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Allegations of Student Being Strip-Searched by Assistant Principal Demonstrate the Importance of Proper Communications of Student Search Guidelines for Student Searches

December 13, 2012 by

Parents of a 10-year-old boy who was allegedly strip-searched by a North Carolina elementary school assistant principal have filed a lawsuit against school officials.  The parents of Justin Cox are alleging that Assistant Principal Teresa Holmes, an administrator at Union Elementary School in Sampson County, North Carolina conducted a strip search of their son while looking for a missing $20 dollar bill.

Having served as an expert witness consultant in a federal civil action where the plaintiff’s alleged that a strip search had occurred, I suggest caution in jumping to conclusions for these types of situations if the facts of the search are not known.  In the above mentioned case, it was clear that the student had not actually been asked to remove any clothing but plaintiff’s counsel described the event as a “strip search”.

Civil actions against school officials relating to allegations of strip searches and other types of intrusive searches are relatively common.  Cases that do not conduct searches that do not involve drugs or weapons as alleged in this instance can be particularly problematic if and when a strip search has actually been performed.  Unfortunately, unlawful searches of students do occur.  The likelihood that these types of situations will occur can be reduced through careful policy development and effective staff development.  This particular area of staff development is challenging because the law changes often.  Fortunately, there are a number of superb trainers in this area such as Dr. Bernie James and Dr. Gary Avery.  I have often advised client districts that the cost of hiring nationally experienced experts like those mentioned to help evaluate policies and to provide training is inexpensive in relation to the impact of a successful civil action or worse, the occurrence of preventable deaths because a lawful search for weapons is not conducted due to a lack of familiarity with laws on search and seizure.

As I mention earlier, it is impossible to tell from a media account whether anything improper occurred.  However, the civil action is a good reminder that school search and seizure is an important topic and that school officials should be provided timely and relevant information on the subject.

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Free School Safety Videos – What are Functional Protocols?

December 10, 2012 by

Free School Safety Videos

Our team at Safe Havens International has been working hard this year to produce a number of new series of free school safety videos that can be used to learn more about school safety basics and help train school staff.  The latest school safety videos in the “Ask Safe Havens” video series provides a definition for incident specific protocols and functional protocols, two of the most basic concepts in school crisis planning. 

The school security experts at Safe Havens have worked closely with our award-winning video crew to develop these concise but informative school safety videos designed to help answer some of the most commonly asked questions.  Submit your questions or topics that you would like to see addressed in future video podcasts by sending us a message on our contact form.  There are currently over 30 episodes in the series and we have had a great response so far, with some videos quickly reaching over 10,000 views.

This series was produced by Safe Havens Video, the most experienced school safety video crew in the world.  Our crew has produced custom school safety videos as part of training projects for more than a dozen school districts and educational consortiums around the country and several produced for state departments of education.  We decided to create this web series in our spare time to answer the questions we hear from educators, parents and students around the country when it comes to school safety.  As the world’s only video production unit dedicated to creating school safety videos, we have an extensive library of footage of real and simulated school crisis events from around the world.  Our school safety videos have won Telly Awards, a W3 award for excellent web video and have been used by national news networks including ABC’s 20/20.

Functional protocols (Ask Safe Havens) from Safe Havens International on Vimeo.

Incident Specific Protocols (Ask Safe Havens) from Safe Havens International on Vimeo.

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What are incident specific protocols?

December 7, 2012 by

Incident Specific Protocols (Ask Safe Havens) from Safe Havens International on Vimeo.

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Texas Student Shoots Himself While Handcuffed and Being Transported from School in Police Car

December 6, 2012 by

At risk student shoots himself after being taken into protective custody

A seventeen-year-old student shot himself yesterday while being transported from his school in a police car in Harris County, Texas.  A student reported that he received a text message from the student indicating that the student might harm himself and notified school officials who notified police that the student might be at risk of harming himself with a weapon.  The student was enrolled at the Galena Park Independent School District near Houston.

