Director's note - The case below out of South Carolina should serve as an essential notice to agencies that permit untrained officers to “cover shifts” of SROs. SRO absence coverage should be only by properly selected and trained personnel and be documented in the school district and police agency's MOU.
-- In South Carolina, the United States District Court ruled that failing to train a school resource officer is a proper basis for “deliberate indifference” liability for a school district and sheriff's office. The lawsuit arose out of an incident in which a sheriff's deputy, who “was not the normal school resource officer,” confronted a “special needs 8-year-old minor,” who had left the classroom. While sitting in a common area of the school, the sheriff's deputy was accused of taking “aggressive action” and “dragged the minor into the principal's office and wrestled with the eight-year-old minor for over thirty minutes, causing bruising to the minor's body, physical pain, and mental trauma.” The dispositive allegation in the case was that the substitute officer “received no training on how to interact with students nor special needs students and he had no experience being a school resource officer.” The court ruled that the case should not be dismissed because the “need to train school resource officers on the proper handling and restraint of special needs students was plainly obvious, and the risk of not training the officers was realized as alleged by the injuries sustained in the Complaint.”
-- In Louisiana, the Court of Appeal of Louisiana, affirmed the liability of school officials for “having actual knowledge of the actions of (a student) toward multiple students, and their failure to take the appropriate disciplinary actions.” The case involves a student who “was sexually molested by (another student) on the school bus. This happened on numerous occasions while riding the school bus … as well as on school property.” The appellate court agreed with the lower court that “the correct standard of liability regarding the liability of a school board for the actions of its students (is one of) a duty of reasonable supervision over students.” In practical terms this standard is a basis for liability when there is “proof of negligence in providing supervision and also proof of a causal connection between the lack of supervision and the accident.” Foreseeability is a dispositive component for liability such that “before a school board can be found to have breached the duty to adequately supervise the safety of students, the risk of unreasonable injury must be foreseeable, constructively or actually known, and preventable if a requisite degree of supervision had been exercised.” Affirming the finding of liability was supported by the facts that “following two incidents where the authorities could have recommended expulsion and it could be argued that expulsion was mandatory on those offenses, (the student) went on to assault two more students to which (school officials) again did not follow the (school policy).”Travasos v. Lafayette Parish School Board
-- In Florida, “Broward public schools apologized for the chaos on the first day of school caused by metal detectors that created delays as hundreds of high school students were left standing in 85 degree weather waiting to enter schools… Metal detectors were installed in all 32 of Broward’s high schools this year as a safety measure.”
-- In Florida, when the school year starts next week, Pembroke Pines elementary and middle schools will have armed guardians providing security instead of school resource officers because of a dispute with the school district. School officials believe that “it’s losing more than $2 million with that deal, so the district will provide the cheaper alternative for the elementary and middle schools.”
Mom charged with threatening to shoot up Nashville school
By Brittney Baird Aug 9, 2024, 9:47 a.m. CDT
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 39-year-old woman was taken into custody Thursday after she reportedly threatened to shoot up a elementary school in Nashville.
Metro police reported Sharina Panjwani called Carter Lawrence Elementary School on 12th Avenue South and said she was on her way to the campus with a gun. Officers were there waiting when she arrived. According to Metro police, Panjwani said she was there to find out why her child had been missing and her daughter was unable to be found on multiple occasions.
Uvalde shooting: student who survived told 911 dispatcher ‘I don’t want to die’
City officials release trove of records including 911 calls, text messages, body camera footage and surveillance videos.
By Maya Yang, Aug. 11, 2024, 3:55 p.m. EDT
Newly released records by the city of Uvalde are offering another devastating glimpse into the deadly mass school shooting that unfolded on May 24, 2022.
On Saturday, following a years-long lawsuit brought forth by the Associated Press and other news organizations over Uvalde officials’ refusal to publicly disclose records related to the Robb elementary school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead, city officials released a trove of records including 911 calls, text messages, body camera footage, and surveillance videos.
Among the released recordings is a 911 call from then fourth-grade Khloie Torres who was trapped with the shooter in the classroom and ultimately survived. According to the recording which was reviewed by the Associated Press, Torres could be heard telling the operator, “Please, I don’t want to die. My teacher is dead. Oh my God.”
