School Violence: Lessons Learned

FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin,The, Sept, 1999 by Stephen R. Band, Joseph A. Harpold

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

Law enforcement agencies, schools, and communities can employ preventive measures that may help identify potential at-risk students and defuse violent confrontations. Anonymous reporting programs, school resource officers, zero-tolerance policies, educational programs, effective liaison, and legislative and social reforms constitute some of the ways communities can safeguard their children.

Implement Anonymous Reporting Programs

In all but one of the six school shootings, the suspects "leaked" their intentions to other students, but the police did not receive this information. At the time of the shootings, none of these schools had a Scholastic Crime Stoppers Program or an anonymous tip line or comment box in place. A tip line or similar program would facilitate the flow of anonymous information from the students to the police and would constitute a definitive preventive effort. To ensure effectiveness, school officials should monitor this tip line or comment box 24 hours a day or at least access it before the school day begins. A good working relationship must exist between school authorities and the police to ensure that the police receive the information in a timely way. If the targeted schools had had an anonymous tip program, the police probably could have caught several of the shooters as they entered their schools.

Employ School Resource Officers

In conjunction with a tip program, schools should consider school resource officers (i.e., officers permanently assigned to the school by the police department). These officers can provide positive information quickly, weed out rumors, and develop intelligence regarding potential or planned acts of violence. Besides school resource officers and other officers with school duties, patrol officers should adopt schools in their assigned areas and, whenever possible, have lunch at the school. This gives students an opportunity to develop trust and to talk to police officers in a neutral, nonthreatening atmosphere.

Develop a Zero-Tolerance Policy

Schools should establish a zero-tolerance policy for students who make threats. Such a policy might include expulsion or suspension of students who threaten to kill or assault others and, if appropriate, quickly provide psychological evaluation or intervention for these students. When adults take threats seriously, students will realize that violence is not a condoned resolution to conflict.

Educate Teachers and Parents

The police should train teachers, school counselors, and parents to recognize students at risk of committing violence. While society can prevent or minimize violence, it rarely, if ever, can predict it because of the numerous human variables involved. Therefore, teachers and parents must look for "leakage" in student behavior that may signal the potential for violence. One behavior leakage that was present in all but one of the shootings involved the stated or implied desire to commit a violent act or suicide.

Other general warning signs or personal background indicators include: