Bureau of Justice Assistance

U.S. Department of Justice

Guide for Preventing and

Responding to School Violence 2 n d Edition

66080_IACP_Cover_ACG 1 9/11/09 
This publication was supported by Grant No. 2007-DD-BX-K112 awarded by the Bureau of Justice 

Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, 

which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of 

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. Points of view 

or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not represent the official position or 

policies of the United States Department of Justice.

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

Second Edition

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

Internat onal ssoc at on of h efs of Pol ce

Founded in 1893, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is the world’s oldest and largest association of law 

enforcement executives, representing over 22,000 members in 100 countries.

The goals of the IACP are to advance the science and art of police services; to develop and disseminate improved 

administrative, technical and operational practices and promote their use in police work; to foster police cooperation and 

the exchange of information and experience among police administrators throughout the world; to bring about recruitment 

and training in the police profession of qualified persons; and to encourage adherence of all police officers to high 

professional standards of performance and conduct.

A core strength of the IACP is the unity with which it speaks on behalf of its members and the law enforcement 

profession. In an effort towards inclusiveness and brevity in addressing the broad scope of the police family, the following 

demographics are implied and considered when the phrase, “state, local and tribal” or “law enforcement” is employed. 

University and college; state and provincial; municipal; county; federal; Indian Country; public transit; marine; railroad; 

environmental; military; park police; capitol police; the various special investigative branches of prosecutorial agencies; and 

any legislatively authorized duly sworn and certified law enforcement agency.

Since 1893, the International Association of Chiefs of Police has been serving the needs of the law enforcement community. 

Throughout those past 100-plus years, the IACP has been launching historically acclaimed programs, conducting groundbreaking research and providing exemplary programs and services to our membership around the globe.

Professionally recognized programs such as the FBI Identification Division and the Uniform Crime Reporting Program 

can trace their origins back to the IACP. From spearheading national use of fingerprint identification to partnering in a 

consortium on community policing to gathering top experts in criminal justice, the government, and education for summits 

on violence, homicide, and youth violence, the IACP has realized its responsibility to achieve the goals of law enforcement.

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

Bureau of Jus t ce ss s tance

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, 

which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and 

Delinquency Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. 

BJA supports law enforcement, courts, corrections, treatment, victim services, technology, and prevention initiatives that 

strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system. BJA provides leadership, services, and funding to America’s communities by: 

•	 Emphasizing local control

•	 Building relationships in the field

•	 Providing training and technical assistance in support of efforts to prevent crime, drug abuse, and violence at the 

national, state, and local levels

•	 Developing collaborations and partnerships 

•	 Promoting capacity building through planning 

•	 Streamlining the administration of grants 

•	 Increasing training and technical assistance

•	 Creating accountability of projects 

•	 Encouraging innovation

•	 Communicating the value of justice efforts to decision makers at every level 

BJA has three primary components: Policy, Programs, and Planning. The Policy Office provides national leadership in 

criminal justice policy, training, and technical assistance to further the administration of justice. It also acts as a liaison 

to national organizations that partner with BJA to set policy and help disseminate information on best and promising 

practices. The Programs Office coordinates and administers all state and local grant programs and acts as BJA’s direct line 

of communication to states, territories, and tribal governments by providing assistance and coordinating resources. The 

Planning Office coordinates the planning, communications, and budget formulation and execution; provides overall BJAwide coordination; and supports streamlining efforts. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

cknowledgments

This document is the second edition of a guide that was initially prepared by the Defense Personnel Security Research 

Center (PERSEREC) for the IACP’s Private Sector Liaison Committee. PERSEREC staff members primarily responsible for 

project research and document preparation for the first edition were Alissa J. Kramen, Kelly R. Massey, Ph.D., and Howard 

W. Timm, Ph.D. 

We would like to thank our team of subject matter experts who helped revise and review the second edition of this guide. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

a le of ontents

Section 1: Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 1

Purpose.................................................................................................................................................................................. 1

Background ........................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Approach ............................................................................................................................................................................... 3

How to Use This Document ................................................................................................................................................. 3

Section 2: Prevention ...................................................................................................................................... 4

The Role of School Administrators, Teachers, and Staff.................................................................................................... 4

The Role of Students .......................................................................................................................................................... 12

The Role of Parents and/or Guardians .............................................................................................................................. 13

The Role of the Community ............................................................................................................................................... 15

The Role of Law Enforcement............................................................................................................................................ 16

Section 3: Threat Assessment ....................................................................................................................... 17

Section 4: Crisis Planning and Preparation................................................................................................... 20

The Role of School Administrators, Teachers, and Staff.................................................................................................. 20

The Role of Law Enforcement and Emergency Response Personnel............................................................................. 23

Section 5: During a Major Crisis.................................................................................................................... 24

The Role of School Administrators, Teachers, and Staff.................................................................................................. 24

The Role of Students .......................................................................................................................................................... 24

The Role of Law Enforcement............................................................................................................................................ 25

Section 6: After a Crisis................................................................................................................................. 26 

The Role of School Administrators.................................................................................................................................... 26

The Role of Teachers and Staff .......................................................................................................................................... 28

The Role of School Counselors, Psychologists, and Social Workers .............................................................................. 28

The Role of Parents and/or Guardians .............................................................................................................................. 28

The Role of the Community ............................................................................................................................................... 28

The Role of Law Enforcement............................................................................................................................................ 28

Section 7: Legal Considerations .................................................................................................................... 29

Liability of Schools When Students Are Harmed ............................................................................................................. 29

Liability of Schools for Wrongful Accusations and Discharge......................................................................................... 29

Liability of Schools for Violating Students’ Rights............................................................................................................ 29 

Liability of Parents and/or Guardians ................................................................................................................................ 31 

Section 8: Working with the Media................................................................................................................ 32

Rights and Obligations of the Media ................................................................................................................................ 32

Recommendations for Executives in the Television, Radio, Internet, Recording, Electronic Game, and 

Film Industries ................................................................................................................................................................ 32

Planning for Media Coverage of School Violence ........................................................................................................... 34

Section 9: Resources..................................................................................................................................... 37

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ect on 1

Introduct on

Purpose 

The purpose of this document is to present different 

strategies and approaches for members of school 

communities to consider when creating safer learning 

environments. No two schools are exactly alike, so it is 

impossible to establish one plan that will work well in 

all schools. Violence prevention programs work best 

when they incorporate multiple strategies and address 

the full range of possible acts of violence in schools. For 

any set of policies to work, it must be established and 

implemented with the full participation and support of 

school board members, administrators, parents, students, 

community members, emergency response personnel, 

and law enforcement. Without such shared responsibility, 

the chances of safe school policies being successfully 

implemented and accepted are low. 

All involved in working to prevent or respond to school 

violence should be aware that no strategies in this or 

any other publication provide any guarantees against 

violence. Recognition of the rarity of school shootings 

and the complexity and unpredictability of human 

behavior should temper community initiatives as well 

as expectations. Most of the interventions presented 

in this document, however, have the potential to yield 

benefits beyond just reducing hazards associated 

with school shootings. Additional benefits include the 

following: 

•	 Lowering rates of delinquency, disruptive behaviors, 

harassment, bullying, suicide, and all other forms of 

violence and antisocial behavior

•	 Increasing the likelihood troubled youth will be 

identified and receive treatment

•	 Improving the learning environment by reducing 

intimidating, disruptive, and disrespectful behavior

•	 Preparing communities for responding to not only 

shootings at schools, but also all other human-made 

and natural disasters 

Background 

School violence has come into the public eye after deadly 

multiple shootings in such places as Littleton, Colorado; 

Jonesboro, Arkansas; Santee, California; Red Lake, 

Minnesota; Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania; and Cleveland, 

Ohio. The possibility of school shootings has become an 

issue for urban, rural, and suburban communities alike. 

Since 1992, more than 40 schools have experienced 

multiple victim homicides, many in communities where 

people previously believed “it couldn’t happen here.” 

Given the number of students and schools in the United 

States, multiple-victim homicides are still extremely rare, 

and in recent years, the overall rate of violence in schools 

has actually declined. Physical conflicts, threats, and 

harassment are, however, still common. Many students 

Selected School and Campus Shootings 

Since 1999

•	 Mount Morris, Michigan, February 29, 2000: Six-yearold Derrick Owens found a .32-caliber handgun in 

his uncle’s home and took it to school and shot a 

classmate.

•	 Santee, California, March 5, 2001: Fifteen-year-old 

Andy Williams entered a boys’ bathroom at Santana 

High School and opened fire, killing one student. 

Williams then left the bathroom and began firing 

indiscriminately, killing one more and wounding 13 

others, before two off-duty officers who were visiting 

the school arrested him.

•	 Red Lion, Pennsylvania, April 24, 2003: Fourteen-yearold James Sheets armed himself with three handguns, 

two revolvers, and one semiautomatic gun. He shot 

and killed the principal before shooting himself.

•	 Cold Springs, Minnesota, September 24, 2003:

Fifteen-year-old Jason McLaughlin shot and killed 

two classmates before surrendering to the gym 

teacher. McLaughlin claimed one of the victims had 

been teasing him.

•	 Red Lake, Minnesota, March 21, 2005: Sixteen-yearold Jeffrey Wise shot and killed seven people on his 

school campus, including five students, one teacher, 

and an unarmed security guard. He had shot and 

killed his paternal grandfather and his grandfather’s 

girlfriend earlier that day. After exchanging fire with 

police, Wise shot himself.

•	 Jacksboro, Tennessee, November 8, 2005: Fifteenyear-old Kenneth Bartley Jr. shot and killed assistant 

principal Ken Bruce and shot at two other school 

officials. Bruce died of the injuries. Bruce had 

confronted Bartley about carrying a gun at school.

•	 Bailey, Colorado, September 27, 2006: Fifty-three-yearold Duane Morrison entered the Platte Canyon High 

School claiming to be carrying a bomb. He took six 

female students hostage, sexually assaulted them, and 

later released four of the hostages. He shot and killed 

one as SWAT entered the room before killing himself.

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

and teachers are more fearful than ever before when they 

enter the doors of their school. This climate of fear makes 

it more difficult for schools to provide positive learning 

environments. 

The causes of school violence are subject to much 

speculation. Violence does not stand alone; there are 

usually multiple indicators. Possible contributors to school 

violence mentioned in the literature include the following: 

•	 Exposure to violence in the family and the community 

•	 Child abuse and neglect

•	 Poor parenting practices and lack of interest in 

children’s activities 

•	 Peer pressure to engage in harassment of other students, 

violent behavior, drug or alcohol use, and truancy 

•	 Prejudices based on race, religion, ethnicity, physical 

appearance, social class, sexual orientation, disability, 

gender, and other traits 

•	 Access to information on how to make explosive 

devices and unsupervised access to firearms 

•	 Excessive exposure to violence in television 

programming, movies, and video games 

•	 Drug or alcohol abuse

•	 Lack of conflict resolution skills 

•	 Lack of quality role models and the availability of 

inappropriate role models 

•	 Perceived lack of opportunity to be successful through 

legitimate means 

•	 Failure to detect and treat children exhibiting 

warning signs of being troubled including a written 

or verbal behavior that indicates the child has 

perceived injustice, revenge fantasy, obsession with 

revenge, desire to be notorious, preoccupation 

with previous school shootings or shooters, suicidal 

or homicidal ideation, feelings of insignificance, 

feelings of dehumanization, or a desensitization to 

violence

•	 Lack of adult supervision of, and positive interaction 

with, children after school 

•	 Negative self-image

Selected School and Campus Shootings 

Since 1999 (continued)

•	 Cazenovia, Wisconsin, September 29, 2006: Fifteenyear-old Eric Hainstock, armed with a handgun and 

a shotgun, aimed the shotgun at a social studies 

teacher. A school custodian, Dave Thompson, 

wrestled the gun away from Hainstock. The principal, 

John Klang, also confronted Hainstock, who was still 

armed with the handgun. Klang was shot but was still 

able to wrestle Hainstock to the floor and hold him 

until officers arrived. Klang later died of his injuries.

•	 Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, October 2, 2006: Charles 

Roberts IV took hostages at an Amish schoolhouse 

and eventually shot and killed five girls before taking 

his own life.

•	 Blacksburg, Virginia, April 16, 2007: Seung-Hui Cho 

shot and killed 32 people before committing suicide 

on the campus of Virginia Tech. 

•	 Dekalb, Illinois, February 14, 2008: A 27-year-old 

former student opened fire in a lecture hall at 

Northern Illinois University, killing six and injuring at 

least 15 others, before killing himself.

•	 Fresno, California, April 16, 2008: A 17-year-old 

student attacked a school police officer with a 

modified bat, seriously injuring him. The police 

officer, who had no previous interaction with the 

student, shot and killed him. 

•	 Kauhajoki, Finland, September 23, 2008: A 22-yearold male student shot and killed 10 people and 

wounded several others before shooting himself in 

the head. A week before the attack, the gunman 

had posted a video of himself on YouTube firing 

a gun. It was titled “Jokela High School Massacre 

11/7/2007,” identifying the date and location of 

the attack. Police interviewed him after learning of 

the video but decided they did not have enough 

evidence to revoke his firearms license.

•	 Conway, Arkansas, October 26, 2008: Four men, ages 

19-20, shot and killed two students and wounded a 

third person. The men appear to have driven up on a 

group of students near a dormitory at the University 

of Central Arkansas and fired at least eight rounds 

from a semiautomatic pistol. Police believe the victims 

were not the intended targets but rather innocent 

bystanders.

•	 Winnenden, Germany, March 11, 2009: A 17-year-old 

male dressed in military gear went to his former high 

school and killed nine students and three teachers 

as well as one person at a nearby clinic. In a police 

shootout, two additional passersby were killed and 

two officers seriously injured, bringing the death toll 

to 16, including the gunman. 

•	 Dearborn, Michigan, April 3, 2009: A murder-suicide 

at a campus occurred when a 28-year-old male snuck 

in a crudely shortened shotgun, killed a fellow student, 

and then turned the gun on himself. The shooter was 

notorious on the Internet, drawing condemnation 

for videos on YouTube denigrating African American 

women and atheists.

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

Selected Recent Success Stories

•	 Dove Creek, Colorado, April 9, 2009: A plan to shoot 

the high school principal and others at a school was 

discovered when two boys, ages 16 and 19, were 

arrested in New Mexico on suspicion of burglary and 

theft. The 19-year-old told his family about the plot 

after the arrest.

•	 Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, March 17, 2009: An eighthgrade boy at a Catholic school was arrested for 

trying to recruit fellow students to carry out a plot 

at the school. His plan was thwarted when one of 

the students revealed that he’d been recruited to 

take hostages at the school and shoot anyone who 

resisted. The instigator had two plastic pellet guns 

that looked like real firearms.

•	 Bells, Tennessee, October 2008: Two young men, 

ages 18 and 20, were charged with planning a killing 

spree to shoot and decapitate African-American 

people at a predominantly black school and top 

it off by killing Sen. Barack Obama. The men were 

apprehended after they shot out a church window 

and drew racially motivated words on the sidewalk. 

They were charged with possessing an unregistered 

firearm, conspiring to steal firearms, and threatening 

a candidate for president.

•	 Norristown, Pennsylvania, September 24, 2008: A 

woman admitted she helped her troubled, bullied 

14-year-old son build a cache of weapons by buying 

a rifle with a laser scope and gunpowder, which 

investigators said he was using to build grenades. 

He also had knives, swords, and BB guns. The 

overweight teenager had been bullied at school and 

was being home-schooled. He apparently idolized 

the Columbine shooters, and violent Internet sites 

fueled his revenge fantasies.

•	 Columbia, South Carolina, April 19, 2008: A high 

school senior collected enough supplies to carry out 

a bomb attack on his school and detailed the plot in 

a hate-filled diary that included maps of the building 

and admiring notations about the Columbine killers. 

The student was arrested after his parents called 

police when 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate was 

delivered to their home and they discovered the 

journal.

Approach 

Guidance for school violence prevention and response is 

offered in each of the following areas: 

•	 Ways to prevent student violence

•	 Threat assessment

•	 Planning and training for what to do during an actual 

crisis 

•	 How to respond during a crisis

•	 How to handle the aftermath of a crisis 

•	 Legal considerations

•	 Recommendations for the media 

The roles of school administrators, teachers, and staff are 

discussed. In addition, student, parent, law enforcement, 

and community roles are addressed. Throughout the 

report, text boxes provide more in-depth information 

or illustrate the potential value of the suggestions using 

actual cases of school violence. 

How to Use this Document 

The table of contents provides a way to identify the 

sections of greatest interest. The entire document 

should be reviewed, however, to gain an understanding 

of the different roles and elements needed to achieve 

an integrated approach for addressing the problem of 

violence in schools. Among the ways the document can be 

used are as follows: 

•	 To help communities audit their schools’ 

existing policies, procedures, and plans. Not 

every suggestion contained in this document 

is appropriate for every school. All schools and 

communities could benefit, though, from checking 

to see that they have considered and, where 

appropriate, implemented the recommendations 

likely to enhance school safety. 

•	 To serve as a basis for strengthening collaborative 

school violence policies, procedures, and plans. School 

safety planning committees can delete, revise, and add 

to recommendations in this document as needed to 

address their unique needs and circumstances. 

•	 To help public safety and other crisis response 

agencies assess their school safety plans. 

•	 To provide guidance to members of the school 

community.

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ect on 2

Prevent on

The Role of School Administrators, Teachers, 

and Staff 

To be effective, violence prevention programs require 

community-wide collaborative efforts that include students, 

families, teachers, administrators, staff, social and mental 

health professionals, law enforcement, emergency 

response personnel, security professionals, school board 

members, parents, the business community, and others. 