Crisis of Communication: The Secret Service’s Leadership Failure
ByMichelle M. Johnson, Aug. 6, 2024
On July 22, Kimberly Cheatle, director of the United States Secret Service, faced a reputational crisis. Testifying before Congress about the assassination attempt on former President Trump, her opaque answers raised doubts about her leadership capacity. By July 23, her 30-year career with the agency was over.
Cheatle is not the first prominent person with authority to have bad things happen during their tenure. Some manage to keep their positions, while others do not. Cheatle’s swift downfall highlights the critical communication skills leaders must master during crises. Cheatle's inability to anticipate risks, articulate her agency's response requirements and demonstrate decisive action eroded stakeholder confidence in her ability to protect those under her charge. The following analysis of pain points reveal lessons from Cheatle's (and the Secret Service's) crisis.
Florida School Safety Commission Wants Clarification of New Door Lock Rules
Many are concerned schools might unintentionally violate the law requiring classrooms to be locked at all times.
By Robin Hattersley, Aug. 2, 2024
Florida school officials and law enforcement are raising concerns about their ability to comply with a new law that requires more doors and access points to be locked on K-12 campuses.
HB 1473 went into effect July 1 and requires school entrances and exits, including classroom doors, gates and other access points, be locked when students are on campus, reports ClickOrlando. Entrances and open or unlocked exits must be actively staffed, with some exceptions.
Registration Now Open: 2024 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security
You are invited to join the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Sept. 25 and 26 for the 2024 National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security. This virtual event brings together K-12 school leaders and practitioners to discuss and share actionable recommendations that enhance safe and supportive learning environments.
Registration is now open for the 2024 Summit. This year’s event will feature panel discussions, sessions, and keynote speakers covering violence prevention, emergency planning, youth online safety, student mental wellness, K-12 cybersecurity, and student interventions and support. These sessions are designed to foster a nationwide dialogue on some of the most critical school safety issues, as well as equip school stakeholders and personnel with resources, training and best practices to apply in their local K-12 communities.
EVENT DETAILS Dates: Sept. 25-26, 2024 Time: Noon – 3 p.m. EDT each day Location: Held virtually via Microsoft Teams Registration: Registration is required and there is no cost to attend.
MGT-412: SPORT AND SPECIAL EVENT EVACUATION AND PROTECTIVE ACTIONS
Aug 20-21, 2024, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. | Magnolia Volunteer Fire Company, Magnolia, DE 19962
The Sport and Special Event Evacuation and Protective Actions course helps sport and special event managers prepare and/or enhance their event action plan through incorporation of flexible and scalable protective measures. These measures can be used in isolation or in response to a larger, multi-agency response initiative. This innovative course helps venue operators, first responders, emergency managers, law enforcement, contractors, promoters and owners of events to collaborate on evacuation and sheltering plans with actionable decision criteria that can be adapted for almost any event.
This symposium goes beyond a typical conference; it's an immersive learning experience that brings together individuals from across the country who are passionate about keeping their schools and communities safe.
Don't miss two days of inspiring keynotes, training on the Standard Response Protocol (SRP) and Standard Reunification Method (SRM), and ample opportunities for networking with foundation staff and peers in the school and community safety space. This is an amazing chance to gain actionable insights into enhancing the safety of your organization and those in it.
Director's note- As someone who has served as a law enforcement Public Information Officer for six years, I've come to deeply appreciate effective communication's critical role during crises. It's a proactive strategy that can significantly mitigate challenges for school districts and law enforcement agencies navigating complex and dynamic incidents.
With that in mind, I wanted to recommend a book I believe would be highly valuable: The Politics of Crisis by Eric Kowalcyzyk. Eric was my media relations instructor, and his insights have profoundly shaped my understanding of crisis communication. His book offers a wealth of knowledge and practical experience that underscores the importance of clear, strategic communication in high-pressure situations.
Across the country minority communities feel under attack by police officers. "The Politics of Crisis" explores how to change public policy decisions to reform the role of law enforcement. Centered around the harrowing events of the Freddie Gray riots that gripped Baltimore in 2015, "The Politics of Crisis" is a powerful examination of how everything can go wrong when police no longer serve their communities. Eric Kowalczyk, director of media relations for the Baltimore Police Department during the riots, provides a first-hand account of what it’s like to be on the front lines of responding to the pressures of a community, the media, and the politics of a city in crisis. Blending humor, research and deeply personal experiences, "The Politics of Crisis" offers a prescription to prevent disaster from striking again.
