ASIS International’s List of School Security Websites Associations, Organizations, Publications1
Websites
ABC’s of School Safety, American Association of School Administrators
This document outlines some elements of school safety organized under three categories: awareness, balance, and control. Also includes a list of School Safety Resources. http://www.aasa.org/content.aspx?id=7354&terms=abc%27s+of+school+safety
In the Spotlight, School Safety, the National Criminal Justice Reference Service
In the Spotlight highlights topics of current interest. Each topic includes the latest information and statistics, online Federal and State legislation and testimony, a list of available publications, examples of state and local programs and initiatives available online, a sample of training and technical assistance opportunities available through nationally recognized agencies and associations, links to Federal funding opportunities, and examples of nationally recognized agencies and organizations that provide services or information.
Keep Schools Safe, School Safety and Security Center
School safety, security, and violence prevention resource.
Lessons Learned, School Emergency Planning, U.S. Department of Homeland Security
*Site registration required* Original research will be continually highlighted on this page along with after-action reports, documents, templates, sample plans, related links, recent news, upcoming conferences, and more. LLIS.gov has assembled these resources to help emergency planners, responders, and administrators work together to develop and maintain comprehensive school emergency plans.
https://www.llis.dhs.gov/DynamicPage.cfm?pageTitle=SchoolEmergencyPlanning_external
National School Safety Center
The National School Safety Center (NSSC) serves as an advocate for safe, secure, and peaceful schools worldwide and as a catalyst for the prevention of school crime and violence. NSSC provides school communities and their school safety partners with quality information, resources, consultation, and training services. The NSSC identifies and promotes strategies, promising practices and programs that support safe schools for all students as part of the total academic mission.
Safe and Drug-Free Schools, U.S. Department of Education
A list of resources on school violence prevention, a guide and brochure that provides schools and communities with basic guidelines and useful ideas on how to develop emergency response and crisis management plans; a report on preventing school attacks based on examination of 37 incidents, suggestions for developing a threat assessment team in a school or district, steps to take when a threat or other information of concern comes to light, when to involve law enforcement personnel, and emergency planning information to help school leaders plan for any emergency, including natural disasters, violent incidents, and terrorist acts.
School Violence, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Resources on school violence, including risk factors and prevention resources.
http://www.cdc.gov/ViolencePrevention/youthviolence/schoolviolence/index.html
School Safety, National Institute of Justice’s (NIJ’s) Office of Science and Technology, the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), Justice Technology Information Network (JUSTNET)
Provides publications, news articles, presentations, and more relating to school safety.
Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), U.S. Department of Justice
As a component of the Justice Department, the mission of the COPS Office is to advance community policing as an effective strategy in communities’ efforts to improve public safety. Includes links to guides and reports on school safety.
School Violence Fact Sheets, Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, University of Colorado at Boulder
Includes fact sheets on violence in American schools, preventing firearm violence in and around schools, reducing violence in schools, safe school planning, as well as other resources.
Associations and Organizations
International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA)
An association that advances public safety for educational institutions by providing educational resources, advocacy, and professional development services.
National Alliance for Safe Schools (NASS)
A not-for-profit corporation whose purpose is to provide technical assistance, staff training, school safety assessments, safe school plans, and emergency response training to individual school and school district personnel.
National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO)
A not-for-profit organization made up of school-based law enforcement officers and school administrators. Serves as the largest training organization for school-based police and district personnel in the nation. Includes an online library of sample contract and forms and for members only. Publishes the Journal of School Safety for members.
National Association of School Safety and Law Enforcement Officers (NASSLEO)
NASSLEO membership is comprised of educators, law enforcement and security officers, as well as other professionals that share the common goal of protecting our students, staff, and physical assets.
Security On Campus, Inc.
A nonprofit organization provides a wealth of information on campus security issues to everyone from prospective students to campus law enforcement administrators.