School administrators should bring together all of the 

above constituencies to develop strategies appropriate for 

their own particular school and community environments. 

While school boards and administrators create a climate 

of safety in schools, teachers, especially, must be directly 

involved and supported in all stages of developing 

and implementing programs to achieve safer schools. 

Teachers establish the first line of school safety, because 

they have the most direct contact with students. Often, 

they also have great insight into the potential problems 

and realistic solutions applicable to their school. 

School Security 

The level of physical security may need to be modified in 

order to lower schools’ vulnerability to violent behaviors. 

Different strategies will be required to address needs 

specific to individual elementary, middle, and high schools. 

Administrators should initiate a comprehensive security 

assessment survey of their school’s physical design, safety 

policies, and emergency procedures. The assessment 

should be conducted in cooperation with law enforcement, 

school security staff, physical facilities personnel, fire 

and other emergency service personnel, teachers, staff, 

students, and other school community members. Using the 

conclusions of that survey, administrators should assign a 

safety and violence prevention committee composed of all 

of the above representatives to develop a comprehensive 

security plan (School Site Safety Plan). Based on each 

school’s needs, school safety plans may include some or all 

of the following suggestions: 

1. Use school resource officers (SROs) who may be 

provided by local law enforcement. SROs often 

provide law enforcement, law-related counseling, 

and law-related education to students, faculty, and 

staff. Continuity of officers in individual schools 

should be encouraged, so that students and SROs 

develop a rapport. 

2. Consider seeking one or more probation officers for 

use on campus to help supervise and counsel students. 

This would be especially appropriate for high schools 

with a significant caseload of juveniles on probation. 

3. Use trained personnel—paid or volunteer—selected 

specifically to assist teachers and administrators 

in monitoring student behavior and activities. 

Continuity of monitors within schools should be 

encouraged to facilitate good rapport with students. 

Monitors should be trained on the different types of 

violence likely to occur in the school; what behavior 

to look for in potential perpetrators; and how to 

document and report concerning behaviors. The 

number of monitors used should be based on the 

number of students, the extent of problems at the 

school, and the space and layout of school grounds. 

4. Develop and enforce restrictions about student 

loitering in parking lots, hallways, bathrooms, and 

other areas. Publish restrictions in the student 

handbook or code of conduct. 

5. Consider the use of metal detectors in special 

circumstances to deter weapons on campus. 

6. Adopt policies for conducting searches for weapons 

and drugs.

7. Require visitors to sign in and sign out at the school 

office and to wear visible visitors’ passes. Designate 

a staff member or volunteer monitor for each 

entrance and provide each with a radio. The monitor 

should notify all visitors that they must sign in, direct 

them to the office, and radio the office to confirm 

that the visitor checks in. The monitors should be 

trained on what concerning behaviors to look for in a 

potential perpetrator. Escort any visitor that may be 

suspicious to the office. 

8. Encourage school personnel to greet strangers on 

campus and direct them to sign in if they have not. 

Also instruct school personnel to report visitors who 

have not signed in. 

9. Require students and staff to carry with them or 

wear their school photo IDs during school and at all 

school-related activities.

10. Establish a closed campus policy that prohibits 

students from leaving campus during lunch.

11. Establish a cooperative relationship with law 

enforcement and owners of adjacent properties 

to the school that allow for joint monitoring of 

student conduct during school hours. Encourage 

neighboring residents and businesses to report all 

criminal activity and unusual incidents. Establish 

a protocol at the school to handle calls from the 

neighborhood. 

12. Establish a professional relationship with a forensic 

psychologist who specializes in violence assessment, 

interruption, and prevention. 

13. Consider providing and making use of alarm, 

intercom, cell phone, building paging, twoway radio, and mounted and handheld camera 

monitoring systems on buses and school campuses. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

14. Ensure that people in each classroom have a way to 

contact the office in case of emergencies and train 

staff on what type of information should be reported 

and how it should be reported during emergencies. 

Do not use codes or code words.

15. Develop a school bus rider attendance checklist for 

each bus and use it daily. 

16. Consider employing outside security personnel 

during school functions. The school district must 

outline the roles, responsibilities, and limits of such 

personnel, including whether they are armed and if 

they are supposed to respond to an active shooter. 

The decision to use security officers and any contract 

with an outside security firm should be reviewed by 

legal counsel.

17. Patrol school grounds, especially in areas where 

students tend to congregate, such as parking 

lots, hallways, stairs, bathrooms, cafeterias, and 

schoolyards.

18. Develop threat and crisis management plans and 

provisions as outlined in Sections 3 and 4. 

19. Develop a comprehensive set of violence prevention 

strategies based on the guidance provided in this 

document and ensure that it is fully implemented. 

20. Publish all policies and restrictions in the student 

handbook or code of conduct.

Reporting 

Establish a climate that encourages and enables students, 

teachers, and parents and/or guardians to report threats 

and acts of violence. 

1. Within the limits of legal guidelines and statutes, 

maintain confidentiality. 

2. Develop and adequately communicate reporting 

procedures with input from school district officials and 

local public safety agencies. Standard procedures 

should include definitions of pertinent information 

and how and where information should be distributed. 

3. Consider establishing a properly staffed, confidential 

hotline for reporting issues of harassment, safety, 

vandalism, and so on. If answering machines are 

used, calls need to be retrieved in time to effectively 

address threats of violence. Aggressively advertise 

the hotline number to students and parents and/

or guardians in student handbooks, on posters 

throughout the school, on pencils, on student IDs, on 

lockers, and so on. Parents and students should also 

be advised when to use 9-1-1 rather than the hotline. 

4. Ensure that students understand that when reporting 

a fellow classmate’s concerning behavior, the goal 

is intervention, not punishment. Communicate 

to students that all threats of violence should be 

reported even if they feel it is not a “real” threat. 

5. Obtain training to recognize whether reports of 

threats or acts of violence are false or malicious. 

Student Rules 

Student rules must be communicated, understood, 

and consistently enforced. They also must comply with 

constitutionally guaranteed due process. 

1. Establish rules of conduct pertaining to improper 

student behavior using input from students, parents 

and/or guardians, staff, public safety officials, mental 

health agencies, and legal counsel. 

2. Annually review and, if needed, revise rules of 

student conduct. 

3. Ensure that all rules have a purpose that is 

clearly understood. They should be clear and 

communicated to all students in both written and 

verbal formats. Students’ comprehension of the rules 

should be assessed. 

4. Post summaries of rules of student conduct in 

classrooms and throughout the school. 

5. Send rules home to be read by students and parents 

and/or guardians. Include an acknowledgment form 

for students, parents and/or guardians to sign and 

return to the school.

6. Hold meetings to communicate rules to parents and/

or guardians and, to the extent practicable, make sure 

they understand them. Invite parents and/or guardians 

to call if they have questions about the rules. 

7. Communicate rules in as many languages as needed. 

8. Apply rules consistently. Establish consequences 

for rule violations and apply them consistently and 

without delay.

9. Develop a consistent, timely, and effective means to 

notify parents and/or guardians of rule violations and 

consequences. 

10. Establish clearly defined rules and appropriate 

consequences for all types of harassment, 

intimidation, and disrespect. Rules should cover 

adult and student behavior at all school events. 

Parents and/or guardians and teachers need to act 

as positive role models for students. 

11. Develop a specific policy and procedure to deal 

with disturbed writing and threat making. Ensure 

students and parents are aware of what the policy 

is and what steps will be taken if a student makes 

a threat or writes something disturbing. If unsure, 

school districts should consult with an individual who 

specializes in analyzing disturbing writing. 

12. Suspend and recommend expulsion of students and 

dismiss or discipline staff for serious rule violations. 

Serious rule violations include the following: 

a. Possession of a firearm on school property or at 

school events. The 1994 Gun-Free Schools Act 

mandates a one-year expulsion for students who 

bring a firearm to school. The chief administrating 

officer of the local education agency can modify the 

expulsion requirement on a case-by-case basis. All 

local education agencies that receive funding from 

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programs established through the Elementary and 

Secondary Education Act must require all students 

found carrying a firearm to be referred to the 

criminal justice or juvenile justice system.

b. Possession or use of a weapon on school 

grounds or at school events that is capable of 

inflicting serious bodily harm. 

c. Physical assault of a teacher, an administrator, a 

staff member, or a student. 

13. Suspend and consider the appropriateness of 

expulsion for the following: 

a. A verbal threat to a teacher, an administrator, a 

staff member, or a student. 

b. Possession, sale, or use of illegal drugs on 

campus. 

c. Actual or threatened retaliation against persons 

who report threats or acts of violence. 

d. Communicated threats (e.g., bomb threats). 

Support for Teachers and Other Staff 

Working in collaboration with faculty, the school 

administration has the responsibility to enforce school rules. 

1. Take quick, consistent, and appropriate actions 

toward students who are reported by teachers and 

other staff for rule violations. 

2. Provide times and locations for teachers to meet 

and discuss ways to maintain classrooms that are 

conducive to learning. Group teachers and other 

personnel who work with the same troubled student 

into teams to enable them to discuss that student 

and strategies for managing him or her. 

Programs for Suspended or Expelled Students 

For students who have been suspended or expelled, the 

school should do the following: 

1. Provide an alternative educational program in a 

separate environment. Appropriate programs should 

be available for elementary, middle, and high school 

grade levels. 

2. Provide a low student-to-staff ratio in the alternative 

educational program. 

3. Consider requiring suspended or expelled students 

to participate in community-based programs so that 

they would learn while helping others. Possibilities 

include working with neighborhood beautification 

efforts or with victims of violence where they would 

directly witness the effects of causing injury to others. 

4. Consider reducing the length of suspensions in 

exchange for successful completion of community 

service. 

5. Consider providing extra counseling in areas such 

as anger management, conflict management and 

resolution, respecting the rights of others, and 

social skills. Use behavior modification or other 

applications of rewards and punishments to reduce 

delinquency. 

6. Consider providing parents and/or guardians with 

counseling or training in parenting skills oriented 

toward reducing problematic behavior by students in 

school and at home. 

7. Recognize the risk involved in putting troubled 

students together. Take appropriate security 

measures in light of that risk. 

8. Provide students of the appropriate age with career 

counseling and information about employment 

opportunities. 

Student Court 

For noncriminal offenses, consider use of peer courts. 

Be aware that the use of student courts to address other 

students’ noncriminal offenses can have unintended 

consequences, such as lack of confidentiality, feelings 

of being judged by fellow classmates, and increased 

feelings of group differences. 

1. Consider having qualified adults oversee peer courts. 

2. Provide adequate training to peer court participants. 

3. Tell the student(s) that they must abide by the 

peer court’s decision and tell them about the 

consequences for not complying. 

Positive Incentives 

Instead of focusing only on punishment of negative 

behaviors, find ways to encourage positive behaviors. 

1. Create rewards for students who perform acts of 

good citizenship. 

2. Invite community leaders to tell students about 

different ways they can achieve success.

3. Consider the potential value of school-wide 

assemblies in which effective motivational speakers 

deliver anti-drug, -alcohol, and -violence messages. 

4. Invite responsible adults to mentor and serve as 

positive role models for students. 

5. Promote press coverage of all types of students who 

have done well. 

6. Create programs that promote positive values, 

incorporate building blocks for developing character, 

and recognize students who exhibit positive traits. 

7. Promote partnerships between schools and law 

enforcement, community businesses, and service 

organizations to recognize and reward positive 

student behavior. 

Employee Screening 

Teachers, staff, and volunteers can have a profound 

effect on children’s development. Investigations should 

be conducted to avoid selecting potentially harmful or 

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abusive teachers, staff, and volunteers. Some states have 

laws about screening people who work with children. 

Use one or more of the following means in a manner 

consistent with applicable law to screen potential teachers, 

staff, and other non-students who are regularly on site: 

•	 State sex offender registry check 

•	 Criminal background check 

•	 Fingerprint check 

•	 Employment, personal, and education reference 

checks 

•	 Personal interviews 

•	 On-the-job observation 

•	 Students’ evaluations of teacher performance 

•	 Professional disciplinary board background check 

•	 Alcohol and drug testing 

•	 Psychological testing 

•	 Mental illness and psychiatric history check 

Class and School Size 

1. Work toward creating and maintaining optimal 

student-to-teacher ratios. This allows teachers to 

better identify warning signs demonstrated by 

students who may be prone to violence. 

2. Organize community-wide efforts to determine the 

most appropriate size of schools in each district. 

Schools where students are more connected to 

their school environment (including the people, the 

facility, the operations, and the activities) tend to 

have lower rates of violence. 

Parent Outreach 

1. Encourage faculty to solicit as much parental 

involvement as possible. Among the ways this 

can be achieved are school and class newsletters, 

classroom activities, Web sites, personalized phone 

calls, local newspapers, voice mail direct to teachers, 

and opportunities for participation in school clubs, 

organizations, and other extracurricular activities. 

2. Seek and promote innovative ways to help students 

and parents and/or guardians connect with their 

school, faculty, and staff. Examples include having 

parent advisory meetings, using parents and/or 

guardians as mentors or guest speakers, providing 

parents and/or guardians with child care for their 

children during school functions, establishing a 

parent lounge, and offering parenting classes. 

3. Offer training to parents and/or guardians on what 

behaviors to look for, what those behaviors can lead 

to, and what parents and/or guardians can do if they 

are concerned about their child. Section 7 addresses 

the legal implications of failing to take action. 

4. Make it known to parents and/or guardians that 

the goal is intervention before a violent incident 

occurs, not punishment. Encourage parents and/or 

guardians to report their concerns. 

Use of the School 

1. Serve as an advocate for Head Start and other on 

site quality preschool programs for younger children. 

2. Promote free and attractive after-school activities 

for all students. Examples include sporting activities, 

assistance with schoolwork, and social events. Try to 

have at least one activity that would be of interest to 

every type of student. The After-Schools Enrichment 

Grant Program can be used to help provide funding 

for such activities. (More information on after-school 

programs is provided in the text box on page 14. 

Addresses of Web sites with information about 

funding are provided in Section 9.) 

3. Seek and promote partnerships with external 

programs to provide supervised after-school on 

site activities. Programs selected should contribute 

to students’ safety and to their physical, moral, 

academic, emotional, or social development, such 

as 4-H, Scouts, Boys & Girls Clubs, YMCA, and 

community youth sports programs. 

School Physical Environment 

A safe and secure physical environment promotes and 

enhances the learning process. 

1. Keep schools clean and in good repair to discourage 

vandalism and violence. 

2. Employ Crime Prevention through Environmental 

Design (CPTED) techniques to reduce problems. 

These measures use interior and exterior facility 

designs to increase the likelihood that acts of 

misconduct on school premises will either be 

physically discouraged or observed and acted upon. 

CPTED can also yield designs that facilitate more 

effective emergency response to critical incidents. 

3. Establish and enforce a dress code for students, 

faculty, and staff with input from all constituents. 

Consideration also should be given to requiring 

school uniforms. Dress codes can simplify 

recognition of intruders, improve discipline, 

decrease violence and other forms of misconduct, 

and minimize the impact of gangs and other fringe 

groups on school property. 

Counseling Services 

Schools should provide or refer students to counseling 

services, including emotional (such as grief, anger 

management, depression), social development, 

exceptional student (such as gifted or disabled), 

academic, vocational, prenatal and reproductive, gang, 

psychological, family, and substance abuse. Each area 

requires different knowledge, skills, and abilities. 

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Schools should ensure that students in need have access 

to counselors qualified to treat their respective problems. 

Counseling services should be of adequate duration 

and provide continuity of treatment. When student 

needs exceed the counseling resources of the school, 

recommendations for community assistance should be 

provided. Cooperative arrangements may be possible 

with neighboring school districts or with other city, county, 

or state organizations that provide or use these services. 

1. Provide counseling services in a manner consistent 

with national professional standards (such as those of 

the National Association of School Psychologists, the 

American Counseling Association, and the National 

Association of School Social Workers) regarding 

appropriate treatment and student-to-counselor ratios. 

2. Establish training programs under the supervision of 

a trained counselor in which students can be taught 

to help other students. Match students with peers 

who can relate to the student receiving advice and 

to his or her problems. 

3. Ensure that counselors have adequate information 

about and access to community resources. 

4. Ensure parents and/or guardians and students are 

informed of the different types of counseling services 

available and know how they can obtain them. 

5. Identify at-risk students and provide counseling. 

Conflict Resolution Programs 

Conflict resolution and management programs teach 

people to find peaceful solutions to conflict. These 

programs use negotiation, mediation, and consensus 

decision-making to find solutions that are positive for all 

parties. They attempt to create win-win situations. 

1. Conduct a needs assessment to determine the types 

of conflicts that tend to occur and how they are best 

resolved. 

2. Select which conflict resolution programs would be 

most appropriate for the school. 

3. Find trainers to implement the program. 

4. Commence training at the earliest age-appropriate 

school level. Continue the training throughout students’ education. 

5. Obtain support and involvement from faculty and 

parents and/or guardians. 

6. Teach conflict resolution to students by using 

activities incorporated into the curriculum and 

by having teachers and staff model appropriate 

behaviors. 

7. Evaluate the success of the program against goals. 

Social Skills Training 

Social skills training enables students to have positive 

and respectful interactions with other students, parents, 

faculty, and staff. Positive relationships can reduce 

tendencies toward violent behavior. 

1. Encourage faculty to teach and model positive 

social skills. 

2. Implement life skills training throughout the 

curriculum to teach students how to recognize 

problem situations, manage stress, achieve selfcontrol, and demonstrate emotional maturity. 

Cognitive Skills Training 

Encourage faculty and staff to challenge the way students 

think about problem solving. Violence in school settings 

often erupts as impulsive or irrational reactions to 

immediate problems. 

1. Teach means-ends thinking, in which students learn 

how to reach a goal by step-by-step planning, 

identifying potential obstacles, and accepting that 

problem solving often takes time. 

Examples of Conflict Resolution and 

Management Approaches 

The process curriculum approach devotes a specific 

time to teaching problem-solving skills in a separate 

course or curriculum. 

The mediation program approach trains people in 

conflict resolution to provide third-party mediation to 

others trying to resolve a dispute. Peer mediation has 

been found to work well for many but not all problems. 

For example, peer mediation counseling should 

not be used for responding to serious or persistent 

delinquency problems. Peer mediation also must be 

made available when it is needed, not just when it is 

convenient for peer counselors and staff. 

The peaceable classroom approach brings conflict 

resolution into core subject areas and uses the 

techniques to help manage the classroom. 

The peaceable schools approach builds on the former 

approaches by using conflict resolution as a tool for 

helping to manage the entire school. 

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2. Teach analytical thinking, in which students learn how 

to weigh the appropriate pros and cons when deciding whether to carry out an act. 

3. Teach alternative solution thinking, in which students 

learn to find new solutions to a problem. 

4. Teach consequential thinking, in which students learn 

to consider different outcomes that might result from 

a given action. 

Diversity Issues 

Intolerance often leads to conflict, interferes with the 

learning process, and has been a factor in violence in 

the schools. The purpose of diversity training is to try to 

reduce intolerance. 

1. Design and distribute a diversity acceptance policy 

to students, parents and/or guardians, teachers, and 

staff. Include a description of forbidden behaviors, 

responsibilities of students and staff, consequences 

of engaging in prohibited behaviors, and locations of 

pertinent school and community resources. 

2. Provide diversity acceptance training to all staff and 

faculty. 

3. Give all students diversity acceptance training in the 

classroom and in assemblies, incorporating small group 

discussions to augment awareness and sensitivity. 

Consider activities that celebrate the school’s cultural 

diversity. Make sure that all activities are appropriate 

for the particular age and cultural groups with and for 

whom they are being implemented. 

4. Use progressive discipline for acts of intolerance. 

Use nondisciplinary actions (such as counseling, 

parent conferences, community service, or awareness 

training) for minor, first-time infractions. Progressively 

increase discipline (from detention to suspension to 

expulsion, for instance) for recurring or more serious 

violations. 

5. Recognize that certain types of graffiti, literature, and 

actions may be indicators of a hate crime or a case 

of harassment. Collect, store, and monitor data on 

these types of occurrences and share this information 

with police. Consider photographing graffiti. 

Anti-bullying Programs 

Bullying is a range of behaviors, both verbal and physical, 

that intimidate others and often lead to antisocial and 

unlawful acts. Staff, students, and parents and/or guardians 

need to understand that bullying is a pervasive problem 

that leads to violence. Bullying should neither be thought of 

as a kids-will-be-kids occurrence nor be accepted as a way 

of life. Implement anti-bullying programs that include the 

following school-wide, classroom, and individual tactics: 

1. Clearly define what constitutes bullying activity with 

input and involvement from the school community 

(students, staff, parents and/or guardians, teachers, 

volunteers, and law enforcement). Communicate 

that definition to students, teachers, parents and/or 

guardians, and staff. The definition should include 

physical, verbal, and psychological aspects of 

bullying. 

2. Establish specific rules prohibiting, and consequences for, bullying activity as part of a 

comprehensive school code of conduct. 

3. Seek information about the motivations behind 

specific incidents of bullying. 

4. Establish a reporting mechanism by which 

incidents of bullying can be reported and recorded 

immediately after they occur. 

5. Ensure reporting procedures address with whom and 

under which circumstances information will and will not 

be shared. Care should be taken to do the following: 

a. Protect witnesses and victims from retaliation. 

b. Meet applicable standards for confidentiality. 

c. Ensure that personnel involved with victims 

and bullies have the information they need to 

effectively work with them. 

d. Protect the accused from false allegations. 

6. Notify the parents and/or guardians of both the 

victims and the perpetrators whenever a report of 

bullying is filed. Establish a policy regarding the circumstances under which parents and/or guardians of 

bullies and their victims should be called in for an on 

site conference. 

7. Continually monitor the number of reported incidents 

of bullying, and for each incident document what 

action was taken to disrupt the behavior. 

8. Regularly conduct a survey assessing the 

prevalence, location, and kind of bullying activities 

that are occurring. Include students, parents and/

or guardians, teachers, and staff. Also address 

bullying activities that occur on the way to and 

from school. Work with community policing 

efforts to help make students’ journeys to and 

from school safe and free from acts of intimidation. For surveys requiring student input, follow 

administration guidelines regarding the possible 

need for parental approval. 

9. Consider holding focus groups to discuss the nature 

of the problem of bullying and ways to solve it. 

10. Identify community resources that can be used to 

intervene immediately as well as those that can 

be used to develop additional intervention and 

prevention programs. Ensure that adequate social 

service and mental health resources are both 

available and being used. 

11. Take actions to identify bullies and victims and to 

promote intervention at the classroom level and at 

other student contact points in schools. Develop 

a program that provides victims with immediate 

support services and referrals and teaches avoidance 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

techniques and coping skills. Refer offenders to 

available support services. 

12. Advise teachers and staff to record events as well as 

the interventions and strategies that are implemented 

to address different instances of bullying. 

Programs to Reduce Isolation and Alienation and to 

Promote Respect 

School administrators and teachers should identify and 

implement programs that increase self-respect and 

respect for others. In general, these programs should do 

the following: 

1. Establish standards for how people should treat 

each other.

2. Ensure that classroom standards are consistent with 

school and district policies.

3. Ensure that classroom standards are reviewed in 

class and that a copy of them is sent to the parents 

and/or guardians. 

4. Coordinate a cooperative effort to create and 

disseminate statements of values that all affiliates of 

the school will be expected to follow. All members 

should be able to state their school’s values. For 

examples of school values statements, see the text 

box on page 15.

5. Establish better lines of communication with 

students who may feel alienated or isolated or have 

low self-esteem.

6. Increase the number and diversity of positive 

extracurricular activities available to students.

7. Help students become more successful in achieving 

desirable short- and long-term goals and increase 

the likelihood that their progress is recognized and 

rewarded.

8. Teach students how to resist others’ efforts to 

intimidate or isolate them.

9. Initiate a community service requirement for middle 

and high school graduation.

10. Model and reinforce values such as learning, respect, 

character, and cooperation.

11. Encourage students to work together through the 

use of cooperative learning techniques such as team 

projects. 

12. Encourage the contemplation of core values 

(respect, responsibility, trust, sharing, and so on) 

through the use of age- and curriculum-appropriate 

writing assignments and class discussions. 

13. Encourage students to become actively involved in 

the school community.

14. Recognize and reward students who exhibit positive 

and responsible behavior. 

15. Offer troubled and withdrawn students, including 

victims, help outside of class with schoolwork and 

personal problems. 

16. Develop a climate that encourages open 

communication between students and adults. It 

should maximize the options by which students can 

transmit their concerns about violence to school 

personnel, foster an environment of trust, and be 

sensitive to their fears of retaliation. 

Drug and Alcohol Education 

The use of drugs and alcohol is often associated with 

violence and other forms of delinquent behavior. 

1. Educate students about the dangers and illegality of 

drug and alcohol use. 

2. Identify and implement age-appropriate programs 

that include discussions about how students can 

resist negative peer pressure. Use role playing and 

other types of activities to supplement discussions. 

3. Educate parents and/or guardians and enlist 

their support in addressing the dangers of drug 

and alcohol abuse. Parents and/or guardians and 

teachers need to realize that their own behaviors in 

these areas influence children.

4. Avoid programs that are based predominantly on 

fear arousal, moral appeal, or the simple distribution 

of information. 

5. Establish a contract requiring students who 

participate in extracurricular activities to agree not to 

use alcohol or drugs. 

6. Identify community resources to which parents 

and/or guardians and students with alcohol- or 

substance-abuse problems can be referred for 

information or intervention. 

Anti-gang Programs 

Gang membership is destructive to a healthy school 

environment. Members of gangs are more likely than 

other students to carry weapons and engage in acts of 

violence. 

1. Establish partnerships with law enforcement to 

exchange information and educate teachers 

and staff about the presence of gangs and their 

activities. 

2. Establish and fund gang resistance and violence 

prevention teams to implement community, 

family, and youth education programs and to 

provide alternative activities in which children can 

participate. Teams should include educators, law 

enforcement, probation officers, community leaders, 

students, school resource officers, gang specialists, 

mental health professionals, and parents and/or 

guardians. 

3. Become aware of gang-related clothing, 

paraphernalia, and behavior. Establish a school dress 

code that would exclude outward manifestations of 

gang membership. 

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4. Inform parents and/or guardians if their children are 

suspected of involvement in gangs and give them 

relevant information, counseling, and access to 

available pertinent resources. 

Suicide Prevention 

Suicide is a far more common form of violence 

involving students than school homicide. In some cases, 

perpetrators of school shootings felt their actions would 

lead to their being killed by police, which also could be 

considered a form of suicide. It is hoped that effective 

suicide prevention will decrease the occurrence of both 

suicide and violence by students who believe their acts 

will result in their being killed by others. 

1. Develop a plan that specifies how to identify 

students at risk, how to handle threats, and what 

actions to take in the event of a suicide. 

2. Ensure that students have, and are aware of, easy 

ways to get help, such as access to suicide hotlines, 

counselors, and written and visual materials. 

3. Educate students, parents and/or guardians, 

teachers, and other school personnel on how to 

identify and get help for troubled students before 

they become victims of suicide. Include how to get 

immediate help to prevent or respond to suicide 

attempts. 

4. Develop a detailed crisis plan to address the 

aftermath of a suicide to avoid any copycat suicides.

Training and Technical Assistance for Teachers 

and Staff 

Because teachers and staff establish the first line of 

school safety, they should be supported in creating safe 

classroom atmospheres. Schools should provide training 

and technical assistance to teachers and staff in the 

following areas: 

1. Conflict resolution and management. 

2. Hostility and anger management. 

3. Victim sensitivity and support. 

4. Crisis and critical incident management. 

5. Bullying and harassment recognition, prevention, 

and intervention. 

6. Who should, how to, and where to refer students and 

families to social service agencies. 

7. Classroom management. 

Identifying Warning Signs of Potential Violence 

Learn to identify characteristics of persons who 

exhibit warning signs of potential violence. Schools 

tend to single out students who are bullied or who 

exhibit mental health problems as potential violent 

perpetrators. The key is focusing on the behaviors the 

individual is engaging in, not personal characteristics. 

Those who display these signs should be referred to 

appropriate agencies or individuals such as counselors, 

parents, law enforcement, and social, medical, and 

mental health services. When deciding whether and 

where to make referrals, one should consider applicable 

regulations concerning parental consent, confidentiality, 

and mandatory reporting requirements. 

These signs simply mean that a child appears to be 

troubled, and violence might be one of the possible 

outcomes of this distress. Identifying signs neither 

stigmatizes children or assumes that they will be violent 

just because they are at risk for such behavior. Other 

warning signs may also exist. Consequently, this list 

should not be considered all-inclusive, and certain 

items and combinations may be far more indicative of 

a potential problem than others. The signs include the 

following: 

•	 Has engaged in violent behavior in the past 

•	 Has tantrums and uncontrollable angry outbursts 

abnormal for someone that age 

•	 Continues exhibiting antisocial behaviors that began 

at an early age 

•	 Forms or maintains friendships with others who have 

repeatedly engaged in problem behaviors 

•	 Often engages in name calling, cursing, or abusive 

language 

•	 Has brought a weapon or has threatened to bring a 

weapon to school 

•	 Consistently makes violent threats when angry 

•	 Has a substance abuse problem 

•	 Is frequently truant or has been suspended from 

school on multiple occasions 

•	 Seems preoccupied with weapons or violence, 

especially weapons associated more with killing 

humans than with target practice or hunting 

•	 Has few or no close friends despite having lived in 

the area for some time 

•	 Has a sudden decrease in academic performance or 

interest in school activities 

•	 Is abusive to animals 

•	 Has too little parental supervision, given the 

student’s age and level of maturity 

•	 Has been a victim of abuse or been neglected by 

parents and/or guardians 

•	 Has repeatedly witnessed domestic abuse or other 

forms of violence 

•	 Has experienced trauma or loss in the home or the 

community 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

8. How to identify and defuse potentially violent 

situations. 

9. How teachers’ and other staff members’ own 

behavior may diffuse or escalate conflict.

10. How to identify troubled students. Examples of 

warning signs are provided in the text box on page

11.

11. How to communicate and work with parents and/or 

guardians to intervene in the behavior of troubled 

students. 

12. How to most effectively work with classes that have 

ethnic and economic diversity. 

Evaluation 

1. Routinely monitor and evaluate the steps taken to 

improve school safety. 

2. Conduct surveys of the school community 

to determine perceptions of safety, areas for 

improvement, and the effectiveness of school safety 

programs. 

3. Maintain statistics on discipline cases, 

suspensions, expulsions, students found with 

weapons, and incidents of verbal or physical 

harassment. 

4. Organize a committee of students, teachers, staff, 

emergency response personnel, law enforcement, 

and parents and/or guardians to periodically 

review and analyze the collected information and 

to suggest new or modified violence prevention 

strategies. 

The Role of Students 

The majority of students recognize they share in the 

responsibility to prevent school violence. Not only do 

they suffer the consequences when it occurs but they 

also provide an essential perspective on how to promote 

school safety. Therefore, students should be included 

in all efforts to create safer schools. The following are 

steps students can take to help reduce violence in their 

schools. 

1. Know and follow their school’s violence prevention 

policies. 

2. Work with teachers and administrators to create a 

safe way to report threats. 

3. Learn about who they can go to with information 

and concerns about violence and harassment. 

4. Listen to friends who share upsetting thoughts or 

display troubling, harmful, or dangerous behavior, 

and encourage them to seek help from a parent or 

guardian, teacher, school counselor, or other trusted 

adult. 

5. Confide in a parent or guardian, teacher, or other 

trusted adult if they persistently feel so down, sad, or 

empty that they don’t want to go out and do things, 

are not able to sleep, have difficulty concentrating, 

feel helpless or angry, or feel like they are losing 

control over their thoughts or emotions. 

6. Immediately report suspicious behavior and 

threats of violence or suicide to a school official or 

another responsible adult. Students who do not 

Identifying Warning Signs of Potential Violence 

(continued) 

•	 Pays no attention to the feelings or rights of others 

•	 Intimidates others 

•	 Has been a victim of intimidation by others 

•	 Dwells on perceived slights, rejection, or 

mistreatment by others; blames others for problems 

and appears vengeful 

•	 Seems to be preoccupied with TV shows, movies, 

video games, reading material, or music that express 

violence 

•	 Reflects excessive anger in writing projects 

•	 Is involved in a gang or antisocial group 

•	 Seems depressed or withdrawn or has exhibited 

severe mood or behavioral swings, which appear 

greater in magnitude, duration, or frequency than 

those typically experienced by students that age 

•	 Expresses sadistic, violent, prejudicial, or intolerant 

attitudes 

•	 Has threatened or attempted suicide or acts of 

self-mutilation 

•	 Written or verbal evidence that indicates a fixation on 

a perceived injustice, a revenge fantasy, an obsession 

with revenge, a desire to be notorious, a preoccupation 

with previous school shooters or shootings, suicidal 

or homicidal ideation, feelings of insignificance, 

dehumanization, and insensitivity to violence 

When characteristics in the last category are identified 

along with any of the behaviors in the other categories, 

the threat and violence team needs to be notified 

immediately. 

When an individual exhibits any of the warning signs 

the district should consider referring the student to an 

individual violence risk assessment specialist. Simply 

referring the individual to a mental health professional 

is seldom sufficient; few mental health professionals are 

trained in violence risk assessments.

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feel comfortable speaking directly to school officials or adults should use another means, such as 

anonymous hotlines or notes. 

7. Help organize and participate in after-school 

activities with responsible members of the community. Encourage peers to do the same. 

8. Participate in ongoing activities that promote 

school safety. Actively participate in programs 

such as conflict resolution, problem solving teams, 

mentoring programs, peer courts, community 

service, and peer mediation. 

9. Act as positive role models for peers and younger 

students. Accept responsibility for their actions 

and consider the impact their actions have on 

others. 

10. Refrain from belittling, harassing, and bullying other 

students. Be tolerant of other students and their 

differences. 

11. Learn techniques to avoid and cope with negative 

peer pressure. 

12. Speak out and refuse to join in when members 

of groups or cliques with whom they are involved 

engage in negative behaviors toward others, such as 

acts of harassment or vandalism. 

The Role of Parents and/or Guardians 

Parents and/or guardians are an essential part of school 

violence prevention. Demonstrating an interest in their 

children’s lives is one of the most important steps parents 

and/or guardians can take to help prevent youth violence. 

Open communication between children and their parents 

or guardians is critical. 

Parents and/or guardians should be invited to help design 

and implement safety plans. Information and training 

sessions should be provided on school safety policies and 

programs. Parents and/or guardians should be informed 

of other steps they can take to contribute to a safe school 

environment. 

Topics to Discuss with Children 

1. The school’s discipline policy. Parents and/or 

guardians should know the policy, communicate their 

support for it, discuss the reasons behind it, and 

expect their children to comply. 

2. Their school’s safety and security procedures. 

Parents and/or guardians should know the 

procedures, make certain their children know them, 

and communicate why they expect their children to 

follow them.

3. Their own positive household rules, family values and 

traditions, behavior expectations, and the reasons 

behind them.

4. Violence in television shows, video games, movies, 

and books. Talk about the impact of violence in the 

media and its real-life consequences. 

