Tips to School Security for Toledo Public Schools
There was once a time when smoking in the boy's room was the infraction of the day. Those days are over...in today's public school, officials must deal with violence, sexual harassment, statutory rape, drugs, weapons, gangs, bombs, shootings, computer hacking, theft, irate disgruntled parents and domestic violence.
One of the biggest obstacles keeping schools from achieving a secure environment is "The big D" a.k.a Denial. The "It can't happen here" syndrome prevents officials from being proactive in their security efforts. Furthermore, images concerns, lack of reporting incidences, fear of disrupting daily routines, or fear of being 'alarmists' stalls any security efforts.
Fortunately parents insistent upon tighter security measures are raising awareness and officials have no choice but to rethink security practices. The following protective measures should be considered in EVERY school security program.
Statistically Speaking; half of all teens see schools growing more violent. 1 in 10 are in fear of being hurt by weapons, 15% know someone who has carried a gun to school, 40% of teens say that they have used violence to protect themselves. 85% of teens believe drugs and alcohol are primary causes of teen violence. *Children's Institute International.
Technology; security cameras, metal detectors, pass keys, access controls, and radios have their advantages. However, these are only tools to assist officials in an ongoing security plan. Plugging these devices in and 'feeling' secure is a false sense of security. Utilizing these devices effectively means strategically placing them in areas of concern and having diligent staff monitoring and operating these devices to their fullest capacity.
Security Officers; School Resource Officers are trained professionals who enforce rules of law, they also educate and council students and teachers, and monitor premise security and installed technologies. Security Officers require significant financial investment and more importantly the support of school officials.
Crisis Intervention; Acts of violence, sexual harassment, statutory rape, drugs, weapons, gangs, bombs, shootings, computer hacking, theft, irate disgruntled parents and domestic violence all require crisis response. Established OSHA guidelines, security consultants and law enforcement officials can help with proper training.
Security Training; It is the responsibility of officials to implement solid security strategies and practices. Establish guidelines customized to the facilities requirements. Staff, parents and students must be included in all ongoing security efforts. Students are on the frontlines and can offer a wealth of information.
Non-Violence Intervention; have systems in place to deal with students, parents or teachers who act out aggressively. There are many resources available to educate staff and students on how to effectively diffuse an escalating situation.
Physical Security; is fundamental to normal growth and development. Teachers cannot teach and students cannot learn in a hostile environment. A proactive approach to security is the only way to ensure a safe and secure environment. Reactive responses to security not only are ineffective, the damage has been done.
Parents Responsibilities; are you involved with the security function at school? Are the doors locked? Have you asked your children if they have seen a weapon on campus? Are there any disruptive or violent students in school to be concerned about? What measures has the school taken to ensure safety?
Students Responsibilities; have you talked to your teachers or parents? Do you have immediate concerns that need to be addressed? Have you been threatened? Is there anyone in school who has made mention of shooting students or blowing up the school? You must be proactively involved in your schools safety. Tell an adult what you know and what you feel.
Zero Tolerance; ZT policies for officials, teachers, students and parents must be created and communicated to all affected. However, ZT policies are being abused and misunderstood. Its is important that officials understand the difference between a disgruntled student and a good kid who draws pictures of weapons.
Self Defense; unfortunately there are times when physically responding to a student, disgruntled teacher or parent might be necessary. Understanding basic personal safety philosophy, basic self-defense techniques and how to disarm an assailant are fundamental lifesaving strategies in today's volatile society.
Could you post detailed statistics about the number and type of crimes committed in the TPS system over the last few years? These numbers would be a great help in explaining both the need and the design of your proposed security measures.
Mad Jack...
According to a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics during the 2005-06 school year indicated that the overall rate of violent incidents for all public schools was 31 incidents per 1,000 students, with the rate significantly higher in middle schools (51.6 per 1,000) than in primary or high schools (25.2 and 25.7 per 1,000, respectively).
Additionally, while 52 percent of all schools reported at least one student threat of physical attack without a weapon, 9 percent of schools reported such a threat with a weapon.
The presence of violent crime in a school setting can have a dramatic impact on the ability of our children to achieve in school. The 2006 Indicators of School Crime and Safety2 report indicated that in 2005 approximately 6 percent of students ages 12-18 were afraid of harm at school. Six percent of students in the same age group also reported that they had avoided a school activity or one or more places in school in the previous six months because of fear of attack or harm.
In order for our schools to make policy decisions on how to effectively address school crime, they need to have a full understanding of the problem. Complete and timely access to crime statistics can provide insight into the nature and extent of school crime.
One tool that can be used to examine school crime in Ohio is the Ohio Incident-Based Reporting System (OIBRS). OIBRS is a VOLUNTARY crime reporting program in which Ohio law enforcement agencies can submit crime statistics directly to the state and federal government in an automated format. The use of OIBRS data allows for detailed information to be obtained on the nature of the offense, the victim, the suspect/arrestee, and the use of weapons. As of September 2007, 445 agencies representing 64 percent of the Ohio population were reporting OIBRS data.
This report uses OIBRS data to investigate violent school crime. Included are the offenses of murder, forcible rape/sodomy, sexual assault with an object, forcible fondling, robbery, aggravated assaults, simple assaults, and intimidation. The report covers a two-year period beginning January 1, 2005 and ending December 31, 2006.
You may view it here:
http://www.crimestats.ohio.gov/violentcrimeinschools.pdf
keep those statistics. They would be found in the Toledo Police Department. TPD is a separate entity in the schools. Once it becomes a police issue, it is no longer a TPS issue. TPD is an independent organization in the TPS school district.
...statistics you were talking about. Is this something where you have to walk into the Scott Park office to get the information?
"TPD does not track crimes by school. I would think that TPS may have the numbers you request. TPD only track by type of crime, location (ie. Address), victim, etc. but not specifically what crimes occur in or around TPS Schools." Maybe if I went down there I would get a different response, but this seems like some interesting statistics for citizens, if not for either TPD or TPS to have at our fingertips.
I could understand why TPS would not keep track of crime statistics, but I sure think they should. Naturally if they did, the sunshine laws would have to be brought into play along with a team of US Marshals before any mere civilian would get a look at them.
Mr. Bishop, it's good to hear that you do not fit the current status quo. That truly is most cheering and honest answer I've ever read regarding this whole public school fiasco.
With all the risk aversion that school systems indulge in, isn't it fairly odd that in such risky circumstances, the TPS doesn't keep statistics? You'd think they would also want to prove the safe school ordinance was beneficial to them.
No, paranoia tells me that these stats are being kept, but hidden from us, since such stats help them when hidden but would harm them if the general public actually knew. Purnhrt tries to tell us again and again how serious the suspension rates are in the TPS, for a taste of what's going on.
just how out of control the schools are. Just tonight Mrs. Sobecki the new board member said that she wanted to see some relief for the teachers at Jones Junior High. She said that the teachers were, "crying out for relief."
This is the school that a student was dragged out of the nurses office by seven other students and assaulted. The student that was assaulted was the one taken to jail.
TPS has a lot of secrets that they don't want the public or parents to know.
you probably have to put in a public request for information at the main police station. That would be a great project for someone to undertake. I just don't have the time as I work directly with parents and students who are victims of TPS.
You could even call Chief Navarre. In today's paper he stated if the 3/4 does not pass that the school resource officers would be gone. Maybe that will be a good time to get parents back into the school.
wouldn't you just have to have an address of the school? Also the Juvenile Detention Center should have statistics of arrests made at the individual schools. Since the students who are juveniles are arrested at the school and then taken to the detention center that may be another way to track the information.