Publications
Adams, Jeffrey A.; Sinai, Joshua, Protecting Schools and Universities from Terrorism: a Guide for Administrators and Teachers, ASIS International, Alexandria, 2003
It is the objective of this guide to provide administrators and teachers with the security framework and necessary checklists to ensure that their facilities and students are properly protected against a terrorist attack, whether biological, chemical, radiological, or, in the absolute worst-case scenario, nuclear. This guide also addresses more conventional tactics used by terrorists, such as detonating explosives and indiscriminately shooting students. University administrators and teachers need to become aware of such potential threats and adopt the necessary preventative measures to ensure that their campuses and students are properly protected. Preparation for defending against a terrorist attack can help prevent one. Additionally, should an actual incident occur, this book provides information that will help to effectively manage the crisis and consequence phases of an attack. Available for sale from the ASIS bookstore at http://www.abdi-secure-ecommerce.com/asis.
Bove, Vincent, Listen to Their Cries: Calling the Nation to Renewal from Columbine to Virginia Tech, Vincent Bove Publishing, 2008
Book review in July 2009 issue of Security Management.
Deadly Lessons: Understanding Lethal School Violence: Case Studies of School Violence Committee, National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 2002
This book is the outcome of the National Research Council’s effort to glean lessons from six case studies of lethal student violence. These are powerful stories of parents and teachers and troubled youths, presenting the tragic complexity of the young shooter’s social and personal circumstances in detail. For each case study, events are related leading up to the violence, along with quotes from personal interviews about the incident, and explorations of the impact on the community.
Dinkes, Rachel, Indicators of School Crime and Safety: 2011, Dept of Justice, National Center for Education Statistics, 2012
This report covers topics such as victimization, fights, bullying, classroom disorder, weapons, student perceptions of school safety, teacher injury, and availability and student use of drugs and alcohol. Indicators of crime and safety are compared across different population subgroups and over time.
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Crime in Schools and Colleges: A Study of Offenders and Arrestees Reported via National Incident-Based Reporting System Data, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Washington, D.C., 2007
This study particularly analyzes data submitted to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program by law enforcement agencies and examines specific characteristics of offenders and arrestees who participated in criminal incidents at schools and colleges from 2000 through 2004.
http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/schoolviolence/2007/schoolviolence.pdf
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Resources on School Violence, FBI, Washington, D.C., 2012
The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States, Secret Service; U.S. Dept. of Education, Washington, D.C., 2002
This final report details how the Department of Education and U.S. Secret Service studied school-based attacks and what was found. These findings suggest that some future attacks may be preventable, if those responsible for safety in schools know what questions to ask, and where to uncover information that may help with efforts to intervene before a school attack can occur. Report based on examination of 37 incidents of targeted school shootings and school attacks.
Fox, James Alan and Harvey Burstein, Violence and Security on Campus: From Preschool Through College, ABC-CLIO/Praeger, Santa Barbara, CA, 2010
Book review in May 2011 issue of Security Management.
Furlong, Michael; Morrison, Gale, Issues in School Violence Research, Haworth Press, Binghamton, 2004
Contents: Introduction; Methodological and measurement issue in school violence research; Warning signs of problems in schools; Using office referral records in school violence research; Identification of bullies and victims; Data quality in student risk behavior surveys and administrator training; An examination of the reliability, data screening procedures, and extreme response patterns for the youth risk behavior surveillance survey; Structural equation modeling of school violence data; Beyond guns, drugs and gangs: the structure of student perceptions of school safety.
Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence, 2nd ed., International Association of Chiefs of Police, Alexandria, 2009
This updated guide addresses both prevention and intervention from a systemic view, clarifying roles of the school, the community, families, and law enforcement and the justice system, and how these groups can work together effectively to respond to the problem.
http://www.theiacp.org/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=MwvD03yXrnE%3d&tabid=378
Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence, International Association of Chiefs of Police, Alexandria, 1999
The purpose of this document is to present different strategies and approaches for members of school communities to consider when creating safe learning environments. Most of the interventions presented in this document have the potential to yield benefits beyond just reducing hazards associated with school shootings. It will assist in auditing schools’ existing policies, procedures, and plans; help public safety and other crisis response agencies assess their school safety plans, and provide guidance to members of the school community.
http://www.theiacp.org/Portals/0/pdfs/Publications/schoolviolence2.pdf
Journal of School Violence
Published quarterly. The Journal of School Violence is a peer-reviewed journal devoted to publishing the latest information on this difficult issue.
