Posted on Apr 11, 2018
A Former Embassy Guard's Solution To School Shootings
52.7K
514
130
131
131
0
*The views expressed in RallyPoint Command Posts are those of the authors’ and are not endorsed by RallyPoint*
This whole gun debate is getting out of hand. We’re focusing on all the wrong things in my opinion. So, I did some thinking and came up with a tried and true way of bringing school shootings to zero. Or close to it.
Most of the arguments I hear about how to stop school shootings are focused on the shooter. That’s our first problem. It’s an impossible task to try to stop the next shooter when they’re all different, have different motives, and different resources. The other arguments focus on the weapons. AR-15’s bear the brunt of this. What makes this weapon so bad? Magazine capacity? Ok. So, will forcing the shooter to reload more save lives? Maybe, maybe not. Most everyone I know with an AR-15 shoots FMJ rounds like we use in the military. If I had to choose between my child getting shot with a green tipped 5.56 round or a 30.06 Core-Lokt round, I’ll pick the AR-15 round 6 days a week and twice on Sunday. So, let’s be careful before we force these murderers to choose a 30.06. Just food for thought.
So, if focusing on the shooter and focusing on the weapon won’t work, what will? We need to focus on the school. Bear with me as I walk through this.
I was a Marine Security Guard at the American Embassy in Bogota, Colombia and Harare, Zimbabwe. Despite what you see in movies, the MSG’s job is to protect the people and information INSIDE the embassy. Much like what needs to be done at a school. What happens outside was of little concern. We literally never talked about the threats to the embassy unless they were an actual force like the FARC in Colombia. There was no point in spending time trying to pinpoint some individual that no one knows who might do something one day. So how did we protect the people and information inside from these unknown threats? I’ll use the embassy in Colombia for this analysis since it was much more fortified. First, we start with the building to be protected being placed far away from any streets. How far? Far enough that if a car blew up on the street nothing would happen to the building. Next, we have a wall (not a fence) surrounding the property to keep people and vehicles from going off-road and getting to the building. The entry point will have armed guards and barriers. Every vehicle and every person is searched at this gate before entering. The armed guard inside has cameras on the entire property. Could someone still scale the wall and sneak onto the property? Sure, but we’ll cover that later.
What if someone shoots the guards outside and heads toward the building you say? Well the building is fortified with bullet proof glass and blast resistant doors. And those doors are locked and controlled by another armed guard inside. This guard also can control the barriers at the outside gate should he need to. (Make a mental note that at this time the guard inside just triggered an alarm and 5-10 other guys that are nearby are suiting up to come help.) Located around the perimeter of the building are CS canisters that the guard inside can deploy as needed. So, the intruder that killed the guards outside and made a run for the front door is now sucking in gas.
What if someone has a gas mask and somehow gets inside the building with a gun? Remember that armed guard inside the building? With the flip of a switch he can magnetically lock all the doors in the building. So now the intruder can only attack those who find themselves outside of the locked down areas. But he better hurry because that armed response team I mentioned earlier is only minutes away. And this team does nothing but train to clear and defend this particular building. They have rehearsed this scenario more times than they can count, and they know every nook and cranny in the building. You can’t hide. Their whole purpose in life is this exact scenario. The intruder will soon be dead.
You can see how much better this is than the current situation schools face where the shooter just walks through the front door and starts shooting. A single police officer may be there in a minute, but it takes some time figuring out what’s going on. He also doesn’t know the layout of the building. Meanwhile other law enforcement arrives and a plan is developed. All of this takes time and during that time people are dying.
But you also see the enormous cost this would entail. It is impossible to do what I’ve described in every school if any. So, what do we do? We start peeling off layers of security. The building won’t be fortified. Maybe we have an armed guard, but he isn’t in a protected position and most likely becomes the first casualty. We might install a metal detector, but it will be inside and useless for someone looking to start shooting. In the military we call this Risk Management. FM 6-0 defines it as the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from operational factors and making decisions that balance risk cost with mission benefits. We know at the beginning of an operation people will die. We do what we can to limit that, but we can’t prevent it completely. Every layer of security we peel off from what I’ve described means we assume a little more risk which equates to possible deaths. Is the embassy scenario overkill? Probably. But at what point do you stop adding security measures and accept the risk?
