This type of photo can serve as “exhibit A” in school safety litigation. This photo was taken during a school safety assessment and depicts a security gate that was left unlocked and open. The primary reason for this security gate is to prevent unauthorized people from climbing the tower and falling to their death. Evidence that a safety feature was not utilized, a policy was not followed or video footage of staff ignoring safety precautions can be among the most powerful evidence in a school safety lawsuit.

Powerful Evidence in School Safety Lawsuits

A multi-million dollar school safety lawsuit against a security company was recently dismissed by a federal court judge.  The case involved an accident where a student fell four stories in a large open stairwell during a school dance.  I reviewed the case for defense counsel and determined that school officials had failed to secure a series of expensive electronic safety gates that had been installed to prevent this exact type of event.  There were also a series of tragic and blatant safety errors on the part of several school administrators.  Instead of suing the people who had failed to take reasonable measures to prevent the tragedy, plaintiff’s counsel attempted to sue the contract security company.  While the district enjoys qualified immunity, the security company did not and would have appeared to be an easier target. 

Don’t depend on luck for school safety

In effect, the plaintiff’s attorney had sued the wrong defendant.  He did not properly evaluate the circumstances of the case, missing critical facts such as the failure of school administrators to lock the safety gates.  Fortunately for the school district, by the time the judge reviewed my report and dismissed the suit, the statute of limitations had passed.  The attorney could not file what would have been a much more solid lawsuit against the school district.  I would not suggest school officials rely on attorneys making such errors.  The attorney who made this mistake was actually a highly competent personal injury attorney not prone to such errors in judgment.  School officials were blessed with unusual luck in this case.

A better approach

A better approach is to develop a school culture where people do what they are supposed to do to enhance school safety.  Following proper safety precautions makes schools safer while reducing liability exposure.  This approach reduces the chances of successful school safety lawsuits.  More importantly, it makes schools safer and more effective.  While no safety system will be perfect, efforts to reduce these types of oversights can be worthwhile.  Being alert to safety devices that are not being properly utilized can keep you out of court while preventing serious injury and death. 

When used properly, school security cameras can help administrators monitor how well staff are supervising students

Using School Security Cameras Properly

School security cameras can be a valuable tool to enhance school security.  School security cameras can also provide valuable evidence in litigation against school officials.  The way school security cameras are utilized often determines which of these outcomes will occur.  There are approaches to school security camera utilization that can help school officials obtain the benefits of school security cameras while reducing the chances that security cameras will end up being a nail in the coffin of their legal defense should a school security incident

1. Don’t ask more from school security cameras than is realistic

School security camera approaches can significantly improve school safety.  However, my experience has been that security cameras do not provide the level of deterrent effect that many people assume they provide.   Multiple research projects have demonstrated that security cameras have a very limited impact on crime rates.  Certain types of violators such as people who plan to come to a school to shoot one or more victims are typically not deterred by the fact that their actions will be recorded by school security cameras.  But school security cameras can help reduce incidents as an investigative tool when offenders know they will face consequences if caught.  At the same time, having video evidence that a student was attacked in a school is not much use if the aggressor(s) are not held accountable to a reasonable extent.  This is destined to become an increasingly difficult problem in school safety litigation as schools face increasing pressure not to prosecute students for crimes on campus.  Consequences are a more powerful deterrent than the idea of being caught on camera.  Lack of consequences can be compelling evidence against school officials during litigation.

2. Install school security cameras based on a school hazard and vulnerability assessment process

Successful school security camera installations are typically based on a solid hazard and vulnerability assessment process.  This type of process can encompass a physical evaluation of the campus, review of incident data and surveys of students and school staff.  One very promising approach is to utilize GIS mapping surveys filled out by students to determine areas where improvements in student supervision and security camera coverage are needed.

3. Use cameras to evaluate student supervision rather than to supervise students

While people often think in terms of security cameras as a tool to improve student supervision, they are typically more beneficial as a means for building administrators to verify that staff are properly supervising students.  Administrators should periodically walk the campus to verify that staff are effectively supervising students.  A building administrator can supplement this by periodically checking to see if staff are properly deployed with a robust school security camera system.

4. Develop and document appropriate student supervision

School security systems often work best when they are used to supplement rather than replace human supervision.   Surprisingly, most school employees are not provided with formal staff development in specific techniques for student supervision.  Taking the time to train personnel on the simple yet powerful concepts used to supervise students can dramatically improve student safety.

5. Maintain appropriate control of recorded images

Some school organizations have experienced significant problems when images from school security cameras have become widely disseminated via the internet and television news programs.  We are also now increasingly seeing situations where students are hacking into school security camera systems to capture live video feed. 

6. Properly notify building occupants regarding school security camera use

Careful wording in student handbooks and on posted signage can increase deterrent effect, reassure students, parents and staff while also reducing liability exposure.  Verbiage should avoid references to cameras being monitored even if they are.  This can often become an issue if an incident is not noticed in real time. 

These six simple steps can help improve the many benefits from school security cameras.  They can also help avert the all to0 common and often easily preventable situations where school security cameras provide compelling evidence in school security litigation.  

School officials sometimes use rubber bands, magnets and other devices to allow them to pre lock classroom doors to speed the process of lockdown

Three Steps to Faster School Lockdowns

School lockdowns remain a hot topic.  Every time a mass casualty school shooting takes place interest in ways to improve school lockdowns increases.  A small but vocal minority suggests we abandon the concept of lockdown completely.  However, the many instances where school lockdowns have been successfully applied indicate that perhaps more emphasis on properly preparing school employees to implement school lockdowns is in order.  I have noticed six common opportunities for more reliable school lockdown approaches.

1. Physically prepare staff to implement a school lockdown.

Michelle Gay lost her child in the Sandy Hook School shooting.  Michelle related to me that her child’s substitute teacher had never been issued a key to the classroom making it impossible for her to lock the door.  While many people have been advocating that this substitute should have been provided military style close quarters combat training to enable her to attack the killer, a more practical observation is that she lacked a key to lock her classroom door.

2.  Properly train staff to implement a school lockdown.

Michelle also related to me that her child’s substitute teacher had never been issued a lockdown protocol, trained to perform a lockdown, nor participated in a lockdown drill.  Though these concepts are very basic requirements for reliable school lockdowns, this is still not an uncommon situation even after the Sandy Hook tragedy.

3.  Mentally prepare staff to implement a school lockdown without being told to do so.

Unfortunately, most schools still conduct “1958 style drills.”  These drills are the same type of drills that allowed an elementary child to murder 95 staff and students by burning down the Our Lady of Angels Sacred Hearts School in Chicago in 1958.  Though the school conducted nine fire drills each year, the principal always pulled the fire alarm during drills.  This accidentally conditioned employees that someone else would pull the alarm.  During the stress of the event, no teacher activated the fire alarm for an estimated five minutes after the fire was detected.  Safe Havens has developed research-based drill approaches that require school staff to respond to scenarios to initiate each drill.  This helps to mentally prepare staff to make the decision to implement protective actions rather than to wait to be directed to do so in an emergency.

These three opportunities for improvement are all very simple.  At the same time, they are extremely important ways to improve survivability in the event an emergency lockdown becomes necessary.  For more information on evidence-based school lockdown concepts, Safe Havens offers two free web courses at: http://safehavensinternational.org/school-safety-web-courses/