School Bus Driver Ambushed and Hijacked

August 11, 2014 by

School Bus Driver Ambushed

In Baltimore, a group of teens, all under the age of 16, boarded a school bus and allegedly began throwing things at the school bus driver.  When he said he was going to call 911, they reportedly began assaulting him.  They then drove off in the bus.  The teens allegedly drove around the block and then parked it.

The school bus driver reportedly received minor injuries, and the police have three of the suspects in custody.  Fortunately, there was no one else on the bus at the time of the hijacking.

A Type D school bus.

Analysis

School bus safety should be a primary concern of schools.  In a recently released study, school transportation-related deaths are the leading cause of death in K-12 schools.  To keep things in perspective, however, school transportation-related crashes account for less than one-half of one percent of all crashes in the US.  However, during a fifteen-year period from 1998 through 2012, the number of people who died in school transportation-related crashes are more than eight times the number of people killed in Active Shooter Incidents in the same period.

Apart from the bus crashes, school buses are soft targets.  Buses are difficult to secure, and there have been numerous instances in which unwanted people have boarded the bus, the most noteworthy being the fatal incident in Alabama.  So what are school bus drivers to do?

The primary weapon the school bus driver has is awareness, which can lead to avoidance.  When driving a route you have driven numerous times before, it is easy to become complacent, and not pay attention to what is going on at and around bus stops, and along the route.  School bus drivers can overcome this by reminding themselves everyday of the preciousness of their cargo. School bus drivers are in a unique position to notice something out of the ordinary.

Practicing the tenets of Permission to Live, if a driver feels that something is wrong at a bus stop, they should kick up their perceptions, and decide whether to stop, or drive by and continue to monitor.  At this point the school bus driver has to weigh the safety of the children at the stop with the safety of the children already on the bus.  This decision is best thought out ahead of time, even set into policy.

For a look at how school buses have ben used in terror attacks around the world, read Innocent Targets.

Filed Under: Ask Safe Havens, Safe Havens Blog, Stephen Satterly Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

School Employee Attacks Student, 2 Employees Arrested

August 7, 2014 by

School Employee Attacks Student

An employee of Berks County Schools in Pennsylvania allegedly body-slammed a 17-year old student.  A teacher then allegedly lied to cover up the incident.  The incident occurred at the Paramount Academy, a school for students with therapeutic needs.

The allegations are as follows: The assaulter is a “behavioral specialist” that was working in the teacher’s room.  Students were being loud, and the specialist told the class that the next student to say something would be “body-slammed” through the door.  A short time later, the student, who was not loud earlier, asked if he could sharpen his pencil.  After the teacher gave him permission  he stood up, and the specialist grabbed him by the shirt and rammed him against the door several times.  He then pushed the student through the door, then rammed him headfirst into the wall, then pinned him to the floor.

The behavioral specialist is 6’4″, and weighs 280lbs, while the student is 5’8″ and weighs 162lbs.

The student suffered scratches and bruises to his upper torso.

The teacher was arrested for falsifying information during the investigation.

Everyone is presumed innocent until found guilty in a court of law.

 

Analysis of School Employee Attacks

Schools hire employees to care for students.  In doing so, they should do their due diligence to screen potential employees to try to find signs that such behavior has occurred in their past.  Past behavior is a good predictor of future behavior.  Yet despite background checks and interviews, sometimes schools hire people who are not suitable for working with children, especially children with special needs.  This can lead to incidents such as this.

When such an incident occurs, it is in the school’s best interest to be open and cooperate with law enforcement or child protective services investigations. The teacher alluded to interviewers that she lied because because she was told by her “higher ups” to clean up the incident.  If true, then this is unfortunate and the problem runs up the chain of command.

Don’t be that kind of school.

Filed Under: Ask Safe Havens, Safe Havens Blog, Stephen Satterly Tagged With: , , , ,

An A+ in School Safety

July 18, 2014 by

A plus school safety

These photos depict an excellent utilization of murals to enhance student safety in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina Public School System. This clear marking makes it less likely that an aggressor could claim they accidentally entered the girl’s restroom by mistake. They also reduce the chances of students suffering embarrassment from the common problem of people entering the wrong restroom by mistake.

These photos depict an excellent utilization of murals to enhance student safety in the Chapel Hill, North Carolina Public School System. This clear marking makes it less likely that an aggressor could claim they accidentally entered the girl’s restroom by mistake. They also reduce the chances of students suffering embarrassment from the common problem of people entering the wrong restroom by mistake.

A+ Example of Murals to Enhance School Safety

Murals Enhance School Safety in Chapel Hill

While reviewing a school security report prepared by one of our analysts, we noted an unusually creative use of murals to mark student restrooms.  The photos were taken at Phillips Middle School in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.  We would like to share this excellent example of an A+ in school safety effort.  All of us have probably walked into a restroom designed for the opposite sex by mistake.  There are also instances in schools where a male student enters a girl’s restroom intentionally but claims they did so by mistake.

A+ in School Safety Solution at Phillips Middle School

Staff at Phillips Middle School came up with an excellent solution to this that is superior to anything I have seen in my visits to thousands of K12 schools over the years.  While I have seen other examples of clearly marked student restrooms, none of the approaches I have seen have been as clear as this example.  By combining murals depicting students with signage on two walls, the staff at Phillips have dramatically enhanced communication and significantly reduced the opportunity for a student to enter a restroom designed for students of the opposite sex intentionally or accidental accidentally.

A+ in School Safety effort and effect

Working routinely with architects and school planners over the years, I have encountered hundreds of really great ideas to improve school safety through murals, signage and other visible features.   Fortunately, I still learn new and better ways to use visual indicators to improve school safety, security, climate, culture and emergency preparedness each year.  We are always looking to our clients for A+ school safety ideas.

We are impressed with the innovative and effective approach used by the staff at Phillips High School.  They remind us just how powerful a relatively simple and inexpensive approach to improve school safety and climate can be.  For this, we give the team at Phillips an A+ for innovation.

      

Filed Under: Safe Havens Blog, Uncategorized
« Previous Page
Next Page »