Armed attack scenario drills and exercises, in schools and other educational institutions. Beneficial or harmful?

 Attention: English is not my native language, the text is translated with the help of technical means of translation. I apologize in advance if the meaning of some phrases will be transferred incorrectly.

I often read news about practical training and drills to practice the skills of staff and students of schools and other educational institutions (colleges, kindergartens and universities) on how to act when there is a signal of an armed attack. They show coordinated actions during evacuation, comment on successes and speed of execution, and the children themselves seem to be interested in it, enthusiastically participating. 

I absolutely agree that practicing practical skills in case of an attack or its threat is an important element of the system of prevention and response to such crimes. But is this process properly organized?

During such trainings the sequence of actions is practiced, which will be actually performed in case of a real threat. Each student and employee of an educational institution knows exactly who, in what order, by what route, in what direction will move or vice versa, where and how to hide. All the details and all the details of the plan of action.

Let's imagine that among the students there is one who is planning such an attack, thanks to such practical exercises he will know exactly where his potential victims will be and how they will act. The fact that the perpetrator will have this information greatly increases his chances of causing as much damage as possible with his attack, greatly increasing the number of potential victims.

Now let's complicate the situation, what if the attack is carried out not by a lone gunman, but by a group of killers who will plan the attack with this information in mind. The simplest tactical scheme, the movements towards each other, one criminal moves from the starting point to the end point, the second vice versa. Provided they know where the start point is, where the end point is, and what route the potential victims will take between these points.

If anyone thinks I'm exaggerating the level of the threat and its likelihood, here are some statistics:

- globally, between 2000 and 2023 inclusive, in schools, kindergartens, colleges, and universities, 249 crimes* (not including 2024) falling under mass murder occurred, of which:

- 115 (46.2%) were committed by students at these educational institutions;

- 26 (10.4%) were committed by a group of persons.

The victims of these tragedies were 4 064 people, of whom 1 394 died and 2 670 were injured, most of them children.

So should we give free access to information that potential killers can use for their own purposes? I think it is not worth it, because in this case, from an element of crime prevention, it turns into a vulnerability of the security system of the educational institution, which on the contrary favors the attack and increases the number of its possible victims. 

So, what should we do? Cancel all drills and training?

No, I believe that it is necessary to simply change the approach to their organization and conduct. For each school (kindergarten, college, university), a unique «Safety Protocol» should be developed, which should contain a list of mandatory actions of each school employee on the signal «Armed Attack». This protocol should be developed by law enforcement specialists, taking into account the personal characteristics of the educational institution. Every classroom, every office in the institution should be surveyed by security specialists, and each should be given an objective and comprehensive assessment. Based on the results of such a survey, a «Safety Zone» should be defined in each room, the boundaries of this zone, the layout of children and teachers in it, as well as other features should also be included in the «Safety Protocol».

In addition, the expert group should develop several most likely scenarios of an attack on the educational institution (single, group, internal and external), based on which several universal, effective algorithms of actions of the school staff should be developed, until the arrival of police units, or until direct instructions from law enforcement agencies on how to proceed.

Once the protocol is approved, it should receive the status of a closed document, with limited access, and it should be stored not in the school, but in a specialized police unit. All staff of the educational institution should know, and most importantly understand, that the content of this document is classified information, not subject to disclosure.

Drills and drills to practice the practical skills of school personnel on how to act upon receipt of an «Armed Attack» signal using the «Safety Protocol» should be conducted without the participation of students, only school personnel, as well as law enforcement and other emergency services.

Pupils should know and understand only one thing: in the event of an «Armed Attack» signal, they should obey exactly, unconditionally, all the requirements of the teacher or other member of staff. Practical interaction between school staff and pupils can be practiced by conducting exercises and drills on actions in case of other threats, for example, in case of natural or man-made emergencies. Such drills and exercises should be held regularly, involving students. 

Again, this is necessary, for the reason that a significant part of mass murders in educational institutions is committed by their students, and as practice shows, they are thoroughly prepared for crimes, so their knowledge of the «Safety Protocol» and the algorithm of actions on the signal «Armed Attack» will allow them to adjust the tactics of the crime in such a way as to cause maximum damage.

Author - Roman Grishin

* Statistical data are taken from Handbook of Crimes and Terrorist Acts in schools and other educational institutions

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