In collaboration with their local government and community partners, schools can take a proactive approach to crime prevention as a part of developing, implementing, and maintaining school emergency operations plans (EOPs) using the "Guide for Developing High-Quality School Emergency Operations Plans (School Guide)" [ED571878]. In…

Since the tragic death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police on Memorial Day, protestors and policymakers have been calling for reform to, and in some cases the defunding of, police departments around the country. Though Floyd's death is unrelated to K-12 schools, the Minneapolis Board of Education has severed its contract with city…

School leaders are feeling conflicted about their school buildings. On the one hand, they want to provide children with safe, secure spaces. On the other, they want to provide open, collaborative, and exceptional 21st century learning environments. By taking a holistic approach, they can have both. It's important to remember that many current…

In June, President Biden announced a comprehensive strategy to combat gun violence and other violent crime, including preventive measures proven to reduce violent crime and attack its root causes. This strategy encourages using the American Rescue Plan's (ARP's) historic funding levels, including the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency…

This article summarizes the accomplishments of research on school safety in the past quarter century, identifies important gaps, and indicates promising directions for further progress. Although closely related, there are distinguishable bodies of research on physical and psychological safety. Physical safety research concerns the prevention of…

Public school districts and police departments in the United States often collaborate to address school-based violence and other threats to the safety and well-being of students, teachers, and staff. As a result of these partnerships, law enforcement officers have become an increasingly common presence in schools around the country, even at the…

This publication provides an overview of the literature on school safety in the United States, with a focus on equity. Using the framework developed by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), this publication situates a comprehensive school safety approach as a balance of three key elements: physical safety, school climate, and student behavior,…

When parents of today's students were applying to colleges, they researched factors like location, financial aid, and majors. Physical safety was barely on the radar--it was assumed. A lot has changed since then, and today's prospective students and their parents are savvier about campus safety issues. College-age women are the demographic most…

This manuscript consists of three sections. Section one provides historical data on some 310 documented shootings that have taken place on school property within the United States. Section two discusses numerous risk factors associated with school shooters. Section three discusses numerous strategies for creating safe schools.

The Campus Crime Prevention Committee has compiled a list of university and college crime prevention agencies and resources, which includes contact information, links to agency crime prevention web pages, and a list of resources they offer (i.e., brochures, guides, PowerPoint programs, videos, etc.) as well as a spreadsheet showing organizations…

With nightmare visions of a gunman stalking school halls, districts often rush to hire police officers to patrol their campuses after news of a school shooting. Critics of that impulsive response, which has been in high gear nationwide since the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in December, acknowledge the concern for student and staff…

Schools watch their students. Nearly every responsibility that schools shoulder includes an element of surveillance--from ensuring that preschoolers do not wander off, to keeping third graders on task, to stopping bullying and sexting. These responsibilities are not new, but schools' increased ability to monitor students continuously is. Despite…

By nearly all accounts, the staff and students at Sandy Hook Elementary School did everything right on Dec. 14--and with the security measures they took before that day--when a young man armed with powerful weapons blasted his way into the school. But the deadliest K-12 school shooting in American history, a day that President Barack Obama has…

Sometimes one never knows what sparks an idea or causes people to come together and take something forward. An example of this is Operation COP at the University of Maryland in College Park. Their version of the "See Something, Say Something" campaign is being touted as a crime prevention program, while it is at the same time an…

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) 101 applies to both new and existing schools and is built on three simple concepts: natural surveillance, natural access control, and territoriality. If a school's layout seems unsafe, adopting a few CPTED fundamentals may help make it significantly safer. This paper offers some tips for making…