The point of this is to show that A) there is a way to protect our children in school almost completely. And B) the cost to do so would be astronomical. Now we just need to decide how much we’re willing to pay (since our taxes pay for schools). But we must focus on the facility being protected. We don’t focus on unnamed, random threats in the military so why do that here? We also don’t focus on getting rid of something so prevalent as guns. We have entire government agencies focused on getting rid of illegal drugs and they can’t do it. If you think outlawing guns in the US won’t make every arms dealer in the world start drooling, you’re wrong. The influx of illegal weapons into our country would be enormous and immediate. It’s basic economics.
So, we have the plan. And like most other things in life it really comes down to money. How much are you willing to spend and how much risk are you ready to assume?
This whole gun debate is getting out of hand. We’re focusing on all the wrong things in my opinion. So, I did some thinking and came up with a tried and true way of bringing school shootings to zero. Or close to it.
Most of the arguments I hear about how to stop school shootings are focused on the shooter. That’s our first problem. It’s an impossible task to try to stop the next shooter when they’re all different, have different motives, and different resources. The other arguments focus on the weapons. AR-15’s bear the brunt of this. What makes this weapon so bad? Magazine capacity? Ok. So, will forcing the shooter to reload more save lives? Maybe, maybe not. Most everyone I know with an AR-15 shoots FMJ rounds like we use in the military. If I had to choose between my child getting shot with a green tipped 5.56 round or a 30.06 Core-Lokt round, I’ll pick the AR-15 round 6 days a week and twice on Sunday. So, let’s be careful before we force these murderers to choose a 30.06. Just food for thought.
So, if focusing on the shooter and focusing on the weapon won’t work, what will? We need to focus on the school. Bear with me as I walk through this.
I was a Marine Security Guard at the American Embassy in Bogota, Colombia and Harare, Zimbabwe. Despite what you see in movies, the MSG’s job is to protect the people and information INSIDE the embassy. Much like what needs to be done at a school. What happens outside was of little concern. We literally never talked about the threats to the embassy unless they were an actual force like the FARC in Colombia. There was no point in spending time trying to pinpoint some individual that no one knows who might do something one day. So how did we protect the people and information inside from these unknown threats? I’ll use the embassy in Colombia for this analysis since it was much more fortified. First, we start with the building to be protected being placed far away from any streets. How far? Far enough that if a car blew up on the street nothing would happen to the building. Next, we have a wall (not a fence) surrounding the property to keep people and vehicles from going off-road and getting to the building. The entry point will have armed guards and barriers. Every vehicle and every person is searched at this gate before entering. The armed guard inside has cameras on the entire property. Could someone still scale the wall and sneak onto the property? Sure, but we’ll cover that later.
What if someone shoots the guards outside and heads toward the building you say? Well the building is fortified with bullet proof glass and blast resistant doors. And those doors are locked and controlled by another armed guard inside. This guard also can control the barriers at the outside gate should he need to. (Make a mental note that at this time the guard inside just triggered an alarm and 5-10 other guys that are nearby are suiting up to come help.) Located around the perimeter of the building are CS canisters that the guard inside can deploy as needed. So, the intruder that killed the guards outside and made a run for the front door is now sucking in gas.
What if someone has a gas mask and somehow gets inside the building with a gun? Remember that armed guard inside the building? With the flip of a switch he can magnetically lock all the doors in the building. So now the intruder can only attack those who find themselves outside of the locked down areas. But he better hurry because that armed response team I mentioned earlier is only minutes away. And this team does nothing but train to clear and defend this particular building. They have rehearsed this scenario more times than they can count, and they know every nook and cranny in the building. You can’t hide. Their whole purpose in life is this exact scenario. The intruder will soon be dead.
You can see how much better this is than the current situation schools face where the shooter just walks through the front door and starts shooting. A single police officer may be there in a minute, but it takes some time figuring out what’s going on. He also doesn’t know the layout of the building. Meanwhile other law enforcement arrives and a plan is developed. All of this takes time and during that time people are dying.
But you also see the enormous cost this would entail. It is impossible to do what I’ve described in every school if any. So, what do we do? We start peeling off layers of security. The building won’t be fortified. Maybe we have an armed guard, but he isn’t in a protected position and most likely becomes the first casualty. We might install a metal detector, but it will be inside and useless for someone looking to start shooting. In the military we call this Risk Management. FM 6-0 defines it as the process of identifying, assessing, and controlling risks arising from operational factors and making decisions that balance risk cost with mission benefits. We know at the beginning of an operation people will die. We do what we can to limit that, but we can’t prevent it completely. Every layer of security we peel off from what I’ve described means we assume a little more risk which equates to possible deaths. Is the embassy scenario overkill? Probably. But at what point do you stop adding security measures and accept the risk?
