Locations once considered safe havens such as schools, places of worship and healthcare institutions are no longer immune to acts of violence and, in worst case scenarios, active shooter incidents. In a webinar, Connie Packard, Executive Director of Support Services, Deputy Chief Public Safety for Boston Medical Center discussed ways that the external and internal environment can be used to mitigate risk, tools that are available to help, and standards and guidelines aimed at preventing violence.
In an emergency situation, such as an active shooter, people will take several actions. They will seek information, they will prepare for evacuation and evacuate, and they will inform and help others. And then there’s milling.
A proposed New Jersey bill would mandate panic buttons and red emergency lights in schools.
Dubbed “Alyssa’s Law,” the legislation would require all schools to have a dedicated panic button for use during school shootings and other dire emergencies, the New York Post said.
The federal school safety commission set up after the shooting at a Florida high school will not examine the role of guns in school violence, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said.
The Secure Airport Public Spaces Act, introduced earlier this month in the U.S. Senate, would allow airports to use Federal Aviation Administration passenger facility charge funds collected on airport infrastructure projects to update security infrastructure.
In March, the European Commission demanded that tech firms remove terrorist posts within one hour of their appearance. Similar calls have come from corporations and commentators, alike. These forms of pressure are important but focused only on the problem of social media serving as a tool for spreading violent ideas and propaganda. Disturbingly, social media use itself may be predisposing individuals to commit terrorism, shootings and other forms of violence by impacting user behavior and well-being.
Despite an uptick in national disasters over the past few years, members of the general public still admit they are not fully prepared, a new survey finds.
There were 28 mass attacks (during which three or more persons were harmed) carried out in public places within the U.S. in 2017. The attacks resulted in losses of 147 lives, with nearly 700 others injured.