5. How to solve problems peacefully. 

6. The value of individual differences. 

7. Their children’s concerns about friends and other 

people who may be exhibiting threatening or 

violent behavior. Parents and/or guardians should 

share this information with the friends’ parents or 

guardians, a trusted adult at the school, or other 

appropriate authorities in a way that protects the 

confidentiality of their own children as needed and 

possible. 

8. Personal safety issues and appropriate responses to 

them. 

9. Their children’s day-to-day activities, 

accomplishments, concerns, and problems. 

Actions Parents and/or Guardians Can Take with 

Children 

1. Model appropriate behaviors. Demonstrate healthy 

ways to express anger and relieve stress. Do not 

show anger in verbally or physically abusive ways. 

2. Watch their children carefully for any troubling 

behaviors. Parents and/or guardians should learn the 

warning signs for at-risk children and how to get help 

Ways Parents and/or Guardians Can Supervise 

Children’s Use of the Internet 

•	 Consider placing computers in locations where 

parents and/or guardians can observe what their 

children are seeing. 

•	 Establish family rules for Internet use and inform 

children that their use of it will be monitored. 

•	 Use filtering or blocking software to restrict their 

children’s access to inappropriate sites and material. 

•	 Search their home computer files to see what sites 

their children have visited. 

•	 Look for signs that their children may be involved 

with online criminal activity or be interacting with 

potentially dangerous people. 

•	 If training is needed, attend classes. 

•	 If training classes are not available, ask school 

administrators, law enforcement, or the local parentteacher association to consider offering them. 

Resources are available through the National Center 

for Missing and Exploited Children’s NetSmartz 

Program at www.netsmartz.org. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

from school or community professionals. For 

a list of warning signs, refer to the text box on 

page 11.

3. Take an active role in their children’s education. 

Visit and volunteer at their school, monitor their 

schoolwork, and get to know their teachers. 

4. If asked, participate in school safety planning 

sessions. 

5. Initiate or participate in violence prevention groups 

in their community, such as Communities that Care 

and Mothers Against Violence in America. 

6. Get to know their children’s friends and families. 

Establish a network to exchange information with 

other parents. 

7. Monitor and supervise their children’s reading 

material, television, video games, and music for 

inappropriately violent content. 

8. Monitor and supervise their children’s use of the 

Internet. For more information, see the text box on 

page 13. 

9. Check a child’s bedroom and other rooms for signs 

of violence ideation.

10. Talk to employers about having special 

considerations for parents and/or guardians who 

want to participate in school activities.

11. If needed, attend anger management, parenting 

skill, or conflict resolution classes offered by the 

school or other organizations.

After-School Programs 

An Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention (OJJDP) report to Congress issued in July 

1999 reported that juvenile violence frequently occurs in 

the context of unsupervised groups of adolescents. The 

report also noted that youth who are in a supervised 

setting after every school day tend to be less delinquent 

than those with fewer after-school hours supervised 

by adults. Among the possible reasons for their lower 

delinquency rate are the following: 

•	 It is more difficult to avoid being caught and 

punished for engaging in bad behaviors while under 

close adult supervision. 

•	 Participants have additional exposure to positive 

adult and student role models. 

•	 After participating in their programs, they have 

reduced time and energy to get in trouble. 

•	 During program hours participants are more likely to 

associate with and develop friendships with children 

who are less likely to promote or accept negative 

behaviors. 

•	 Program participation may increase self-esteem 

or perceptions of having a positive future, which 

would give them less to gain, and more to lose, from 

engaging in negative behaviors. 

Despite these potential benefits, after-school programs 

do not always result in localized decreases in juvenile 

violence rates. Among the possible reasons are the 

following: 

•	 Not everyone participates. Children who need 

supervision the most may be the least likely to 

participate. If this is the case, after-school programs 

could widen the gap between those less likely and 

those more likely to engage in negative behaviors. 

•	 Some of the participants’ delinquent friends and 

acquaintances who do not participate may pressure 

those who do to engage in negative behaviors in 

order to demonstrate and reinforce the participants’ 

social bonds to them. 

To increase the effectiveness of these programs in 

preventing youth violence, consider the following: 

•	 Offering as many positive after-school options as 

possible, so they attract the broadest range of students. 

•	 Eliminating roadblocks to student participation by 

taking steps like offering the programs free, providing 

scholarships, scheduling activities at times and 

locations convenient for parents and/or guardians 

and students, and providing transportation. 

•	 Helping to increase the consistency and longevity of 

each positive after-school activity. Working parents and/

or guardians need to be able to depend on consistent 

drop-off and pick-up times and locations. The success 

of programs is also often dependent on after-school 

activities’ obtaining a good reputation among students 

and on the same students signing up for those activities 

year after year. Continuity also provides participants 

with an opportunity to improve their proficiency in 

those activities over a longer period of time. 

•	 Ensuring each after-school activity supports academic 

advancement. This can be accomplished by making 

sure participants have sufficient time to study; providing 

student or program staff tutors; and encouraging 

participants to study, not drop out of school, and 

do as well as possible in their classes. After-school 

activities may be one of the few positive school-related 

experiences that some students have each day and 

may be their primary reason for not dropping out. 

These programs need to be designed to complement 

academic achievement, not compete with it. 

•	 Ensuring each after-school activity contributes to 

participants’ social and moral development. This can 

be accomplished by stressing concepts such as good 

sportsmanship, being a team player, helping others, 

sharing, and cooperation. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

12. Establish and consistently enforce household rules 

and reward positive behavior. 

13. Provide quality child care for their children. 

14. Promote a healthy and safe lifestyle by prohibiting 

the illegal or irresponsible use of alcohol, tobacco, or 

other drugs in their home. 

15. If needed, seek out support groups to improve 

parenting skills or to manage anger and frustration. 

16. Provide a quality after-school environment for their 

children. See the text box on after-school programs 

on page 14.

17. Monitor and supervise their children’s whereabouts 

(where they are, how they can be reached, and how 

to reach their children’s friends’ parents). Encourage 

and facilitate their association with friends who seem 

to reinforce good behavior. Make their home a place 

where children and their well-behaved friends are 

welcome, comfortable, adequately supervised, 

and safe. 

Firearms and Ammunition 

1. Keep firearms and ammunition locked up and in 

separate locations. Secure the keys in a location unknown to children. Many children who bring firearms 

to school obtain them from their own households. 

2. Monitor children’s environments for indications of 

weapons and destructive devices. 

3. Teach children about the dangers of firearms. 

4. Be aware of and concerned about easily accessible 

firearms or ammunition at the homes of friends, relatives, and neighbors. 

The Role of the Community 

For any safe schools program to be effective, it is 

necessary to obtain the active participation of the 

community in planning and implementation. School officials should make an effort to recruit individual members 

of the community, local businesses, community service 

organizations, attorneys, clergy, mental health and child 

welfare personnel, local officials, family agency staff, and 

recreational organizations. The following are additional 

specific suggestions for members of the community. 

Individual Community Member Actions 

1. Volunteer for mentoring programs such as Big 

Brothers Big Sisters of America. 

2. Take the initiative to help create, run, or volunteer for 

an after-school recreation program. 

3. If qualified, consider volunteering to provide care for 

troubled youth and their families. 

4. Provide community-based services that care for 

children in need and their families. 

Businesses and Community Organization Actions 

1. Adopt and support a local school.

2. Hire high school students as part-time employees. 

Actively seek out student volunteers and interns. 

3. Allow employees who are students enough time 

off to study. Provide extra time off during final 

exams. 

4. Be considerate of employees who want to attend 

their children’s school activities.

Sample Values Statements 

Statements of values should be broad in reach but short 

in length. If properly used in both award and disciplinary 

settings they can take on real meaning as a cornerstone 

of student, teacher, and staff commitment to the school 

and the larger community. Knowledge of school values 

can be reinforced by listing them on posters throughout 

the school, on ID holders, on stickers, and on other 

promotional items. 

The following is the statement of values for Green Run 

Elementary School in Virginia Beach, Virginia. We believe: 

•	 All children can learn if given the opportunity to do so. 

•	 Children will consistently strive to meet high 

expectations. 

•	 The school should provide a safe and positive 

environment in which each student can achieve success. 

•	 Students learn best when they have the support and 

encouragement of parents, community, teachers, and 

peers. 

•	 Each student should share a common body of 

knowledge which enables them to act in an ethical 

manner (responsible, functional, independent 

member of society). 

•	 The school should strive to meet the individual 

student’s learning style. 

•	 The school should be able to adapt to the changing 

community. 

The statement of values below is from West Decatur 

Elementary School in Decatur, Alabama. At West 

Decatur, we believe: 

•	 Every individual deserves to be treated with dignity 

and respect. 

•	 Every individual is entitled to a quality education in a 

safe, nurturing, and orderly environment. 

•	 Every individual needs to believe in the worth of 

themselves and others. 

•	 Every individual needs to accept consequences for 

chosen behavior.

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

5. Give basic job skills training to students. 

6. Develop a scholarship program. 

7. Offer support to schools by providing needed 

services, facilities, equipment, and so on. 

8. Work with school administrators to create positive 

community service learning experiences for young 

people. 

9. Work with school administrators to provide career 

information. 

The Role of Law Enforcement 

Law enforcement should work with schools to formulate 

district-wide and school-specific violence prevention 

programs and crisis response plans. 

Police Training 

1. Address the conditions that contribute to school 

violence. 

2. Include in-service training that addresses factors 

influencing school violence, conflict resolution, 

school violence scenarios, and response guidelines. 

3. Train officers how to handle interactions with school 

administrators, teachers, and students. 

4. Train selected officers how to conduct school 

security assessments. 

Police Activities 

1. Patrol school grounds and develop a school resource 

officer (SRO) program. SROs can deter violence and 

other forms of misconduct by being a visible presence 

at the school and by helping the school develop and 

implement violence prevention programs.

2. Develop and maintain working partnerships with 

area schools.

3. Work with schools, parents and/or guardians, and 

truants to lower truancy. Bring students found 

outside of school during school hours either back 

to school or to a truancy center. Visit the homes 

of these children to help determine whether their 

parents or guardians have been neglectful or 

abusive.

4. Consult with school administrators, teachers, and 

parents and/or guardians about school security.

5. In concert with school and police department legal 

counsel, provide guidance to school personnel on 

how to spot concealed weapons and what steps 

they should and should not take when they suspect 

students are carrying them.

6. Provide schools, students, and parents and/or 

guardians with information about police department 

resources.

7. Provide schools with guidelines and examples of 

when to call the police.

8. Assist school officials with the screening of employees 

and volunteers, including checking criminal history 

files and sex offender registries.

9. Serve on school threat and disciplinary action 

assessment teams, along with teachers, administrators, and counselors.

10. Try to maintain a constructive relationship with 

students, parents, and school employees. This allows 

law enforcement officials to be seen as problem 

solvers and positive role models, rather than just 

enforcers. A constructive relationship can help foster 

respect for authority. Ways to establish such a relationship include the following: 

a. Bicycle registration drives 

b. Sponsored recreational activities 

c. Explorer or cadet programs 

d. Parent, student, and teacher in-service training 

programs 

11. Initiate and participate in programs for juvenile 

offenders using interventions that are appropriate 

for their risk factors and violations. 

12. When appropriate, make follow-up visits to the 

homes of juvenile offenders. Consider also the 

appropriateness of conducting consent or warrant 

searches in cases involving students who made 

threats or brought weapons to school. 

13. Develop task forces aimed at enforcing laws among 

minors. 

14. Develop a plan for cracking down on illegal gun 

sales and work to educate parents and/or guardians 

on firearm safety, including the proper storage of 

weapons in the home. 

15. Enforce existing truancy laws. 

16. Use other federal, state, and local criminal justice 

agencies and law enforcement departments as 

resources to help determine the best possible safe 

school strategies for the community. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

ect on 3

hreat ssessment

It is important to prepare a threat assessment strategy so that 

when a threat occurs, everyone will know there is a policy 

and understand what actions to take. Threats are alarming 

statements or behaviors that give rise to concern about 

subsequent violence. Among the possible components of 

threat assessment strategies are the following: 

1. Establish a threat assessment team that would be 

called in to assess the credibility of, and needed 

response for, serious threats. The team should include 

school and school district administrators, legal 

counsel, and representatives from law enforcement. It 

might also include security personnel, mental health 

professionals, threat assessment experts, and any 

other person who could contribute in a meaningful 

way. Normally, the permanent members of the threat 

assessment team would also serve on the school site 

safety and violence prevention committee, the crisis 

planning team, and the crisis management team. 

2. Define the nature and scope of threats that should 

and should not invoke the involvement of the threat 

assessment team. The types of threats include bomb 

threats, threats against children by parents and/

or guardians in custody battles, personal vendettas 

between students or gangs, threats against teachers 

or staff involved in domestic conflict, threats of 

retaliation, efforts to intimidate, and any other 

type of alarming behavior that involves members 

of the school community or its property. Focus on 

threatening behavior, not just verbalized or written 

threats.

3. Establish a policy to ensure that reports of threats 

submitted from both inside and outside the school 

are routed to the appropriate administrator and 

investigated. 

4. Establish procedures for recording and monitoring 

threats. Document threatening behavior, what 

interventions are put in place, and the individual’s 

behavior after the intervention. If the threatening 

behavior continues, a more significant intervention 

needs to be put in place. Guidelines pertaining to 

what information should be included in threat incident reports are presented in the text box below. 

Threat Incident Report 

School and school district policy should require 

students and employees to report all threats or 

incidents of violent behavior they observe or are 

informed about to the designated administration 

representative (DAR). The DAR should take the steps 

necessary to complete a threat incident report as 

quickly as possible, including private interviews of the 

victims and witnesses. The report will be used by the 

threat assessment team to assess the safety of the 

school and to decide on a plan of action. The threat 

assessment should include behavioral data, rather 

than personal characteristics. It should include the 

following: 

•	 The name of the threat-maker and his or her 

relationship to the school and to the recipient 

•	 The names of the victims or potential victims 

•	 When and where the incident occurred 

•	 What happened before the incident 

•	 The specific language of the threat 

•	 Physical conduct that would indicate plans to follow 

through on the threat 

•	 How the threat-maker appeared (physically and 

emotionally) 

•	 The names of others who were directly involved and 

any actions they took 

•	 How the incident ended 

•	 The names of witnesses 

•	 What happened to the threat-maker after the 

incident 

•	 What happened to the other students or employees 

directly involved after the incident 

•	 The names of any administrators, teachers, or staff 

and how they responded. 

•	 What events triggered the incident 

•	 Any history leading up to the incident 

•	 The steps that have been taken to ensure the threat 

will not be carried out, including what interventions 

are put into place

•	 Suggestions for preventing school violence in the 

future 

Elements of the threat incident report and any 

subsequent actions relating to the incident, such as 

the individual’s behavior after the intervention is put 

into place, should be recorded in a tracking system for 

use by the DAR and the threat assessment team. Such 

systems range from simple card files to commercially 

available relational databases. The tracking system, as 

well as all investigative files, should be kept secure and 

maintained separately from other records. If a situation 

is concerning, consult with someone who specializes in 

violence risk assessments. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

5. Ensure cooperation between law enforcement and 

school authorities in collecting and preserving evidence of threats. 

6. If a situation is concerning, consult with someone 

who specializes in violence risk assessments. Identify 

that specialist now, before you need his or her 

services.

7. Evaluate situations when a threat has been made 

and, if warranted, notify the potential victims. 

Some threat assessment suggestions developed 

by the U.S. Secret Service appear in the text box 

below. 

8. Consider the costs and benefits of providing 

increased protection to threatened persons. Possible 

actions include transferring potential victims to 

another school or providing them with additional 

ways to signal distress, such as cell phones or 

emergency transmitters. 

9. Determine what additional security measures, 

if any, should be put in place after a threat. 

Changes might include requesting additional 

police patrols, hiring security guards, locking 

doors (in compliance with fire regulations), and 

adding video monitors.

U.S. Secret Service Threat Assessment Suggestions 

School and law enforcement officials are frequently 

placed in the difficult position of having to assess specific 

people (students, staff, teachers, and others) who may 

be likely to engage in targeted violence in which there 

is a known or knowable target or potential assailant. 

The following suggestions for threat assessment 

investigations are based on guidelines developed by the 

U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center 

(NTAC). They were developed primarily for preventing 

the assassination of public officials, so they may not be 

applicable to all school situations. 

To identify threats, school officials are advised to take 

the following steps: 

1. Focus on individuals’ thinking and behavior as 

indicators of their progress on a pathway to violent 

actions. Avoid profiling or basing assumptions 

on socio-psychological characteristics. In reality, 

accurate profiles for those likely to commit acts of 

targeted violence do not exist. School shootings are 

infrequent and most people who happen to match 

a particular profile do not commit violent acts. In 

addition, many individuals who commit violent acts 

do not match profiles. 

2. Focus on individuals who pose a threat, not only 

on those who explicitly communicate a threat. 

Many individuals who make direct threats do 

not pose an actual risk, while many people who 

ultimately commit acts of targeted violence 

never communicate threats to their targets. 

Before making an attack, potential aggressors 

may provide evidence they have engaged in 

thinking, planning, and logistical preparations. 

They may communicate their intentions to family, 

friends, or colleagues, or write about their plans 

in a diary or journal. They may have engaged in 

attack-related behaviors: deciding on a victim or 

set of victims, determining a time and approach 

to attack, and selecting a means of attack. They 

may have collected information about their 

intended targets and the setting of the attack as 

well as information about similar attacks that have 

previously occurred. 

Once individuals who may pose a threat have been 

identified, 10 key questions should guide the assessment 

of the threat: 

1. What motivated the individual to make the 

statement or take the action that caused him or her 

to come to attention? 