The point of this is to show that A) there is a way to protect our children in school almost completely. And B) the cost to do so would be astronomical. Now we just need to decide how much we’re willing to pay (since our taxes pay for schools). But we must focus on the facility being protected. We don’t focus on unnamed, random threats in the military so why do that here? We also don’t focus on getting rid of something so prevalent as guns. We have entire government agencies focused on getting rid of illegal drugs and they can’t do it. If you think outlawing guns in the US won’t make every arms dealer in the world start drooling, you’re wrong. The influx of illegal weapons into our country would be enormous and immediate. It’s basic economics.
So, we have the plan. And like most other things in life it really comes down to money. How much are you willing to spend and how much risk are you ready to assume?
Firearms and Guns
Security
Teacher
Education
Command Post
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 62
7
7
0
6
6
0
Yea, so we are going to have kids show up to school how many hours early to get through the security check point to get searched? It will be worse than going to the airport. Oh but its worth it to secure our kids you say. Let’s not lose sight of the purpose of the school. It’s for kids to learn and there isn’t much learning when kids are getting up two hours early to get through the security line. So you block the shootings at school and the shooters move to sporting events. You do the same for the high school football game? I’m not saying this is a complete no starter cause that’s not where it is but short of putting everyone in bubble rap there will always be risk in large crowds of people that torment others. We can’t treat schools like embassies-
(6)
(0)
A Wiegert
COL (Join to see) - All ideas? What if we shorten the learning portion of the school day? I know I wouldn't have minded spending time screwing around in a security line instead of being in class, if I got to get there and go home at the same time! But then I suppose someone will want to take away summer vacation to make up the class time. And taking away summer vacation would probably inspire more violence than it would prevent.
(1)
(0)
LTC (Join to see)
If we really wanted to think about all ideas then we would have to think about altering the learning environment entirely. If we continue to pile more money into the un-natural environment of a school then we will always lose in the long run. Acceleration of alternative methods of education delivery and financing would allow a decentralization of education. The primary responsibility for educating the child is the parents. We need to refocus our society to allow this again to take the forefront. The current, most common model for education is inefficient and focuses more on warehousing children rather than educating them. The rules imposed by this system actually creates the exact situation that we then want to spend more money on to prevent. By building and running the school system the way we have over the last 100 years we have created the problem that exists today of mass school shootings. There is no one answer but a combination of alienation of children, bullying, loss of parental responsibility, increasing control of humans by a system, increasing governmental control over individual actions and freedoms all contribute to the increasing mental disorders, lack of empathy and increasing institutionalization mindset. Boiling things down to one issue will never solve the problem. This is a complex problem that requires complex answers and avoiding tackling those problems because of complexity allows the problems to perpetuate.
(1)
(0)
LTC (Join to see)
A Wiegert my children don’t get a summer vacation and they are not violent......summer vacation is a relic of the farming economy.....on the flip side of that argument is the argument that why put children in school at all?? As noted in my previous post above actually institutionslizing children for the greater part of their lives seems to cause more problems than it solves and doesn’t seem to be very good at educating them either....again, I think we need to fully open our minds and free them from the grips of past societal trends which doesn’t allow us think out of the box and develop real solutions to these problems.
(1)
(0)
4
4
0
Valid points, BUT how many of these shooters have a family (parents/support) to watch over them to STOP them from even considering it? As for FMJ, most people shoot it because it is CHEAPER that hunting rounds... As for the AR-15, I do not have one, but have fired one several times, they are fun to shoot, comparatively cheap ammo, and 'cheap' to buy.
(4)
(0)
MAJ (Join to see)
You're absolutely on point. If you want me to talk about where I think the problem begins, it's in the home. When the American family started falling apart, so did our society.
(4)
(0)
SP5 Ronald R Glaeseman
American society has turned lemming. We have a shooting tragedy. The first impulse among many is to petition big government to do something, often as the panic spreads, anything such as seizing weapons from the innocent and law abiding. Why isn't the first impulse that we in the community have to do something? If the schools in our town are in danger, let US do something about it. As the CPT has stated, it will not be cheap, nor will it be completely effective. Start at least with one or two armed guards. Control access points with metal detectors if that's feasible. The Parkland shooter was an ex-student. He knew the school. He could have avoided metal detectors and possibly, controlled access points. But he could not have avoided armed guards. If you are going to defend against attackers with guns, you're going to have to defend with guns. That's the way it is.