While being transported by a Harris County Constable Deputy, the young man shot himself in the head even though he had been handcuffed, according to police.  The student was taken to the Ben Taub General Hospital and was listed in critical condition.  The student was reportedly depressed after having problems with his girlfriend.  Apparently, the arresting officer who searched the student missed the handgun.

Many years ago, an Atlanta police officer was shot and paralyzed from the waist down by a student during a transport many years ago.  The officer told me that the students were not in custody and were being transported to the school office when he was shot.  He related that while he patted down the older of the two students prior to the transport, he did not pat down a 13-year-old who had the weapon concealed on his person. 

Some years ago, a Richmond County, Georgia School District police officer was shot and killed by a high school student who fired from the back seat of his patrol car after the officer missed a handgun concealed in his crotch.  The suspect had not been handcuffed at the time and was apparently not under arrest at the time of the shooting.  A Bibb County, Georgia School District police officer was shot and killed near Central High School in Macon, Georgia while transporting a non-student who took the officer’s weapon.  This individual had also not been handcuffed because he had not been arrested.  Our concealed weapons demonstrations and training videos demonstrate just how easy it can be to miss a weapon, even a firearm during a search of a student.

At this point, we do not know exactly how the youth was able to shoot himself during a police transport.  This will be determined during the ongoing investigation of the incident.  However, this incident and the above instances of school–aged youth who have killed and wounded police officers during transports indicate the need for careful adherence to proper searches and handcuffing practices.  While many school administrators and parents have objected to students being handcuffed or handcuffed with their hands behind their back, each of these instances shows just how dangerous it can be to transport adult or juvenile suspects. 

 

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First Things First – Focus on the Most Important School Security Risks When Considering Terrorist Attacks

December 4, 2012 by

There has been an interesting LinkedIn school safety group discussion relating to whether schools should be used as polling sites.  Several participants have cited concerns about Election Day terrorist attacks at schools used for polling along with more routine school security concerns.  A couple of participants feel that schools should never be used as polling sites while others feel that the use of schools as polling sites can have positive benefits without creating unreasonable risk. 

Predictions relating to terrorist attacks at school polling sites have not come to pass since they were first voiced with considerable alarm more than a decade ago.  While a terrorist attack on a school polling site could occur, a reality is that children die every year in schools due to easily corrected gaps in student supervision. 

While terrorist attacks by their very nature can be difficult to predict, excessive speculation can contribute to an ineffective utilization of resources.  Focusing on school security measures that will be useful is often more effective than emphasizing those with only a remote chance of paying off.  With time and funding for school security facing inherent limitations, focusing on core strategies such as improved student supervision and basic security measures can prove to be more effective.  Taking the time to utilize free school safety resources from both private and government organizations is another particularly productive approach. 

As the examples of school metal detection and the potential for problems with school polling sites indicate, there are many areas of school security where local risks, resources and realities need to be considered rather than a “one size fits all” approach.  If there are indications of danger with polling at schools in a community, it is appropriate to address them.  But assuming that schools should never be used as polling sites anywhere in the country absent more of an indication of risk may not be the most balanced approach to school security.

 

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Carbon monoxide poisoning in Atlanta school reminds us of the importance of functional protocols

December 3, 2012 by

In a still-developing incident, a reported 43 students and 5 adults were overcome with carbon monoxide poisoning at an Atlanta elementary school this morning.  This is an important reminder that there are a lot of other types of crisis events that could necessitate the evacuation of a school besides a fire.  It is not uncommon to see news stories of factory fires or other community hazards that give need for schools to evacuate.

Medical experts say that there are not likely to be any permanent injuries with a relatively low level of carbon monoxide poisoning, but that parents should watch for long term symptoms that may appear in students.

This reminds of a recent edition of “Ask Safe Havens” that discusses functional protocols (a series of response procedures and action steps that can be adapted to a wide variety of crisis events) and why they are helpful for school safety and crisis planning.  In the next episode we will discuss incident specific protocols (action steps to be taken during a specific type of crisis).

Functional protocols (Ask Safe Havens) from Safe Havens International on Vimeo.

 

Comment on this blog post or on one of our video posts with your questions for future episodes of “Ask Safe Havens”.

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