2. What has the individual communicated to anyone 

concerning his or her intentions? 

3. Has the individual shown an interest in targeted 

violence, perpetrators of targeted violence, 

weapons, extremist groups, or murder? 

4. Has the individual engaged in attack-related 

behavior, including any menacing, harassing, or 

stalking-type behavior? 

5. Does the individual have a history of mental illness 

involving command hallucinations, delusional 

ideas, feelings of persecution, and so on, with 

indications that the individual has acted on those 

beliefs? 

6. How organized is the individual? Is he or she 

capable of developing and carrying out a plan? 

7. Has the individual experienced a recent loss 

or loss of status, and has this led to feelings of 

desperation and despair? 

8. Corroboration: What is the individual saying, and is 

it consistent with his or her actions? 

9. Is there concern among those who know the 

individual that he or she might take action based 

on inappropriate ideas? 

10. What factors in the individual’s life and environment 

might increase or decrease the likelihood of the 

individual attempting to attack a target? 

Source: R. Fein and B. Vossekuil, National Threat 

Assessment Center, U.S. Secret Service. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

10. Counsel potential victims about the various civil 

and criminal options available to them, such 

as obtaining a restraining order. The potential 

reactions of the offender should be considered 

in whether or not to seek a restraining order. 

Additional security precautions should be taken if 

the offender is likely to respond negatively to the 

intervention chosen, especially during the period 

immediately following the initial application of that 

intervention.

11. Learn what procedures should be taken to screen 

mail and packages left on school sites after a threat 

has been made. Contact the U.S. Postal Service, 

the local police, or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, 

Firearms, and Explosives for guidance. 

12. Establish policies for releasing any threat-related 

information to either the school community or 

the media, giving consideration to the potential 

consequences of choosing whether or not to 

disseminate information pertaining to serious threats.

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

ect on 4

r s s Pl ann ng and

Pre ar at on

Responses for different types of crises should be planned in 

advance and reviewed, updated, and practiced periodically. 

The chaos and panic created by these situations cannot be 

effectively handled without a plan of action. 

Teachers and staff play critical roles in implementing 

planned responses both before and after emergency 

response personnel arrive. Therefore, their participation 

in, and understanding of, the planning is essential. 

The Role of School Administrators, Teachers, 

and Staff 

Planning 

1. Establish a crisis planning team that includes 

representation from faculty and staff, as well as 

safety, security, and emergency response providers 

who are knowledgeable about crisis planning or 

would help intervene in a school safety crisis. The 

primary duty of these teams is to develop and 

periodically refine crisis management plans. 

2. Establish school crisis management teams at district 

and site levels using the nationally recognized 

Incident Command System (ICS). The ICS provides 

a comprehensive organizational structure, role assignment, and decision-making process to prepare 

for and respond to all types of crises. Schools should 

get in touch with emergency management agencies 

(such as fire departments) for information about ICS. 

3. Have a working knowledge of all available and 

needed resources for handling and responding 

to a crisis situation. During planning, use school 

personnel to determine resources available in the 

building and in the district. Use emergency response 

personnel from the community to help determine 

availability of resources in the community. 

4. Include off site school activities such as stadium 

events, field trips, and so on, in crisis planning. 

5. Assign all faculty and staff to clearly defined roles 

under the ICS system. Critical assignments must be 

staffed three deep to ensure coverage at all times. 

6. Identify and make arrangements now with the 

mental health professionals who would provide the 

critical incident stress debriefing immediately after 

a crisis. Be sure that mental health professionals are 

trained in crisis response and trauma issues so that 

they do not unintentionally cause more emotional 

harm. See the text box on page 26. 

7. Identify and train on-site building maintenance staff 

(primary and backup) and off site personnel who will 

take responsibility for dealing with fire alarms, sprinkler 

systems, gas, and so on. These personnel should 

immediately be available at the command post. 

8. Identify personnel who will have master keys, codes, 

and access to secured areas at the site. 

9. Classrooms should have locks that can be locked 

from the inside in the case of a crisis that requires 

students to lock down rather than evacuate. In an 

active shooting scenario, locked doors can save 

lives.

10. Establish and publicize the chain of command so 

that if the appointed crisis director as specified in 

the ICS is unavailable, the next designated crisis 

management team member will take charge. 

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing 

After a serious act of violence in the schools, employees, 

counselors, students, police and other emergency 

responders, witnesses, and the families of each often 

suffer from stress-related ailments such as insomnia, 

depression, anger, headaches, and ulcers. These 

conditions translate into higher rates of absenteeism and 

turnover, as well as lower school and job performance. 

Much of this suffering and loss can be reduced if the 

affected individuals receive debriefings from experienced 

counselors 24 to 72 hours after the traumatic incident. 

The purpose of such a debriefing is to provide 

students, school employees, and others affected 

by the event with the opportunity to express their 

thoughts and feelings about what happened and how 

it was handled. It also gives the debriefing team a 

chance to educate employees about the symptoms 

of posttraumatic stress disorder and to identify 

individuals who might need further counseling. 

Depending on their developmental level, children have 

different coping skills for dealing with traumatic events 

and memories of them. Counseling interventions for 

younger children often require involvement and use 

of nonverbal material and very directive ways to elicit 

and reflect feelings. Frequently, facts and fantasy are 

intermingled, and young children have a difficult time 

acknowledging a crisis. With adolescents, however, a 

discussion format can be used as a possible means to 

activate and enhance their problem-solving and crisiscoping skills. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

11. Establish and practice how to protect students with 

physical, cognitive, or developmental disabilities.

12. Prepare a dismissal plan in the event students need 

to be sent home early. Establish procedures for notifying parents and/or guardians and media. Make 

arrangements for transportation of special needs 

students.

13. Establish and practice lockdown and evacuation 

procedures, including where students should go 

during different types of crises. Consider various 

adverse weather conditions and ways to transport 

evacuees. Determine specific locations of safe havens where students could gather a safe distance 

away from the school in the event of an evacuation. 

14. Publicize locations to students, parents, school 

teachers and staff, crisis team members, and emergency response personnel. 

15. Develop an emergency traffic plan capable of 

protecting emergency response routes and 

accommodating the likely traffic and parking needs 

of parents and/or guardians and media. 

16. Designate places, depending on the nature of the 

crisis, for personnel to perform their roles. Places include the following: 

a. A designated media contact location 

b. A designated place for parents and/or guardians 

to congregate 

c. A designated place for clergy 

d. A designated place for mental health 

professionals

e. Staging areas for transportation 

17. Establish a calling tree or phone tree that allows 

the crisis management team to be notified immediately. Post calling tree lists in strategic locations, 

such as the offices of superintendents, principals, 

assistant principals, nurses, counselors, custodians, 

crisis team representatives, and school departments 

offices as well as at the local police department, the 

school district office, and other designated off-site 

locations. 

18. Make alternative response plans known to key 

personnel who would communicate the nature of 

the crisis and the appropriate level of response. 

Information about some aspects of response plans 

may need to be restricted as a security measure. 

19. Create crisis and evacuation kits and place them at 

strategic locations inside and outside schools. For 

a list of items to include in crisis kits and types of 

places to locate them, refer to the text box on page

22. 

20. Consider using digital technology and computer 

databases to store photographs and demographic 

information that would enable easy and accurate 

identification of students, teachers, and staff. Always 

have hard copy versions in the event computers are 

inaccessible. 

21. Provide copies of all emergency and evacuation 

plans to local law enforcement, fire, and other 

emergency response agencies. 

22. Provide law enforcement, fire, and other emergency 

response personnel with blueprints, layouts and floor 

plans of school buildings and grounds, including 

information about main leads for water, gas, electricity, 

cable, telephone, HVAC, alarm and sprinkler systems, 

and locations of hazardous materials, elevators, and 

entrances. These should be reviewed annually and 

include both officials’ and students’ names for each 

location on the property. Schedule walkthroughs by 

emergency responders, including city public works 

personnel. Consider color coding interiors of buildings 

and numbering doors to assist responders. 

23. Consider creating a system of Knox-Boxes® outside 

school buildings. Knox-Boxes® are storage devices 

that provide staff and emergency response personnel 

with access to keys at any time of the day or night. 

Planning for Donations and Memorials 

1. Establish a school policy for memorializing 

students and other school personnel. For types 

of considerations, see “Memorials, Funerals, and 

Anniversaries” in section 6.

2. Designate responsibility for coordinating receipt 

and distribution of donations in the event of a 

crisis. Ensure proper accountability and receipt 

of funds and materials, and so on. Designate 

types of donations (such as clothes and money). 

Consider using the United Way or another charitable 

organization already in place. 

3. Identify how media and community members will be 

informed of where donations should be sent. 

4. Establish priorities and policies for distributing 

monetary donations. 

5. Prepare in advance a link for donations on the 

school’s Web site. 

Training 

1. Test crisis management plans with faculty and staff, and 

if appropriate with selected students, at the beginning of each school year and during in-service days 

throughout the year. Law enforcement and emergency 

service agencies in the community should be included. 

2. Coordinate and regularly hold scenario-based 

training sessions that bring together law 

enforcement, other emergency response personnel, 

teachers, and other school staff. 

3. Train teachers and staff on the types of information 

that emergency response personnel will need 

when they respond to different types of crises, such 

as when the event occurred, where it happened, 

how many are involved, and whether lockdown or 

evacuation has occurred. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

4. Train teachers, staff, and students on personal 

survival strategies for different scenarios and on 

what physical reactions are possible in a traumatic 

situation. Consider using local emergency response 

personnel or district-wide crisis teams to provide 

training. 

5. To the extent possible, provide cross-training to 

members of the crisis management team and to 

other school personnel. 

6. Review the crisis response plan with teachers, 

principals, staff, volunteers, campus supervisors, and 

school resource officers. 

7. Review the crisis response plan with students. 

8. Provide training to teachers and school staff on their 

assigned roles and their backup roles during crisis 

situations. 

9. Supplement verbal training with a written pamphlet 

to remind students and full-time, part-time, intern, 

and substitute teachers of their specified roles. 

10. Provide ongoing training to staff; volunteers; fulltime, part-time, intern, and substitute teachers; 

and other persons who are regularly on campus 

regarding how to respond to different types of crisis 

scenarios. 

11. Develop written summaries of crisis response 

instructions to be disseminated to new substitutes 

along with their specific classroom materials. 

12. Provide information to parents and/or guardians 

on their roles during crisis situations. Also tell 

them where they should go to meet with the 

designated spokespersons, where to retrieve their 

children and get information about the status of 

the crisis, and what they can do to help during and 

after the crisis. 

13. Decide on an appropriate balance of crisis response 

information and crisis response drills for students 

that leave them feeling safe without causing undue 

fear. 

14. Provide training in media relations for appointed 

media spokespersons during the planning phase. 

Invite media representatives to those training 

sessions to strengthen relationships and enhance 

understanding of their respective needs. 

15. Provide information to local media representatives 

on how to receive and communicate information 

about crises to the community. 

16. Teach students, teachers, and staff to recognize the 

physiological cues experienced in crisis situations. 

Rehearse constructive skills and behaviors instead of 

relying on impulsive actions during crisis situations. 

17. Provide emergency first-aid training to teachers, 

staff, and students. 

18. Provide staff, teachers, and students with instructions 

on personal safety awareness and survival skills, 

on how to report and respond to persons making 

threats or displaying weapons, and about locating 

and not giving up safe positions. 

19. Incorporate crisis preparation training and 

requirements into teacher education programs at 

colleges and universities. 

Crisis and Evacuation Kits 

The following items should be gathered together and 

located at strategic locations inside and outside of schools. 

Common locations include principals’ offices, local fire 

and police departments, police car trunks, and specially 

designated places in schools. Information in the crisis kits 

should be updated periodically as appropriate. 

•	 Name tags 

•	 Notebooks 

•	 Pens and markers 

•	 Handheld radios 

•	 Batteries 

•	 First aid supplies 

•	 Tape 

•	 Blankets 

•	 Megaphone 

•	 Tools 

•	 Separate placards with directional words such 

as PARENTS, COUNSELORS, MEDIA, CLERGY, 

VOLUNTEERS, KEEP OUT 

•	 Caution tape 

•	 Copies of student records, especially health and 

identification 

•	 Attendance rosters 

•	 Bus rosters and routes 

•	 Emergency response telephone numbers 

•	 Student, teacher, and staff home phone numbers and 

emergency contacts 

•	 Telephone directory for school system 

•	 List of teachers with cell phones and their cell phone 

numbers 

•	 Current yearbook, class photos, student IDs, or if 

available, CD-ROM photo databases. 

•	 Schedules of students, teachers, and staff available 

•	 School sites’ layouts, building floor plans, and aerial 

maps 

•	 An easily readable copy of the crisis response plan 

A laptop computer, printer, and access to a copier are 

required for immediate use. 

66080_IACP_Text_ACG 22 9/11/09 12:
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International Association of Chiefs of Police

The Role of Law Enforcement and Emergency 

Response Personnel 

1. Conduct meetings with representatives from 

the school community and from all local law 

enforcement, fire, and other emergency response 

agencies to obtain, develop, and coordinate school 

site safety plans. 

2. Maintain information in vehicles of first responders 

about school sites’ layouts, building floor plans, and 

aerial maps. Update as needed. 

3. Create systems by which students, teachers, 

and staff hearing commands (“Open the door,” 

for instance) may be better able to identify 

that they came from official law enforcement 

or school personnel, instead of from offenders. 

Consider the possibility that the offenders could 

be students, faculty, or staff when designing and 

communicating details about those systems to 

school personnel. 

4. Work toward integrating disparate law enforcement 

and emergency response communication technologies to enable more effective communication 

between agencies during crises. 

5. Develop and provide training on the Incident 

Command System, which coordinates supervision 

and direction of different school authorities, law 

enforcement personnel, and emergency responders 

from a central command post. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

ect on 5

ur ng a a or r s s

Sections 5 and 6 provide suggestions for responses 

during and after school crises in which one or more 

individuals have been victimized by violence. 

The Role of School Administrators, Teachers, 

and Staff 

Immediate Response 

1. At the onset of a situation, the following things need 

to happen as close together as possible. Responding 

personnel will have to use individual judgment as to 

what they can and should do first, keeping in mind 

that their primary role is taking care of children at risk. 

2. Get students out of harm’s way. When possible, get 

in touch with the appropriate school authority or 

person on the crisis management team to determine 

whether evacuation or lockdown is the appropriate 

response. Teachers should make decisions about 

lockdown or evacuation on their own only in lifethreatening situations, as specified in the school 

crisis management plan. 

3. Use doors that lock from the inside only in cases 

where lockdown is the safest option. In an active 

shooter situation, only evacuate if the location of the 

shooter is known and an exit is easily accessible to 

students, such as a window that can be opened or 

broken. 

4. Assess whether anyone is injured and the severity of 

injuries. Take appropriate measures. 

5. Call 9-1-1 or have someone call 9-1-1 in immediate 

life-threatening situations. Then alert school 

authorities or the crisis management team. 

6. If available, activate silent alarms to notify law 

enforcement. 

7. In the event a teacher cannot call or leave the 

classroom, send students for help only if absolutely 

necessary and if it does not put them in more danger 

than they would be in by evacuating or remaining 

with their class.

8. Have designated personnel (the central 

administration or the crisis director) decide about 

the appropriate level of involvement of the crisis 

management team. 

9. Have appointed staff begin the calling tree before 

phone lines get overloaded. If lines are immediately 

overloaded, then get in touch with the designated 

alternative phone service provider. 

10. Remain with students until told by appropriate 

personnel what actions to take. Teachers and staff 

who are not with children should serve in designated 

roles and take assigned action. 

Implementing the Crisis Management Plan 

Depending on the nature of the emergency, either law 

enforcement or the fire department will be in charge of 

the incident. 

1. Secure all areas for student and staff safety until the 

police arrive. 

2. Be aware that the site may be a potential crime 

scene. Avoid unnecessarily tampering with or disturbing evidence. To the extent possible, leave all 

objects exactly as they are to protect evidence for 

law enforcement investigations. Discourage others 

from disturbing potential evidence. 

3. Tell emergency responders where the school staff 

command post is located. 

4. Direct arriving families to the designated place 

where they can receive information. 

5. Do not dismiss students to unknown care. 

6. In the case of a lockdown, have a sign-out sheet to 

monitor which students have been picked up by 

their parents or guardians. In the case of evacuation, 

have a place where parents and/or guardians go to 

sign out their children.

7. Never speculate. Be sure to understand the 

circumstances surrounding the situation before saying 

anything about it and before taking action. Follow all 

rules about repeating or giving out information. 

8. As appropriate, keep students informed about what 

is happening. Ensure that the same information 

is communicated to all students. If at all possible, 

update students in individual classrooms, not in a 

large group setting.

9. As soon as possible, take a head count to determine 

which students, staff, and teachers are accounted for 

and which ones are not.

10. To the extent possible, shield students from disturbing 

scenes. But do not disturb crime scene evidence.

The Role of Students 

Students should understand and follow all plans 

applicable to the given crisis situation. Students should 

not panic. They should be taught the following: 

Active Resistance

Active resistance is fighting back with any objects of 

opportunity, such as chairs, desk, and books. Active 

resistance is a last resort and should only be used 

if potential victims are trapped in a room with an 

active shooter, there are already victims, and all other 

personal survival recommendations are no longer an 

option. There have been cases where active resistance 

has been successfully used, such as a shooting in 

Springfield, Oregon.

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

1. In the absence of adult direction, decide where it is 

safest to be and remain there. 

2. If a violent situation occurs, notify the first available 

adult. 

3. Share all relevant information with law enforcement, 

teachers, and school staff. 