(0)
(0)
3
3
0
As a police officer know in life. I have worked effortlessly in my schools and every time I bring up simple solutions they ge shoot down. The reason is always money or ( one of the biggest problems) the school system from top to bottom are of a liberal mind set and simply can’t wrap their heads around denying access to any location or God for bid if they actually had to take the time to enter a secure area.
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
MAJ (Join to see) This is a great piece. Yes money will always be the prime mover when it comes to anything that is paid for out of our taxes. The other reality is that a person who is committed to committing a heinous act such as a school shooting, and is willing to die to complete their act, cannot be stopped. Life involves a certain amount of risk. Every time you walk out your front door could be the last time. Nobody who dies in a traffic accident wakes up thinking that it will be their last day on earth. I like your suggestions. I would say start with replacing the glass doors many schools have with metal storm doors designed to survive a hurricane. That would be the cheapest start to securing the schools. Second move to the idea of putting a wall around all the schools. Put a wrought iron fence at the top of the wall to make scaling the wall more difficult. If done in small batches, it can be built up to the point where the schools are like fortresses. Or we can just keep blaming the implement, and having useless debates.
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
yup... last i looked when you went to secure a position the first thing was to SECURE THE POSITION.
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
This should be a no brainier... Having a QRF security team in place, jic shtf... I've been saying this since I joined the Army in 04. Having those assets available, being a barrier after barrier, that shooter is going to get tired and fail. Doesn't matter if the shooter knows the security plan, it's called a defensive position.
My oldest child, his first elementary school was built with the check in office in the front, the only person to push the button was the secretary, if she was offerd, the AP/and police officer were only a door away. The entire building was brick and concrete. Safest building I felt good in, in a long long time.
I swear I need veterans building schools and making up security details
My oldest child, his first elementary school was built with the check in office in the front, the only person to push the button was the secretary, if she was offerd, the AP/and police officer were only a door away. The entire building was brick and concrete. Safest building I felt good in, in a long long time.
I swear I need veterans building schools and making up security details
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
Excellent thought process. I've also seen where the scenario is linked to the school fire problems we had way back when. A long time ago there was concern about fires in schools. The answer was not to put a firefighter in every school, the answer was to rethink the design of schools to use technology to lessen the incidence of fire. Therefore, why don’t we rethink school design to “harden” schools to make school shootings more difficult?
For example...
Protective Measure 1. Build entrapment rooms between inner and outer doors at school entrances. When someone comes to school they enter the outer door, which locks behind them. Inside the entrapment area is a metal detector. If the metal detector goes off then the next door remains locked and the person is entrapped waiting for law enforcement to resolve the issue.
Protective Measure 2. Many newer public facilities (hospitals, schools, etc.) have fire doors in hallways that automatically close when the fire alarm is triggered. Use bullet resistant heavier doors that lock. These doors could be placed every 30/60... feet down each hallway. In the event of an alarm these doors would shut and entrap a possible shooter, limiting the shooter’s ability to harm more students beyond those doors. These doors would have to be tamper-alarmed so that if someone attempted to tamper with the door to keep it open the alarm would be triggered – in the event of pre-planning the shooting – no tape over the locking mechanism or prepositioned backpack to keep the door from closing.
Protective Measure 3. Every classroom door locks when shut. Classrooms are totally (doors, walls, windows, floors, and ceilings) bullet resistant.
Protective Measure 4. Each school would have a “secret location” alarm room to be manned and monitored when students are present. Alarms and security cameras EVERYWHERE! Monitored in the alarm room AND by law enforcement. Each classroom would also have two-way intercom with law enforcement. A loud noise sensor might be employed as well to isolate trouble areas for the alarm/video monitor.
Protective Measure 5. There is a company that builds hardened-bullet resistant safety shelters for school classrooms. They can also double as a tornado shelter. Cost is approximately $1k +/- per student (higher grades cost more, lower grades cost less: size of students).
Protective Measure 6. Schools might have to be consolidated to make them safer. Co-locate National Guard armories, police, fire and ambulance substations at schools. Schools could become regional at centralized locations to lessen the costs of separate secured facilities...
Cost-benefit analyses, operational risk management... all valid factors in determining the best path to keep our investment in the future (our children) safe... And it will cost us... just like fire prevention... hopefully this problem can be resolved just as easily with a cost that we can reasonably accept.
