Lessons learned from the preliminary summary of the Sandy Hook Report
Campus Safety Magazine has posted a feature article prepared by five Safe Havens Analysts. The article outlines seven of what our analysts considered to be seven of the most important observations from the preliminary Sandy Hook Report summary. On November 25th, the state attorney general released a preliminary summary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting Report. The Sandy Hook Report has been long awaited by school officials who have been forced to make tough decisions over the past 12 months on the way they approach school safety and school security. At the time of this posting, most of these key observations have not been addressed in the media coverage we have seen on the report. The points about school lockdowns and the ways schools should hold lockdown drills are particularly important, even moreso in light of the considerable amount of erroneous information that has been put forth in the wake of the Sandy Hook tragedy. We feel these points bear a critical look by school and public safety officials as they evaluate plans, procedures and drills for not only active shooter incidents but also any other type of crisis decision-making. We owe it to the victims to avoid some of the misconceptions that abounded previously to the release of the preliminary Sandy Hook Report, and to look for ways to learn from this tragedy and make reasoned and rational changes to improve the safety of students and educators everywhere.