The final summary report for the Shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School was released this afternoon.  Several of our analysts are reviewing the report now.  We thought that some of our readers might be interested in the report as well.

The Connecticut State Police may be releasing the first in a series of reports from their investigation of the deadly attack at Sandy Hook Elementary School last December.  At this point, there are indications that a brief summary report will be released to the general public, but the full report may not be released at this time.  Hopefully, this report and future report information will be released by the Connecticut State Police when it is appropriate.  This should help put to rest much of the conspiracy theories and wild speculation that has been so prevalent in this case.  While some of these harmful activities will no doubt continue, we hope that there will be a decrease in these types of insensitive speculation that must be painful for families who have lost loved ones in the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. 

Just as it must be very painful for survivors of the holocaust to listen to gibberish from holocaust deniers, it must be quite painful for family members who lost loved ones, survivors of the terrible attack, and residents of this peaceful community to bear the burden of those who claim the event never happened or who attempt to profit from the event by presenting on “what really happened at Sandy Hook” before the facts of the case are made public – even though they had no direct role.

Having reporters approach your house with a microphone concealed in a bouquet of flowers to try to trick you into a surprise interview must be a painful experience for a parent who has lost a child in such a brutal manner.  School security consultants rushing to Newtown to capitalize on the event by doing media interviews has also caused distress.  We, as well as many educators and public safety officials in Connecticut, found this practice to be quite disturbing.   As neither the school district nor public safety officials summoned them to the community, people were stunned at this unscrupulous and opportunistic behavior.  One official likened one of these folks to a hyena coming in to feed off the dead.  

Sadly, there is no shortage of individuals who are so focused on making money.  They either do not care or perhaps do not realize what damage they can cause with these callous marketing approaches.   Anyone who is more concerned about getting on the news more than they care about the emotional well-being of the survivors is not student and school-centered.  As with numerous past tragedies, these types of individuals often then try to create an implied narrative that they were called to the scene as responders.  These sad events show just how money obsessed some people can be.   

The Connecticut State Police, local and federal law enforcement officers working this investigation have been under what must be intense pressure while trying to conduct a thorough investigation in a sensitive and responsible manner.   Though there will certainly be unanswered questions, after this report and any subsequent reports, we are hopeful that a more meaningful dialogue about school security can commence as we learn more reliable and accurate information.

The Maine Legislature has directed the Maine Department of Education to examine school security. Safe Havens International feels honored to be selected to assist in the school security assessment project after careful vetting by the Maine Department of Education.  The Safe Havens International team working on this project also been trusted to work on the 2013 White House School Safety Initiative and has completed more than forty school security assessment projects this year.  Safe Havens analysts have also been asked to conduct school security assessments in Nigeria and Kenya as well as in more than 20 states in the past nine months.

Safe Havens analysts will collaborate with a multidisciplinary team of education, architecture, homeland security, and public safety officials to help evaluate climate, culture, and emergency preparedness of Maine schools.  Safe Havens analysts have previously assisted with five statewide school security assessment projects.  Safe Havens is the only organization in the nation to have completed more than one state-level school security assessment process.

Like every school security assessment project, each state government school security assessment project has been a learning experience for us.  Working with state department of education, homeland security, and law enforcement officials on such large-scale school security assessment projects has been incredibly insightful to us all.

The selection of Safe Havens International to assist the Maine Department of Education for this impactful school security assessment project speaks volumes of the reputation our analysts have earned.  I am personally grateful to our dedicated team of school security experts.  I am continually inspired by their efforts to make schools safer and more productive places of learning.