For example...
Protective Measure 1. Build entrapment rooms between inner and outer doors at school entrances. When someone comes to school they enter the outer door, which locks behind them. Inside the entrapment area is a metal detector. If the metal detector goes off then the next door remains locked and the person is entrapped waiting for law enforcement to resolve the issue.
Protective Measure 2. Many newer public facilities (hospitals, schools, etc.) have fire doors in hallways that automatically close when the fire alarm is triggered. Use bullet resistant heavier doors that lock. These doors could be placed every 30/60... feet down each hallway. In the event of an alarm these doors would shut and entrap a possible shooter, limiting the shooter’s ability to harm more students beyond those doors. These doors would have to be tamper-alarmed so that if someone attempted to tamper with the door to keep it open the alarm would be triggered – in the event of pre-planning the shooting – no tape over the locking mechanism or prepositioned backpack to keep the door from closing.
Protective Measure 3. Every classroom door locks when shut. Classrooms are totally (doors, walls, windows, floors, and ceilings) bullet resistant.
Protective Measure 4. Each school would have a “secret location” alarm room to be manned and monitored when students are present. Alarms and security cameras EVERYWHERE! Monitored in the alarm room AND by law enforcement. Each classroom would also have two-way intercom with law enforcement. A loud noise sensor might be employed as well to isolate trouble areas for the alarm/video monitor.
Protective Measure 5. There is a company that builds hardened-bullet resistant safety shelters for school classrooms. They can also double as a tornado shelter. Cost is approximately $1k +/- per student (higher grades cost more, lower grades cost less: size of students).
Protective Measure 6. Schools might have to be consolidated to make them safer. Co-locate National Guard armories, police, fire and ambulance substations at schools. Schools could become regional at centralized locations to lessen the costs of separate secured facilities...
Cost-benefit analyses, operational risk management... all valid factors in determining the best path to keep our investment in the future (our children) safe... And it will cost us... just like fire prevention... hopefully this problem can be resolved just as easily with a cost that we can reasonably accept.
(3)
(0)
MAJ (Join to see)
Those are good ideas. And while most will agree that measures like these need to be taken, it will still come down to how much money are we willing to spend.
(1)
(0)
A Wiegert
I feel like there are so many schools across the continental U.S. (never mind what things must be like in places like Puerto Rico) that lack funding for basic educational essentials, that it is hopeless to expect funding for security for them. Students have marched to make their desire for safety known, but has that improved things for them, really? I wonder if they marched for funding if it would have as little effect.
(1)
(0)
3
3
0
good article...I would have to agree. We did it for our military installations worldwide after 9/11...I felt like I was reading the FM and Army Reg 190-13.....hehehehe...It is just amazing how different the environment is inside school these days. When I was in high school 1980-1984, the worst thing you would hear about was the occasional fight, someone bringing a pair of nun-chucks to school and smoking pot...sheeesh!
(3)
(0)
MAJ (Join to see)
MAJ (Join to see) - It's very concerning for sure...I have heard of kids getting seriously hurt or killed over sneakers, game consoles, cell phones, lunch money...OMG will it ever end....sheesh!
(1)
(0)
(1)
(0)
MAJ (Join to see)
MAJ (Join to see) - Heheheh...it can be if your child has permission to get lunch off campus...luckily for us...we can pay our child's account online now. My wife says it's about $15 a week.
(1)
(0)
3
3
0
CPT, I have discussed this several times with fellow vets. One of the things we have come up with is to hire unemployed vets to act as guards. Of course they would have to go through screenings and background checks, along with having to re-qual with weapons handling. To help support said guard, get one of the local duty stations to provide a few servicemen (women) to act as subordinates. These servicemen could use this as a means of serving in-active duty time, or using reservist as their postings. Just my two cents Sir.
(3)
(0)
MAJ (Join to see)
That's definitely a viable option. Regardless of what measures are taken, it will come down to cost. As with everything else.
(0)
(0)
SP5 Ronald R Glaeseman
I like this idea. Maybe because I'm retired and a vet. I think a pool of retired veterans willing to volunteer their services offers an attractive option. However, although they would have to be re-qualed and schooled in the law, there is an element of liability which would have to be addressed. Who would indemnify a volunteer from an accidental shooting or if indeed a shoot-out did occur, liability for the death of the shooter? A volunteer guard should not have to put his freedom and estate at risk in order to perform this public service.
(1)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google