Kellam, ShepPard, Preventing School Violence: Plenary Papers of the 1999 Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation—Enhancing Policy and Practice Through Research, Volume 2, National Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C., 2000.
This resource can be found at https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/180972.pdf
Preventing School Violence: Plenary Papers of the 1999 Conference on Criminal Justice Research and Evaluation—Enhancing Policy and Practice Through Research, Volume 2
This resource contains the following three papers:
• Community and institutional partnerships for school violence prevention
• Research-based prevention of school violence and youth antisocial behavior: a developmental and educational perspective
• Controlling violence: what schools are doing; The Federal Government responds to school violence.
Kidd, Donald H, The Prevalence of School-Related Violence: An Overview of Statistical and Perceptual Data, University of Arkansas, 2002
The focus of this overview was an examination of recent qualitative and quantitative research to determine how school-related violence was both measured and perceived among various social groups. The primary purpose of this overview is to enhance understanding of school-related violence among educators, students, parents, law enforcement officials, local government, community service organizations, and community leaders.
McCann, Joseph T, Threats in Schools: A Practical Guide for Managing Violence, Haworth Press, Binghamton, NY, 2002
The focus of this book is on students who make or pose a threat in school settings.
Nicoletti, John; Spencer-Thomas, Sally, Violence Goes to College: The Authoritative Guide to Prevention and Intervention
A solution-oriented resource for preventing the growing problem of violence on college campuses. Written by a police psychologist, a health psychologist, and a residence life director, the authors combine their expertise to create a how-to prevention resource that gives real answers to real issues, including sexual assault, hazing, hate crimes, rioting, workplace violence, and more. (Published by Charles C. Thomas, Ltd., Springfield, Illinois.)
O’Toole, Mary Ellen, The School Shooter: A Threat Assessment Perspective, FBI Academy, Quantico, VA, 1999
This report combines the research of the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) into 18 school shootings that began in 1998 and a 1999 symposium by NCAVC on school shootings and threat assessment for teachers and administrators from those 18 schools along with law enforcement, academic and professional groups. The result is this analysis of the school shooter phenomenon. The report analyzes the different possible scenarios and differing threat levels, and gives profiles of people who become school shooters. Gives proposals that can be taken in a school to strengthen its threat response program.
Pollock, William S, Prior Knowledge of Potential School-based Violence: Information Students Learn May Prevent a Targeted Attack, Design Council, Washington, D.C., 2008
In the wake of several high-profile shootings at schools in the United States, most notably the shootings that occurred at Columbine High School on April 20, 1999, the United States Secret Service (Secret Service) and the United States Department of Education embarked on a collaborative endeavor to study incidents of planned violence in our nation’s schools. Initiated in 1999, the study, termed the Safe School Initiative, examined several issues, most notably whether past school-based attacks were planned, and what could be done to prevent future attacks.
Safe Schools Facilities Planner, Public Schools of North Carolina, State Board of Education, Raleigh, 1998
Experience has shown a direct relationship between the design and use of school facilities and the occurrence of unacceptable and criminal behaviors. Crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) principles underlie the concept that proper design and effective use of the physical environment can reduce both the incidence and the fear of crime. A safer environment can, in turn, create a psychological advantage for positive behavior and for learning. Unacceptable behavior, campus crime, and violence can be significantly reduced through the application and interaction of the following seven key components of CPTED.
Safe School Initiative: An Interim Report on the Prevention of Targeted Violence in Schools, National Threat Assessment Center, Washington, D.C., 2000
Interim results of a study by the National Threat Assessment Center of the U.S. Secret Service on school shootings. Includes statistics and analysis on the behavior and thinking of young people who commit targeted acts of violence in our nation’s schools. This information is designed to help law enforcement professionals to prevent targeted school violence.
Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and To Creating Safe School Climates, U.S. Secret Service; U.S. Dept. of Education, 2002
This work sets a process for identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools. It is intended for use by school personnel, law enforcement officials, and others with protective responsibilities in our schools. It includes suggestions for developing a threat assessment team within a school or school district, steps to take when a threat or other information of concern comes to light, consideration about when to involve law enforcement personnel, issues of information sharing, and ideas for creating safe school climates.
http://www.ed.gov/admins/lead/safety/threatassessmentguide.pdf
Uchida, Craig D. School-Based Partnerships: A Problem-Solving Strategy, Dept. of Justice (U.S.), Washington, D.C., 1999
The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) funded the School-Based Partnerships (SBP) grant program for the purpose of partnering law enforcement agencies with schools to address crime and disorder problems in the around middle and high schools. This document was funded to conduct an assessment of the SBP grant program. The information in this document was gathered from the findings of this assessment grantee testimonies, progress reports, and COPS staff reports. This report focuses on three SBP sites and their use of the SARA problem-solving process to address specific issues in their schools.
Viollis, Paul, et al., Jane’s Workplace Security Handbook, Jane’s Information Group, Alexandria, 2002
This practical handbook provides detailed checklists and procedures to aid the planning for, response to, and recovery from wide-range of security threats from violence in the workplace to a terrorist attack. Designed to be used as a training tool, a guide to implementing security plans, or for distribution to employees. Available for sale from the ASIS bookstore at http://www.abdi-secure-ecommerce.com/asis.
Whaley, Jamie, Preventing School Violence: Resource Guide to Safe Schools, Aspen Publishers, Inc., Gaithersburg, 2001
Issues ranging from the recognition of warning signs for preventing violence to developing crisis management steps for managing those incidents that cannot be prevented are included in this manual. Contents focus on school safety strategies in the form of policies and procedures, planning, prevention, intervention, security, crisis management, community partnerships, legal issues, and related resources.
Wheeler, Eugene D, Violence In Our Schools, Hospitals and Public Places: A Prevention and Management Guide, Pathfinder Publishing of California, Ventura, CA, 1994
This book provides information for the public and a guide for schools, colleges, hospitals, libraries, courts, and government organizations to develop plans to prevent violence and manage the possible aftermath.
Whitaker, Leighton C, Campus Violence: Kinds, Causes, and Cures, Haworth Press, New York, NY, 1993
Contents: (1) Conceptualizing campus violence: definitions, underlying factors, and effects; (2) Administrative perspectives on disruptive student conduct; (3) Violence is golden: commercially motivated training in impulsive cognitive style and mindless violence; (4) Violence, alcohol, other drugs, and the college student; (5) The role of the mental health consultant in dealing with disruptive college students; (6) Keeping their antennas up: violence and the urban college student; (7) Race relations and poly-cultural sensitivity training on college campuses; (8) Violence against lesbian and gay male college students; (9) Violence and the male gender role; (10) The topography of violence in college men: frequency and comorbidity of sexual and physical aggression; (11) College men and sexual violation: counseling process and programming considerations; (12) Psychological challenges and responses to a campus tragedy: the Iowa experience; (13) Homicide in the university residence halls: one counseling center’s response; (14) Cures for campus violence, if we want them.
Wong, Marleen and James Kelly and Ronald D. Stephens, Jane’s School Safety Handbook, Jane’s Information Group, Alexandria, 2001
A comprehensive and practical tool to assist teachers, school administrators, and other agencies prepare for, respond to, and recover from security incidents in schools. Tailored to meet the needs of the U.S. education system, the handbook includes security checklists, threat assessment, crisis response, and post-incident recovery procedures. The types of problems that might arise, the characteristics of violent youth, the effects of psychological trauma on different age groups, and intervention are just some of the topics addressed. Procedural guidelines are offered in the case of suspicious packages, in a school lockdown situation, and for biological or chemical attacks. There are suggestions for sample letters to send to parents in the event of a violent incident on or near school property. Case studies and checklist are included. Available for sale from the ASIS bookstore at http://www.abdi-secure-ecommerce.com/asis.