Sunday, February 18, 2018

Protecting our Future

Due to the disgusting events that occurred in the city of Parkland, in Broward County, Florida this past Valentines Day, I feel compelled to add my opinion to the myriad of suggestions being offered to deter such situations from occurring in our public schools again. I realize no solution is Fool-Proof, but we can at least minimize the affects of such atrocities. In contrast to many left or right wing solutions being touted, I suggest the answer lies in a multi faceted approach. Therefore, I will lay out he steps I predict should be taken:

  • Install a new division of the Department of Education, directly tied to Homeland Security; Protection of School Children. This should actually be the main objective of the Education Department and money allocated to this department should be diverted to this focus with the rest of the Federal Agency just coordinating Education (for student goals, books, teacher qualifications etc.) with the states. The states should also have this new function added to their Departments of Education and fully staff and fund it (50% to be provided by the Federal Government).
  • At the same time, hire professional help to review our school's security status. The Israelis seem to have cured the problem of Terrorists attacking their schools and I see no difference between the problems. You don't have to limit the selections to only asking Israelis, but select anyone who has seemed to have a grasp on the problem. These experts should provide a base group of instructors to hold classes for implementers provided by the States. Once the Federal  professionals have a consensus on actions to be taken by any school to provide security for schools of all sizes, they need to hold implementation classes with each corresponding group as provided by the states.
  • Now that each state has a trained, security group the individual states' security can be reviewed and appraised. Every school should have armed guards specifically trained in  Child protection. It has been suggested that retired police or military personnel be used and conversely that younger, more exuberant people would be better. I would think that the best, most trustworthy candidates could be found among the parental groups of each school. I'm sure that volunteers from such groups would provide their services for free. The state's Department of Education  should provide intense shooting classes for potential security guards and upon successful completion of such classes, be issued a CCL (Concealed Carry License) and the predetermined weapon (that was used in their training). There should also be periodic, firearm reclassification classes as well as mandatory weekly practice sessions. Local law enforcement could provide trainers and training facilities.
  • Each school needs a central command center. This does not have to be physically located at the school, there could be a central location servicing multiple schools. These centers need to be in constant contact with each school security guard during all school hours. Hidden cameras as well as televised drones should be implemented and monitored. Each guard needs to be continually tracked so the officers monitoring cameras can determine the closest guard to respond to potential threats. These monitoring officers will also require intense training in the use of drones, cameras and communications. Again, these officers could be  provided from a pool of students' parents. If this is not possible, then current law enforcement officers or retired law officers and/or military options should be employed. 
  •  It will be left up to the individual states to determine how to deploy the security teams and how many need to be assigned to each school. It is also the job of local authorities to determine how to organize and staff command centers  Locals also have to determine how many hidden cameras and/or camera drones each school requires (based on campus size) and if fast response vehicles should be incorporated into the security system of each school. Locals can decide whether to use metal detectors and entry access points etc. Every school district should have access to fast response teams of local and Federal SWAT, medical personnel and police forces. 
  • Now we need to discuss the school districts responsibilities in this area. Sometimes each district has a "Problem School" where they send all children that have some kind of issue attending school; Attendance, attitude, drug use, alcohol use etc. Many times these schools have strict security albeit mostly geared to keep students inside rather than keeping anyone outside. I'd suggest that every school district or conglomeration of districts have such a school. And as part of a mental stability staff require either a licensed Psychiatrist(s) and/or licensed Psychologist(s). Any school attempting to expel a student, as Nikolas Jacob Cruz had been form Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, would be required to send the problem student to the designated "Problem School" There, he would have to undergo psychiatric/physiological examination. by its mental stability staff. If this examination determines that a child might have mental issues, the local authorities would be notified and start research to determine if any red flag behavior has been exhibited. As part of this research, the FBI and ATF need to be prompted to determine firearm status of the child (status being ownership of any and all  firearms). 
  • The ATF and FBI also have requirements to enable safety in our schools. First, there should be a Federal waiting period for any firearm purchased (this is where all gun organizations and my fellow gun owners will have to bend a little). During this waiting time period, the departments must send a copy of  the ATF form 4473s (required to purchase a firearm) to each state's education system, along with the NICS document generated by the request,  to determine if any troubled student has applied to purchase a firearm. The state departments then need to relay this information to the appropriate school district in which the student resides. There needs to be a firearms by students data base created which can be queried for information by student. This data base should be accessible by all schools, junior colleges and universities within a state. The ATF and FBI must also respond to requests by a school's designated "Problem Schools" when problem students are identified. This data must be in a format conducive to updating the school's database. The student's record(s), if any, would be transferred when a student school transfer (to a different district) is initiated.
Other factors could be included in this student firearm database such as ammunition, since many states already require ID's to purchase ammunition.  This could be a red flag item when an excessive quantity of ammo is purchased. The amount should be determined by the Federal departments and passed along to the state departments. Also, information contained within this database is strictly confidential and should only be distributed if a valid search warrant is issued. The system I have proposed may be expensive but no cost is too much to protect our children, our future.