4. During and after the crisis, to the extent that it is 

safe, keep with you what is on your person, do not 

pick anything up, and do not go back for anything 

until after receiving permission. 

5. Help teachers and staff quickly assess who is accounted for and who is not. 

6. If able, help injured persons. 

7. Calm and reassure fellow students. 

8. Follow school, law enforcement, or other emergency 

response personnel directions about where to go or 

remain. 

9. Do not speculate or perpetuate rumors. 

10. Do not retaliate or take unnecessary chances. 

The Role of Law Enforcement 

Law enforcement participation is necessary to develop 

and implement well-coordinated and effective responses 

to crisis situations. 

1. Respond to all reports of criminal activities in the 

school. Rapid response teams should be formed to 

help ensure immediate intervention in all emergency 

situations. 

2. Exercise appropriate rules of engagement when 

immediate intervention is needed, keeping in 

mind the safety of victims, bystanders, and first 

responders. 

3. Establish and adhere to direction from the Incident 

Command System. 

4. Establish appropriate security and response 

perimeters. Provide traffic control assistance to 

enable emergency services to get through to the 

school. 

5. Develop lines of communication with affected 

schools’ administrations and district emergency 

operation centers or command posts. 

6. Protect relevant evidence from contamination. 

Follow approved collection procedures to facilitate 

effective prosecution of perpetrators. 

7. Help parents and/or guardians find their children. 

8. Be prepared to assist with many unforeseeable 

duties. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

ect on 6

fter a r s s

The actions taken after severe acts of violence can have a 

major effect on the well-being of students and the community 

at large. It is difficult to respond in a timely and appropriate 

way without having an established, detailed plan. 

The Role of School Administrators 

Support Systems 

1. Implement plans for providing qualified counselors, 

especially for providing critical incident stress 

debriefing (see the text box on page 32). Students, 

faculty, and staff may require both short-term and 

long-term counseling. 

2. When providing information and counseling, take 

into account multilingual needs.

3. Use only mental health professionals trained 

or experienced in crisis response and trauma 

interventions.

4. Maintain both an information line and special call-in 

line for victims and their families whenever large 

groups of students are affected. 

5. Keep in close contact with injured victims and 

surviving family members. 

6. Determine the need for additional health services 

and resources (such as nursing staff) to attend to 

increased physical needs of students. 

7. Provide parents, staff, and students with information 

on their rights with the media, as most people are 

not aware of what they can and cannot do when 

approached by the media. See the text box on page

20. 

8. Hold meetings to provide staff with information 

related to the crisis, eliminate rumors, advise them 

of next steps, and advise them on what to tell their 

students.

9. Arrange now to contract with an outside agency 

that would take care of the physical cleanup after 

a violent incident. Do not leave the cleanup to 

school district employees. Be sure that all evidence 

of violence is removed before allowing teachers, 

students, and staff back in.

10. Develop written statements for teachers to read in 

class. Send similar statements to parents. 

11. Help students, faculty, and staff address their own 

reactions. Whenever possible, help teachers and 

staff address their reactions first, before they interact 

with their students.

12. Hold a special meeting with victims and their siblings. 

13. Ensure that each school in the district supports 

siblings of victims by providing them with 

Critical Incident Psychological Intervention

After a serious act of violence in the schools, 

employees, counselors, students, police and other 

emergency responders, witnesses, and the families 

of each often suffer from stress-related ailments such 

as insomnia, depression, anger, headaches, and 

ulcers. These conditions translate into higher rates of 

absenteeism and turnover as well as lower school and 

job performance.

In order to prevent a significant trauma reaction, 

psychological interventions are recommended. Some 

of the successful interventions have consisted of the 

following:

•	 The provision of psychological first aid

•	 Defusings

•	 Debriefings

Psychological first aid is best provided as soon as 

possible and is beneficial for both responders and 

victims. It focuses on assisting with basic needs.

Defusings are short-term interventions for responders 

who are finished with their shift but may need to 

be reactivated. The defusing involves assisting the 

responder with the reactions they may experience once 

they leave the scene. It also involves providing them 

with specific coping skills.

The most common intervention for responders consists 

of the psychological debriefing. The purpose of such 

a debriefing is to provide students, school employees, 

and others affected by the event with the opportunity 

to express their thoughts and feelings about what 

happened and how it was handled. It also gives the 

debriefing team a chance to educate employees about 

the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and to 

identify individuals who might need further counseling.

Depending on their developmental level, children have 

different coping skills for dealing with traumatic events 

and memories of them. Counseling interventions for 

younger children often require involvement and use 

of nonverbal material or very directive ways to elicit 

and reflect feelings. Frequently, facts and fantasy are 

intermingled, and young children have a difficult time 

acknowledging a crisis. With adolescents, however, a 

discussion format can be used as a way to activate and 

enhance their problem-solving and crisis-coping skills.

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

additional reassurances of safety and academic 

support as appropriate.

14. Provide places and times for members of peer 

groups to meet and counsel each other.

15. Designate space for safe rooms where at any time 

students, teachers, and staff can receive comfort and 

counseling and talk about events during the crisis.

16. Provide information to parents and/or guardians who 

want to know how to help their children cope with 

feelings about the crisis. 

17. Hold special workshops where students who feel 

angry about the crisis can express their feelings. 

18. Keep parents and/or guardians informed of the 

support services being made available to their 

children. 

19. Provide a place after the crisis where parents and/or 

guardians can meet with counselors and other adults 

to discuss ways to help their children transition back 

into school.

20. Provide a list of suggested readings to teachers, 

parents, and students. 

21. Only after persons who have been directly affected 

by the crisis have received needed attention, 

evaluate whether community forums should be 

initiated for people to air their concerns about the 

tragedy or other issues pertaining to school safety. 

22. Fund additional time for teachers to work with 

students who need additional academic support 

because of such problems as grief, stress, difficulty 

concentrating, and anxiety. 

23. Hire a volunteer coordinator to ensure the 

meaningful participation of parents and/or guardians 

and community members in a way that does not use 

additional administrative time. 

24. Provide for the orientation of families who enroll 

their children in schools where violent events have 

occurred. Include younger students who graduate 

into these schools and students who transfer from 

other schools. 

Managing the School Environment after Violence 

1. Maintain close cooperation with investigating 

authorities to facilitate completing investigations and 

minimizing complications. 

2. Deal with problems of deceased students’ desks and 

lockers. Have a counselor or other qualified adult 

provide therapy while sitting at an empty assigned 

desk, bus seat, or locker. In the case of an empty 

desk, one strategy is to move the desk, over time, to 

the back of the row and all other desks forward; then 

eventually remove the desk. 

3. When appropriate, remove deceased students’ names 

from forms, posters, rosters, absence reporting logs, 

and anywhere else they occur in reporting systems. 

4. In collaboration with families of victims and the 

school community, evaluate how affected areas in 

the school site where school violence took place 

should be handled when students return to school. 

Memorials, Funerals, and Incident Anniversaries 

1. Allow excused absences and time off for all students, 

teachers, and staff who wish to attend funerals and 

memorials. 

2. Allow for and cooperate with families who are 

planning memorials and activities to honor victims. 

3. Arrange to have a quiet area for staff and students 

who do not wish to attend memorials and activities. 

4. If possible, avoid conducting funerals at the school. 

5. Assess the appropriateness of creating memorials 

to victims on school premises, particularly in 

the case of religious memorials. If establishing 

memorials on site would not be appropriate, 

identify alternative sites, and consider living 

memorials such as trees. 

6. Include students, families of victims, and community 

members in planning for memorials. 

7. Establish a policy for how school administration 

should handle student or community members’ 

independently establishing memorials. 

8. Assess whether families want recognition of victims 

at graduation ceremonies, at assemblies, in yearbooks, and on anniversaries of the crisis. Particularly 

at graduations, chairs for those students could be 

left empty and their names read. 

9. Invite family members of victims to all ceremonies 

and memorials. 

10. Plan ahead for the attention the school will receive 

on the one-year anniversary of the incident. 

11. Plan ahead for the emotional needs of the school 

community on anniversaries. 

12. Consider the special needs of families of offenders. 

13. Ensure someone is at the home of the deceased 

victims and perpetrators during funerals and memorial services to prevent theft, vandalism, and so on. 

Closure of Mourning Period and Moving Forward 

1. Consult with counselors, teachers, students, and staff 

on when would be the most appropriate time to signal closure of the mourning period.

2. Conduct a public ceremony to symbolize closure of 

the mourning period, and control media access to it. 

3. Hold a parents’ night to bring closure to the crisis. 

4. Get school in session and moving forward as soon as 

possible. 

Lessons Learned 

1. Conduct meetings with school site and district 

personnel to review lessons learned from the 

experience. 

2. Reevaluate the adequacy of crisis and safety 

planning based on lessons learned, and make 

modifications as necessary. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

3. Write thank-you notes to out-of-building district and 

community resource people who provided (or are 

still providing) support during the crisis. 

The Role of Teachers and Staff 

1. Cooperate with law enforcement to maximize 

investigative effectiveness. 

2. Help victims and other students reenter the school 

environment. Classmates of victims may need help in 

knowing how to act. 

3. Provide accurate information to students and dispel 

rumors. 

4. Provide activities to reduce stress and trauma, such 

as artwork, music, and writing. 

5. Alter curricula and postpone testing as needed. 

6. Ensure that librarians have books available that deal 

with managing grief and other reactions to crisis 

situations. 

7. Train teachers to be aware of warning signs of grief 

and depression. 

8. Train teachers to implement techniques to handle 

the range of students’ emotions related to crisis 

situations. 

9. Have class discussions about the incident and how 

to cope with the aftermath. 

10. Be careful of the use of TV broadcasts in the 

classroom. Live newscasts can be traumatizing. 

11. Lower classroom and school flags to half-staff. 

12. Discuss funeral procedures when appropriate. 

13. Volunteer to help victims and their families.

14. Organize and participate in memorials and other 

activities.

15. Seek counseling for help in dealing with personal 

feelings about the incident.

The Role of School Counselors, Psychologists, and 

Social Workers 

1. Stay in close contact with the counseling director of 

the crisis management team. 

2. Be available by canceling other activities. 

3. Obtain the schedule of any seriously injured or 

deceased students and visit their classes. Also visit 

classes attended by their close friends. 

4. Organize and provide individual and group 

counseling as needed to students, teachers, and 

staff. 

5. Contact parents and/or guardians of affected 

students with suggestions for counseling support 

and referrals. 

6. Locate counseling assistance throughout the 

community, including counselors from other nearby 

schools. 

7. Establish a self-referral procedure. Make referral 

forms available. 

8. Provide and recommend counseling for the crisis 

team and emergency response personnel. 

9. Keep records of affected students and provide 

follow-up services. 

10. Accept other responsibilities as designated by the 

crisis management team director. 

The Role of Parents and/or Guardians 

1. Learn to recognize and help children with their 

reactions. Common reactions include unrealistic 

fears of the future, insomnia, physical illness, and 

becoming easily distracted. 

2. Encourage children to receive counseling or 

to speak to a trusted adult about their feelings 

surrounding the incident. 

3. Consider attending school as needed with children 

who are very fearful of returning to their classes. 

4. Obtain counseling as needed in order to be able to 

remain physically and emotionally healthy and be 

available for one’s children. 

The Role of the Community 

1. Volunteer time and resources to victims. 

2. Provide services to meet the needs of victims. 

3. Provide a central location where other members of 

the community can go to receive information about 

the types of assistance needed and available. 

The Role of Law Enforcement 

1. After a crisis, conduct a thorough investigation, 

including a debriefing of all persons present at the 

time of the incident. 

2. Encourage the development and use of regional 

critical incident stress debriefing teams for involved 

emergency personnel. (See the text box on page 20 

for more information). 

3. Coordinate with affected schools and other agencies 

to help victims’ families find survivors. 

4. Encourage schools to support their employees and 

students in the prosecution of people who commit 

acts of violent crime. 

5. Encourage law enforcement and schools to 

coordinate their news releases. 

6. Provide schools with a central point of contact in the 

police department who will answer questions and 

address concerns. 

7. Encourage students and school employees to 

participate in aftermath debriefings. 

8. Facilitate meetings in which teachers, staff, students, 

and parents and/or guardians can express their 

thoughts on how police handled the incident. 

9. Undertake and coordinate critique of the department’s 

response after a serious incident of school violence. 

Identify areas in need of improvement. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

ect on 7

egal ons der at ons

The liability, rights, and responsibilities of school personnel 

in maintaining a safe school environment are affected by 

a variety of local, state, and federal statutes, regulations, 

constitutional requirements, and judicial decisions. School 

policies also may play a key role in establishing liability and 

affecting the responsibilities of school personnel. Schools 

seeking to avoid liability for acts related to school violence, 

including the steps taken to prevent it, should become 

familiar with the legal requirements. The following pages 

offer a foundation to begin a legal audit of schools’ policies 

and practices for reducing school violence. 

The following list of legal considerations is not 

comprehensive. Before acting on any of these issues, 

consult with legal counsel.

Liability of Schools When Students Are Harmed 

Failure to Adhere to Law or Policy 

In some instances, liability may be premised on failure to 

adhere to current local, state, and federal school safety 

laws and regulations on school district safety policy. 

School officials should do the following: 

1. Ensure compliance with all current applicable local, 

state, and federal statutes addressing safety and 

harassment issues.

2. Ensure that school districts’ safety and harassment 

policies are fully implemented.

3. Ensure compliance with the school’s safety and 

harassment policy.

4. Evaluate any existing school campus access policy to 

determine its adequacy and ensure that it is being 

followed.

5. Train school employees on these issues. 

Failure to Use Reasonable Care in Selecting Personnel

In some instances, liability may be premised on failing 

to use reasonable care in screening, hiring, training, 

supervising, and retaining personnel who are regularly 

on site and who commit acts of violence. School officials 

should do the following:

1. Implement appropriate screening and hiring 

standards to minimize the likelihood of hiring 

personnel with propensities toward violence, 

consistent with applicable law.

2. Ensure proper training of teachers and school staff in 

the recognition of warning signs for violent behavior, 

on steps to take to minimize violence, and on 

appropriate responses if violence occurs. 

Negligent Responses to Threats

In some instances, liability may be premised on negligent 

responses to threats and acts of violence falling within the 

school’s jurisdiction and sphere of duty. School officials 

should do the following: 

1. Provide reasonable supervision for students, 

especially in specific areas where prior threats or 

instances of violence have occurred. 

2. Take swift and consistent action when addressing 

personnel or students who threaten or engage in 

violent actions. 

3. Exercise due caution when placing potentially or 

known violent individuals in school populations, 

consistent with applicable law.

4. Determine when they have a duty to warn students, 

faculty, or other personnel about a potential 

danger, including providing any (and only) legally 

authorized and appropriate information about the 

violent propensities of individuals to the appropriate 

personnel. 

5. Determine the applicable mandatory reporting 

requirements concerning a threat or legal action. 

Liability of Schools for Wrongful Accusations and 

Discharge 

School personnel must respond to threats of violence in a 

way that protects suspected individuals from defamation 

of character and other tortuous liability if suspicions about 

them are mistaken. Liability can be minimized by conducting 

prompt investigations of all allegations and by notifying only 

those individuals with a need to know about them. Such 

actions, however, must be balanced by the need to protect 

students and staff whenever there are threats of serious 

violence. School officials should do the following: 

1. Conduct thorough investigations of complaints 

before removing suspected individuals from 

the school, if there is sufficient time. Removal of 

employees or students must be consistent with 

applicable laws. It may be appropriate to remove 

individuals from school without expulsion or 

termination pending their investigations. If students 

or employees are wrongfully terminated or expelled, 

school officials may be subjected to wrongful 

termination or expulsion suits. 

2. Respect the privacy rights and confidentiality rights 

of all individuals during investigations. 

Liability of Schools for Violating Students’ Rights 

Reasonable Searches and Seizures 

Develop and apply policies for conducting searches and 

seizures of student property consistent with the Fourth 

Amendment to the Constitution and applicable state and 

local statutes. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

1. Seek the advice of an attorney before implementing 

any policy on the search or seizure of students’ 

property. 

2. While a warrant may not be required, school officials 

must justify any search or seizure based on the 

following: 

a. Reasonable suspicion that the law or a school 

rule has been violated. 

b. Information, facts, or circumstances that would 

lead a reasonable person to conclude that 

evidence of a crime or rule violation would be 

found in the search. 

c. The relationship between the extensiveness of 

the search and the evidence being sought. 

d. The relationship between the severity of the 

threat and the degree of intrusiveness in conducting the search. 

e. The presence of any special legal considerations, 

such as whether the student did not have a 

reasonable expectation of privacy; the objects 

seized fell within the plain view of an official who 

had a right to be at that location; the person 

who seized the object was not affiliated with, 

or directed to do so by, the government; or the 

student voluntarily consented to the search. 

3. Take into consideration the legal liability related to any 

type of non-consensual search of students or students’ 

property, including but not limited to the following: 

•	 Locker searches 

•	 Vehicle searches 

•	 Use of metal detectors 

•	 Use of drug- or weapon-sniffing dogs 

•	 Drug testing 

•	 Body searches 

•	 Use of cameras 

•	 Police-assisted searches 

•	 Searches of abandoned articles 

•	 Book bag, purse, and backpack searches 

•	 Searches of outer clothing 

•	 Strip searches 

Student Suspension and Expulsion for Violent Actions 

and Threats 

Students are entitled to due process before being 

suspended or expelled. Usually, more due process rights 

are required for expulsion than suspension. 

1. Ensure that the process established by schools and 

the standards used for suspending or expelling 

students are consistent with applicable local, state, 

and federal laws and applied consistently. 

