NCJ Number
182441
Date Published
2000
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video discusses lessons learned from the shootings at Columbine High School.
Abstract
The video includes interviews with the Littleton Sheriff’s Office Information Officer; with three members of the Littleton Police Department SWAT Team; and with a school safety expert from the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. The speakers emphasize the need for schools to develop master plans to cope with situations like Columbine, and to test the plans in advance, in hopes of preventing some of the situations that developed during the Columbine incident. For example, approximately 30 agencies and 1,000 individuals were involved in the incident, with no central command post to direct operations. In addition, telephone lines were overloaded; it was impossible for law enforcement personnel to use their cellular telephones; agencies were operating on different frequencies, so that even when communications facilities were available, they could not communicate with each other; news media helicopters were flying over the area so low that they were drowning out communications and stirring up dust and dirt. The Sheriff’s Office Information Officer held hourly briefings during the crisis, which turned out to be a good way to keep the public informed. Finally, risk assessment procedures should involve law enforcement personnel and school mental health personnel.