a description of programs and requirements included in the ESEA, which is followed by a discussion of relevant requirements included in the HEA. Where available, the most recent funding level for each program is provided."

Library of Congress. Congressional Research Service

McCallion, Gail; Skinner, Rebecca

2012-12-19
LLIS Innovative Practice: Oklahoma's School Safety Initiatives

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"Oklahoma developed two programs--Safe Schools 101 and the Oklahoma School Security Institute (OSSI)--to protect students from natural and manmade hazards. Together, these programs protect schools from the dangers of tornadoes and enhance school security and response plans. […] In response to the deaths of school children caused by the May 20, 2013 tornadoes and the December 14, 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Oklahoma developed Safe Schools 101 and OSSI to improve safety in public schools. Safe Schools 101 funds structural evaluations and safe room retrofits and installations in schools to protect students from natural disasters. OSSI provides school officials with security measures and active shooter training, administers a tip-line, and offers mental health support services to students."

Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS)

2014-10-14?

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