2. Ensure that the nature and adequacy of public 

education alternatives for those either suspended or 

expelled from their usual public school programs are 

consistent with applicable laws. 

3. Before suspending or expelling a student, school 

officials should provide the student due process 

rights as required by state and federal law. These 

rights include the following: 

a. Provision of a written and specific statement of 

the charges that justify suspension or expulsion. 

b. Opportunity for a full hearing after adequate 

notification. 

c. Use of impartial adjudicators. 

d. Opportunity for students and his or her parents 

or guardians to examine evidence against the 

student. 

e. Opportunity for students and his or her parents 

or guardians to present evidence favorable to 

the student. 

f. Opportunity to be represented by counsel. 

g. Opportunity to confront and examine witnesses. 

4. Ensure that expulsion hearings are fully and formally 

recorded. 

5. Ensure that adjudicators’ decisions in hearings are 

based on a full and fair review of the evidence. 

Use of Dress Codes and Uniforms 

As required by law, accommodate students whose 

religious beliefs would be compromised by their 

compliance with school dress code provisions. 

Rights to Privacy in Matters of Record Keeping and 

Information Sharing between Agencies 

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) 

protects the confidentiality of all student records 

information. Ensure compliance also with applicable laws 

pertaining to divulging information about peer court or 

formal juvenile court proceedings with the school and 

community or service providers. Issues may include the 

following: 

•	 Whether or not peer or juvenile court hearings should 

be open to the public 

•	 Release or publication of juveniles’ names 

•	 Release or publication of juveniles’ pictures 

•	 Confidentiality of peer or juvenile court records 

•	 Admissibility of student records 

•	 Prohibition of sealing or expunging records 

•	 Parental access to children’s records 

•	 Parental consent for release of information in children’s 

records 

In many school-shooting cases, FERPA has been cited 

as a reason that the school did not disclose information 

regarding a student of concern. Government reports 

on school shootings have also cited widespread 

misunderstanding of FERPA as impeding open 

communication between school staff, school officials, 

and outside professionals. School staff and officials 

66080_IACP_Text_ACG 30 9/11/09 12:
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International Association of Chiefs of Police

need to be trained on the details of FERPA so that the 

appropriate balance between protecting an individual 

student’s privacy and sharing necessary information in 

critical situations is maintained. FERPA expressly permits 

appropriate disclosures in times of actual or potential 

emergency and in various less drastic circumstances 

in which an individual seeks to communicate sincere 

concerns for a student’s well-being. When a student is at 

risk to be harmed, FERPA allows disclosure to appropriate 

parties if the knowledge of the information is necessary 

to protect the health and safety of other individuals. 

This would include consulting with a threat assessment 

professional. See the text box above for more information 

regarding FERPA. 

After the shootings at Virginia Tech, the Department of 

Education made brochures available summarizing when 

it is justified to share information when teachers or staff 

members become concerned about a student’s behaviors. 

Liability of Parents and/or Guardians 

Parents are the first line of action when addressing a 

student of concern. In several school shooting cases, 

parents have been civilly sued by families of victims and 

in some cases even faced criminal charges for violating 

gun safety laws. It is in the parents’ best interest to 

communicate with the school if they become concerned 

about their child’s behavior. 

1. In some instances, parents and/or guardians may 

be held criminally or civilly liable for negligent 

storage of a firearm or for negligently providing 

their children with a firearm. Sixteen states have 

child access prevention (CAP) laws requiring gun 

owners to keep their guns locked out of reach of 

children. 

2. In some instances, parents and/or guardians may be 

held criminally or civilly liable for failure to do the 

following: 

a. Adequately supervise their children. 

b. Take corrective action with problematic behavior 

displayed by their children.

c. Notify others about a foreseeable threat to the 

safety of others that their own children pose. 

The list of legal considerations addressed in this section is 

not comprehensive. Before acting on any of these issues, 

consult with legal counsel. 

FERPA FAQ 

What is FERPA? The Family Educational Rights and 

Privacy Act (FERPA) is the federal law that dictates what 

information school officials are allowed to disclose 

regarding individual students. Schools are expected to 

balance the privacy of individual students with the safety 

of fellow students and staff. FERPA requires written 

consent before disclosing information about a student, 

except in certain situations. 

What information is protected by FERPA? School 

records and personally identifiable information are all 

protected under FERPA.

What information is not protected by FERPA? 

Information obtained through a school official’s personal 

knowledge or observation, and not from the student’s 

educational records, is not protected by FERPA and can 

be disclosed to appropriate authorities or professionals 

without consent.

When is it OK to disclose information about a student 

without parental consent? FERPA allows disclosure 

of information without consent to outside individuals 

in cases of emergencies or to protect the health and 

safety of other individuals. In addition, FERPA does 

not prohibit school staff or officials from disclosing 

information that is obtained through personal 

knowledge or observation (see above). For example, 

if a teacher overhears a student making a threat, the 

teacher can disclose that information to appropriate 

authorities. It is recommended that any disclosure 

regarding concerns about a student should be made 

to appropriate professionals who are trained to 

evaluate and handle such concerns.

Where can I find more information about FERPA? 

Brochures summarizing FERPA can be ordered at no 

charge from the Department of Education’s Publications 

Center by calling 877-433-7827. A copy of the brochure 

can also be found at the Department of Education’s 

Web site, www.ed.gov. For quick, informal responses 

to questions about FERPA, school officials can e-mail 

the Family Policy Compliance Office at ferpa@ed.gov. 

Additional information and guidance may be found at 

www.ed.gov/policy/gen/guid/fpco/index.html. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

ect on 8

ork ng w th the ed a

All forms of communication media (print, television, 

radio, computer, and film) can play an important role 

in helping to prevent violence in the schools. They can 

also help limit the harm that results when violence does 

occur. 

Unfortunately, the media can also contribute to the 

problem. Exposure to excessive violence can have the 

following effects: 

•	 It can increase the chances that at least some of those 

exposed to the media will try to mimic the violent 

acts. Copycat suicides, shootings, and bomb threats 

sometimes follow extensive media coverage or 

depictions of those events. 

•	 It can desensitize viewers to the horrors of violence 

and may increase their likelihood of committing 

it. Many of the same types of shooting simulation 

exercises used by law enforcement and the military 

to train people for situations where they may have to 

kill are being sold to children as video games. Some 

of the electronic media games available to children 

award extra points to players for engaging in simulated 

antisocial acts. 

•	 It can exaggerate the magnitude of the real threat. 

This could result in people fearing for their own or 

their children’s safety in situations where little danger is 

actually present. 

Rights and Obligations of the Media 

Journalists have the right and the obligation to gather 

and report school-violence information that is of interest 

or importance to the public. Creators and producers of 

all forms of media have the right to make and sell their 

products as long as they do not break the law. The exercise 

of those rights, however, needs to be balanced against the 

rights of parents and/or guardians and society to protect 

children from unnecessary harm. The recommendations 

in this section are intended to help better achieve that 

balance. Additional sets of recommendations are provided 

in text boxes to address how the media should handle 

violence-related crises, bomb threats, and breaking news 

(see the text boxes on pages 33, 34, and 35). 

Recommendations for Executives in Television, 

Radio, Internet, Recording, Electronic Game, and 

Film Industries

1. Establish a code of ethics and social responsibility 

for their organization that includes guidelines on the 

type of content it will refrain from producing or airing. 

2. Encourage their professional and trade associations 

to hold seminars pertaining to their industry’s ethical 

and social responsibilities. 

3. Refrain from producing and airing advertisements, 

lyrics, films, games, or programs likely to contribute 

to the commission of youth violence or other 

antisocial acts. 

4. Address the actual consequences of violence when it 

is depicted, instead of trivializing or glorifying it. 

5. During time slots when children are likely to 

be viewing, avoid showing programs that may 

contribute to their committing violence or other 

antisocial acts. 

6. Develop and support television programs, recordings, 

movies, and video games that promote positive social 

interactions and values for children of all ages. 

7. Promote, use, display, and enforce rating systems 

that help parents and/or guardians select media 

appropriate for their children. 

8. Support efforts to make sure that media rating 

systems address messages conveyed and the choice 

of words and images presented. 

Your Rights with the Media 

The school community has certain rights when dealing 

with the media. While they may not all be granted, they 

should be requested to protect the school and victims.

•	 The right to grieve and recover in private

•	 The right to say no to an interview

•	 The right to request a specific reporter

•	 The right to refuse an interview with a specific 

reporter even if the interviewee has granted 

interviews to other reporters

•	 The right to avoid a press conference atmosphere 

and speak only to one reporter at a time

•	 The right to refrain from answering any questions 

with which the interviewee is uncomfortable or feels 

is inappropriate

•	 The right to ask to review quotations in a story before 

publication

•	 The right to demand retraction when inaccurate 

information is reported

•	 The right to ask that offensive photographs or visuals 

be omitted from airing or publication

Source: Adapted from C. Slover and D. Tasci, Trauma 

Recovery Handbook (Nicoletti-Flater Associates, 1999).

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

Guidelines for Breaking News Events

The Radio-Television News Directors Association 

suggests the following standards be applied to covering 

breaking news events:

•	 Determine your criteria for running special reports, 

including news crawls. Stations should make decisions 

based on journalistic merit, what community action 

may be required, and in the interest of public safety. 

What is the standard for interrupting programming? 

Does it change from one time period to another? 

Once you interrupt programming, how can you avoid 

speculation and repetition during the early moments 

when details are likely to be few and sketchy?

•	 Determine how your coverage can inform and alert 

the public without causing panic or unnecessary 

alarm. Be factual and resist speculation. Television 

stations should remember that FCC rules require that 

you caption emergency information. Have you created 

a system for quickly serving hearing-impaired viewers 

with vital information they may not be able to hear?

•	 News managers should carefully consider that 

broadcasting select information could potentially 

cause harm. For example, if a SWAT team member is 

in a specific position during a hostage situation, do 

you have procedures to avoid putting him/her at risk 

while broadcasting live?

•	 FCC regulations prohibit information transmitted 

on emergency frequencies from being broadcast 

without independent confirmation. Is your staff aware 

of this regulation?

•	 Journalists should avoid presenting the names of 

victims of injury or death until relatives have been 

properly notified. When conducting live interviews 

with witnesses during a major event, reporters should 

caution those being interviewed in advance not to 

mention specific names of dead or injured.

•	 One of the greatest challenges is providing context 

during the opening moments of a breaking story. 

Prepare names and contact information for experts 

in a number of fields who can be placed on the air 

quickly to discuss emergencies.

•	 Anchors and reporters should remain calm. One 

of the great lessons from 9/11 coverage is that the 

public trusted the information they received at least 

in part because of the reassuring manner in which 

the information was reported during the crisis.

•	 When in doubt, don’t go live with a telephone 

call from someone who claims to have urgent 

information in a breaking news event. If you are 

not sure about the authenticity of the caller, get 

the information, return telephone number, and ask 

questions that could help verify the telephone caller’s 

proximity to the breaking news. Find someone in the 

newsroom that can further research the validity of 

the telephone call. If you decide to go live with a call, 

remind the caller not to use names of individuals on 

the air and not to implicate anyone as a suspect or 

victim during the course of the conversation.

Aside from the details of coverage, stations should think 

about the operational decisions necessary to ensure 

information reaches the audience in a rapid and useful 

fashion. These organizational guidelines can help meet 

that goal:

•	 Create a breaking news plan in advance. Be 

prepared by creating contingencies for disasters. 

Make the plans as thorough as possible and 

involve all departments when creating the plans. 

Communicate your plans in writing to all those who 

would play a role in your coverage.

•	 Does your station have a safety plan for employees 

covering events where they might be exposed to 

hazards such as toxic waste releases? What can you do 

to minimize potential dangers to your employees who 

might be caught in an unsafe situation such as police 

activity or a riot? Discuss with employees working in 

the field the need to stay safe and avoid personal 

injury and that no story is worth risking one’s life.

•	 Standards for breaking news coverage should apply 

to all types of distribution including but not limited 

to radio, television, online, personal communications 

devices, and cell phone data.

•	 Citizens can provide valuable assistance by providing 

helpful information to news organizations. But news 

managers must be cautious when accepting information, 

video and pictures and verify the information is correct 

and images are authentic. There are people who try to 

fool news organizations with bad information or fake 

pictures. Remember the damage that can be caused to 

the entire community and to your professional reputation 

if you present material that turns out later to be false. 

Source: Radio-Television News Directors Association, 

www.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/guidelines-forbreaking-news-events400.php. 

9. Support efforts to make V-chip technology a 

successful way for parents and/or guardians to help 

prevent their children from being exposed to inappropriate violence. 

10. Initiate antiviolence programs. For example, MTV 

and the American Psychological Association joined 

forces to create “Fight for Your Rights: Take a Stand 

against Violence.”

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

Planning for Media Coverage of School Violence 

Executives in the print, electronic, and broadcast news and 

information media should take the following steps now: 

1. Establish at each newsroom and station codes of 

conduct for reporting and broadcasting incidents like 

school violence. 

2. Encourage their professional and trade associations 

to hold sessions on the media’s ethical responsibilities in this area. 

3. Provide in-depth coverage of the steps school 

communities can take to reduce hazards of school 

violence. Make copies of the articles and programs 

available free of charge to schools and nonprofit 

organizations. 

4. Provide local coverage, public service 

announcements, and features that provide points 

of contact for youth counselors, substance abuse 

treatment, suicide prevention, and other social or 

mental health programs, and encourage friends 

Guidelines for Covering Hostage-Taking Crises, 

Prison Uprisings, Terrorist Actions

•	 Always assume that the hostage taker, gunman, or 

terrorist has access to the reporting. 

•	 Avoid describing with words or showing with still 

photography and video any information that could 

divulge the tactics or positions of SWAT team members.

•	 Fight the urge to become a player in any standoff, 

hostage situation, or terrorist incident. Journalists should 

become personally involved only as a last resort and with 

the explicit approval of top news management and the 

consultation of trained hostage negotiators on the scene. 

•	 Be forthright with viewers, listeners, or readers about 

why certain information is being withheld if security 

reasons are involved. 

•	 Seriously weigh the benefits to the public of sharing 

information and the potential harm that information 

might cause. This is especially important in live 

reporting of an ongoing situation. 

•	 Strongly resist the temptation to telephone a 

gunman or hostage taker. Journalists generally 

are not trained in negotiation techniques, and 

one wrong question or inappropriate word could 

jeopardize someone’s life. Furthermore, just calling 

in could tie up phone lines or otherwise complicate 

communication efforts of the negotiators. 

•	 Notify authorities immediately if a hostage taker or 

terrorist calls the newsroom. Have a plan ready for 

how to respond. 

•	 Challenge any gut reaction to go live from the scene 

of a hostage crisis unless there are strong journalistic 

reasons for a live, on-the-scene report. Things can go 

wrong very quickly in a live report, endangering lives 

or damaging negotiations. Furthermore, ask if the 

value of a live, on-the-scene report is really justifiable 

compared with the harm that could occur. 

•	 Give no information, factual or speculative, about a 

hostage taker’s mental condition, state of mind, or 

reasons for actions while a standoff is in progress. The 

value of such information to the audience is limited, and 

the possibility of such characterizations exacerbating an 

already dangerous situation is quite real. 

•	 Give no analyses or comments on a hostage taker’s or 

terrorist’s demands. As bizarre or ridiculous (or even 

legitimate) as such demands may be, it is important 

that negotiators take all demands seriously. 

•	 Keep news helicopters out of the area where the 

standoff is happening, as their noise can create 

communication problems for negotiators and their 

presence could scare a gunman to deadly action. 

•	 Do not report information obtained from police 

scanners. If law enforcement personnel and negotiators 

are compromised in their communications, their 

attempts to resolve a crisis are greatly complicated. 

•	 Be cautious in any reporting on the medical condition 

of hostages until after a crisis is concluded. Be 

cautious when interviewing hostages or released 

hostages while a crisis continues. 

•	 Exercise care when interviewing family members or 

friends of those involved in standoff situations. Make 

sure the interview legitimately advances the story for 

the public and is not simply conducted for the shock 

value of the emotions conveyed or as a conduit for the 

interviewee to transmit messages to specific individuals. 

•	 Go beyond the basic story of the hostage taking or 

standoff to report on the larger issues behind the 

story, be it the how and why of what happened, the 

preparation and execution of the SWAT team, or the 

issues related to the incident. 

In covering a pending raid or law enforcement action, 

journalists are advised to do the following: 

•	 Be careful not to compromise the secrecy of officials’ 

planning and execution. If staking out a location 

where a raid will occur or if accompanying officers, 

reporters and photographers should demonstrate 

great caution in how they act, where they go, and 

what clues they might inadvertently give that might 

compromise the execution of the raid. They should 

check and double-check planning efforts. 

Source: B. Steele, Poynter Institute for Media Studies, 

1999, www.poynter.org/content/content_view.

asp?id=4640. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

and family to refer to those programs anyone who 

appears troubled. 

5. Encourage investigative reporting that identifies 

people or situations contributing to the risk of school 

violence. Examples of possible stories include the 

following: 

•	 School administrators and local government officials 

who fail to take adequate protection measures. 

•	 Legislators who have taken positions related to 

school violence against the public interest. 

•	 Individuals or businesses in their community who 

knowingly sell weapons illegally either to children 

or to adults purchasing weapons for children. 

6. Provide law enforcement or school officials with 

timely information acquired from media contacts 

that might prevent an incident of school 

violence. 

7. Report on, and influence, public support for taking 

needed corrective actions. 

8. Establish win-win partnerships with police for covering 

crises like school violence. In Boston, television stations 

have voluntarily agreed to share footage supplied 

by media pool on-ground and helicopter cameras in 

certain hostage situations. This way competing camera 

crews do not add to the confusion. The stations also 

agreed not to air live coverage while incidents were 

occurring that could aid offenders, endanger deployed 

police personnel, or harm people trapped on the 

premises. In return, police provide better locations for 

media pool cameras and more frequent updates. 

Guidelines for Journalists and Reporters 

Covering Bomb Threat Stories 

•	 Ask: what is my journalistic duty in reporting this story? 

What do our viewers need to know? What is the threat 

to life or property? What are the consequences of the 

event itself? How significant is the evacuation and the 

interruption to normal life in your community? What 

is the impact this event has on law enforcement or 

emergency crews ability to respond to other calls? 

What else is this story about? What is the story behind 

the story? (In some cases, racial slurs and threats have 

been sprayed on school walls.)

•	 What are the possible consequences of my actions 

and decisions? Reporting a false threat could lead to 

copycat threats. Reporting arrests might discourage 

such threats by showing the consequences for 

threatening others. Other consequences might 

include raising the public’s level of insecurity even 

when it is not warranted. Repeated broadcasting of 

bomb hoaxes can have the effect of crying wolf with 

the public becoming less responsive when actual 

danger arises. But the reporting on the volume 

and range of threats could inform our viewers and 

listeners about the pressures our police and schools 

officials are under. It could be important for the 

public to understand why officials react as they do.

•	 How could you justify your decisions about where 

and how you play stories about bomb threats 

in your newscasts? How do you explain your 

decisions to your staff and to your viewers? How 

much discussion have you had in your newsroom 

about your coverage? What experts or persons 

outside your newsroom could you contact for their 

perspectives about how you should treat this story?

•	 Be careful about the tone of your coverage. Avoid words 

like chaos, terror, and mayhem; they are subjective 

words. Play it straight. Tone down your teases, leads, 

and graphics. The tone of what you report should not 

contradict the careful reporting of facts you include in 

your stories. Think carefully before going live in covering 

these stories. You have less editorial control in live 

situations. The emphasis on live may warp the attention 

these stories deserve. A lead story carries different 

weight from a story that is deeper in the newscast. How 

can you justify the positioning of your coverage?

•	 Cover the process more than the events. What 

thought are you giving to the bigger issues involved 

in this story? How easy is it for schools, the phone 

company or law enforcement to track down a 

threatening caller? How seriously are violators 

treated? Have you ever followed one of these cases 

through the legal system to find out what happens? 

How many bomb threats did police handle last 

year? How many resulted in prosecution? How many 

of those prosecuted went to jail or were actually 

punished? What was the extent of the punishment? 

Do your schools have caller ID systems in place? Do 

they or should they record incoming phone calls?

•	 Minimize harm. We sometimes cause harm in the 

process of performing our journalistic duty, but it 

should only be harm we can justify. Special care 

should be given when covering juveniles. You should 

carefully consider whether placing a prank phone call 

warrants naming a juvenile. What harm do we cause 

by sending a news photographer to a school that has 

been threatened by a caller?

•	 Thoughtful stations hold these conversations about 

coverage before they are faced with a crisis. Frontend decision-making that includes many voices in 

the conversation results in fuller and more thoughtful 

coverage.

Source: Radio-Television News Directors Association, 

www.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/guidelines-forcovering-bomb-threats149.php?id=149. 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

During and after School Violence Crises 

During and after incidents of school violence, individuals 

working in the print, electronic, and broadcast news and 

information media should take the following steps: 

1. Present coverage of school violence that is factual 

and balanced, including information about its 

prevalence compared with other crimes and whether 

it is on the rise or the decline. 

2. Address the larger context of school violence, such 

as how students, schools, and communities have 

been affected. 

3. Tell the public what steps are being taken to help 

people handle the crisis. 

4. Consider the possible motivations of people who 

engage in violence in the schools and refrain from 

rewarding those actions. For example, frequent 

displays of offender names and pictures may convey 

to potential copycat offenders that this is one way to 

quickly and easily achieve fame. Depicting offenders 

as victims who were out to right a wrong might 

falsely convey that school shootings are an effective 

way for students to redress grievances. 

5. Communicate helpful information to victims and 

concerned citizens. Examples include the following: 

•	 Helping law enforcement acquire information 

from the public needed to identify or locate offenders. 

•	 Telling parents and/or guardians where victim 

information can be obtained. 

•	 Letting the public know how they can help (by 

donating blood, money, services, and so on). 

•	 Informing victims about the importance and 

locations of grief counseling and other postevent services. 

•	 Informing students, parents and/or guardians, 

teachers and staff about any alterations to school 

schedules. 

6. Use designated public information officers as the 

sole source of official information about crisis incidents, instead of seeking it from other personnel at 

crisis locations. 

7. Be careful not to distract law enforcement or other 

emergency response personnel or impede them or 

their equipment. This includes use of the airspace 

above the location. 

8. Respect the privacy rights of victims and the people 

connected to them. 

9. Offer to supply helicopters and other equipment or 

services that might aid police or other emergency 

providers. 

10. Promptly provide law enforcement with information 

acquired from media contacts that might lead to the 

arrest of an offender before either that person or 

someone else is also harmed. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

ect on 9

esources

Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA)

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA

BJA is a component of the Office of Justice Programs, 

U.S. Department of Justice, which also includes the 

Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of 

Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention, and the Office for Victims of Crime. BJA 

has three primary components: Policy, Programs, and 

Planning. The Policy Office provides national leadership in 

criminal justice policy, training, and technical assistance to 

further the administration of justice. The Programs Office 

coordinates and administers all state and local grant 

programs and acts as BJA’s direct line of communication 

to states, territories, and tribal governments by providing 

assistance and coordinating resources. The Planning 

Office coordinates the planning, communications, and 

budget formulation and execution; provides overall BJAwide coordination; and supports streamlining efforts. 

Center for Effective Collaboration and Practice 

(CECP) 

cecp.air.org/

It is the mission of the CECP to support and promote 

a reoriented national preparedness to foster the 

development and the adjustment of children with or at 

risk of developing serious emotional disturbance. To 

achieve that goal, the center is dedicated to a policy 

of collaboration at federal, state, and local levels that 

contributes to and facilitates the production, exchange, 

and use of knowledge about effective practices.

Resources

•	 Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General

reviews research on where, when, and how much youth 

violence occurs, what causes it, and which of today’s 

preventive strategies are effective. 

•	 Best Practices of Youth Violence Prevention: A 

Sourcebook for Community Action examines the 

effectiveness of specific violence prevention practices 

in four key areas: parents and families; home visiting; 

social and conflict resolution skills; and mentoring. This 

publication was developed by the American Institutes 

for Research’s Prospect Institute.

Center for Mental Health Services: School 

Violence Prevention (CMHS)

mentalhealth.samhsa.gov/schoolviolence/

CMHS is the federal agency in the U.S. Substance Abuse 

and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) that 

leads national efforts to improve prevention and 

mental health treatment services for all Americans. 

CMHS programs and activities include the Safe Schools/

Healthy Students (SS/HS) Initiative, www.sshs.samhsa.gov, 

a collaborative grant program designed to prevent 

violence and substance abuse among youth, schools, and 

communities. Through grants made to local education 

authorities, the SS/HS Initiative provides schools and 

communities across the United States with the benefit 

of enhanced school- and community-based services to 

strengthen healthy child development, thus reducing 

violent behavior and substance use. The initiative is 

supported by three federal agencies—the Department of 

Health and Human Services (through SAMHSA’s Center 

for Mental Health Services), the Department of Education, 

and the Department of Justice. 

Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence: 

Violence in American Schools (CSPV)

www.colorado.edu/cspv/safeschools/

index.html

CSPV, a research program of the Institute of Behavioral 

Science (IBS) at the University of Colorado at Boulder, 

was founded in 1992 to provide informed assistance to 

groups committed to understanding and preventing 

violence, particularly adolescent violence. To establish 

more complete and valuable information to affect 

violence-related policies, programs, and practices, CSPV 

works from a multidisciplinary platform on the subject of 

violence and facilitates the building of bridges between 

the research community and the practitioners and policy 

makers. 

One such program is the Safe Communities-Safe Schools 

(SCSS) effort, which offers school safety research and 

prevention expertise by providing informational resources 

and technical assistance in violence prevention planning 

and evidenced-based programming. This model provides 

a comprehensive framework for improving school safety 

by creating a planning team to help understand the 

school’s climate and safety strengths and needs. The 

results of the assessments allow schools to identify 

appropriate strategies and evidenced-based programs to 

address their needs.

Educational Resources Information Clearinghouse 

(ERIC): School Safety 

www.eric.ed.gov

ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences 

(IES) of the U.S. Department of Education. ERIC offers 

an online digital library of education research and 

information. The center provides ready access to 

education literature to support the use of educational 

research and information to improve practice in learning, 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

teaching, educational decision making, and research. 

ERIC provides unlimited access to more than 1.2 million 

bibliographic records of journal articles and other 

education-related materials, with hundreds of new 

records added twice weekly. 

Resources

•	 Creating Safe and Drug-Free Schools: An Action Guide 

begins with action steps for schools, parents, students, 

and community and business groups. Next it provides 

information briefs on specific issues affecting school 

safety. Other sections contain research and evaluation 

findings, a list of resources, and additional readings. 

This information is all designed to help school and 

community leaders, parents, and students develop a 

strategy to ensure safe schools in their communities.

•	 Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to Safe 

Schools offers research-based practices designed to 

help school communities identify these warning signs 

early and develop prevention, intervention, and crisis 

response plans. The guide was based on the work 

of an independent panel of experts in the fields of 

education, law enforcement, and mental health. 

•	 Practical Information on Crisis Planning: A Guide for 

Schools and Communities is designed to assist schools 

and communities in either situation. Although every 

school’s needs and circumstances are different, these 

checklists provide general guidance that can be adapted 

as appropriate to each district’s or school’s circumstances.

•	 Preventing Youth Hate Crime: A Manual for Schools 

and Communities is intended to help more schools 

and communities confront and eliminate harassing, 

intimidating, violent, and other hate-motivated 

behavior among young people. It is intended to 

promote discussion, planning, immediate action, and 

long-term responses to hate crime.

International Association of Chiefs of Police 

(IACP)

www.theiacp.org

The IACP is the world’s oldest and largest nonprofit 

membership organization of police executives, with over 

22,000 members in over 100 different countries. IACP’s 

leadership consists of the operating chief executives of 

international, federal, state, and local agencies of all sizes. 

The IACP has assembled a set of materials that address 

school violence and youth crime prevention. These 

resources are present on the IACP Web site so that police 

leaders can become familiar with all of them and use 

them in an effective manner. 

Resources

•	 Digital Imaging for Safe Schools: A Public Safety 

Response to Critical Incidents – In response to recent 

school shootings, the IACP, in partnership with the 

National Institute of Justice (NIJ), has created a guide 

to the use of 360-degree digital cameras to create 

CDs that contain digital images of the interior of any 

school, allowing responding officers to determine 

best access to hostages and shooters for SWAT 

response. 

•	 Partnerships for Safe School Training – This training, 

delivered in partnership with the Department of 

Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and 

Prevention (OJJDP), focuses on improving school 

safety: course topics include principles of school safety, 

model school safety programs, and critical incident 

management. 

•	 Developing an Anti-Bullying Program: Increasing 

Safety, Reducing Violence – This Promising Practices 

Executive Brief is the first in a series produced in 

collaboration with Department of Justice, Office 

of Juvenile Justice Delinquency and Prevention 

(OJJDP). These periodic briefs deliver information 

to law enforcement and justice officials and 

address some of the gaps in contemporary juvenile 

justice policy and practices. Each brief highlights 

a promising program that addresses an important 

juvenile justice issue. 

•	 Youth Violence in America: Summit Report – These 

final recommendations from the IACP summit on 

youth violence lay out a set of strategies to help law 

enforcement respond to gang violence and school 

violence and deal effectively with both youthful 

offenders and youthful victims. 

National Association of Attorneys General (NAAG) 

www.naag.org

NAAG was founded in 1907 to help attorneys general 

fulfill the responsibilities of their office and to assist in 

the delivery of high-quality legal services to the states 

and territorial jurisdictions. The association fosters 

interstate cooperation on legal and law enforcement 

issues, conducts policy research and analysis of issues, 

conducts training, and facilitates communication 

between the states’ chief legal officers and all levels of 

government.

Resources 

•	 Task Force on School and Campus Safety: Report and 

Recommendations – In 1999, NAAG created a Task 

Force on Youth Violence and School Safety. This 

2007 report updates the 1999 National Association 

of Attorneys General report with recommendations 

regarding the prevention of, and response to, 

violence in schools and on college campuses and 

it includes specific recommendations to educators, 

administrators, law enforcement, mental health 

providers, and public policy makers.

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

National Association of School Psychologists 

(NASP) 

www.nasponline.org

NASP is the premier source of knowledge, professional 

development, and resources, empowering school 

psychologists to ensure that all children and youth attain 

optimal learning and mental health. NASP represents 

school psychology and supports school psychologists to 

enhance the learning and mental health of all children 

and youth. NASP offers a myriad of school safety and 

crisis resources and has made these materials available 

free of charge to the public to promote the ability of 

children and youth to cope with traumatic or unsettling 

events. 

National Association of School Resource Officers 

(NASRO) 

www.nasro.com/home.asp

NASRO is a not-for-profit organization for over 

9,000 school-based law enforcement officers, school 

administrators, and school security and safety 

professionals working as partners to protect students, 

school faculty and staff, and the schools. The school 

resource officer program is a collaborative effort by 

certified law enforcement officers, educators, students, 

parents, and the community to offer law-related 

educational programs in the schools to reduce crime, 

drug abuse, and violence and provide a safe school 

environment. 

National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) 

www.ncpc.org

The National Crime Prevention Council’s (NCPC) 

mission is to enable people to create safer and more 

caring communities by addressing the causes of crime 

and violence and reducing the opportunities for crime 

to occur. NCPC produces tools that communities 

can use to learn crime prevention strategies, engage 

community members, and coordinate with local 

agencies. Be Safe and Sound in School (B3S) is an 

initiative of the National Crime Prevention Council 

conducted in collaboration with the Bureau of Justice 

Assistance, U.S. Department of Justice. The program 

seeks to raise awareness of school safety and security 

issues and provide the tools and resources needed to 

effectively address them. 

Resources

•	 School Safety and Security Toolkit: A Guide for Parents, 

Schools, and Communities – This toolkit provides the 

guidelines and tools needed to form a comprehensive 

campaign to identify and address school safety and 

security issues. 

•	 Caregivers’ Guide to School Safety and Security – 

This pamphlet calls parents to act to improve school 

safety and security, outlines four specific ways they 

can get involved, and provides the tools needed to 

get started.

•	 Tip Sheets: Stopping School Violence – These tip 

sheets gives ideas on how parents, students, teachers, 

law enforcement, principals, and community members 

can stop school violence. 

•	 School Safety and Security Newsletter – This resource 

for professionals and parents concerned about school 

safety and security includes best practices, new 

research findings, and topical articles. You can sign up 

for a subscription on the NCPC Web site. 

National Criminal Justice Reference Service 

(NCJRS) 

www.ncjrs.gov

NCJRS is a federally funded resource offering justice 

and substance abuse information to support research, 

policy, and program development worldwide. NCJRS 

offers a range of services and resources, balancing the 

information needs of the field with the technological 

means to receive and access support.

Resources

•	 Appropriate and Effective Use of Security 

Technologies in U.S. Schools – This guide helps school 

administrators and their colleagues in law enforcement 

analyze a school’s vulnerability to violence, theft, 

and vandalism, and research possible technologies 

to effectively address these problems. This National 

Institute of Justice (NIJ) Research Report is based 

on a seven-year study of more than 100 schools and 

offers practical guidance on several aspects of security, 

including security concepts and operational issues, 

video surveillance, weapons detection devices, entry 

controls, and duress alarms.

•	 Indicators of School Crime and Safety (2009) – This 

Bureau of Justice Statistics report presents data on 

crime and safety at school from the perspectives 

of students, teachers, principals, and the general 

population. In addition, it examines crime occurring 

in school as well as on the way to and from school. 

It also provides the most current detailed statistical 

information on the nature of crime in schools, school 

environments, and responses to violence and crime at 

school.

National School Safety Center (NSSC)

www.schoolsafety.us

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 

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Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence

crime and violence. NSSC provides school communities 

and their school safety partners with quality information, 

resources, consultation, and training services. A variety 

of school safety-related resources can be found the 

NSSC Web site.

National Youth Gang Center 

www.iir.com/nygc/

The proliferation of gang problems in large and small 

cities, suburbs, and even rural areas over the last two 

decades led to the development of a comprehensive, 

coordinated response to America’s gang problem by the 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 

www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov. The OJJDP response involves five 

major components, one of which is the implementation 

and operation of the National Youth Gang Center 

(NYGC). The center conducts assessments of the scope 

and characteristics of youth gang activity in the United 

States, develops resources and makes them available to 

the field, and provides training and technical assistance 

in support of community-based prevention, intervention, 

and suppression efforts.

Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, 

U.S. Department of Justice (COPS)

www.cops.usdoj.gov

As a component of the Justice Department, the mission 

of the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services 

(COPS) is to advance the practice of community policing 

as an effective strategy to improve public safety. The 

COPS Office awards grants to tribal, state, and local 

law enforcement agencies to hire and train community 

policing professionals, acquire and deploy cuttingedge crime-fighting technologies, and develop and 

test innovative policing strategies. Its online Resource 

Information Center offers publications, DVDs, CDs, and 

training materials on a wide range of law enforcement 

concerns and community policing topics.

Resources

•	 Bomb Threats in Schools (2006) – This guide addresses 

the problem of bomb threats in schools, public 

or private, kindergarten through 12th grade. The 

guide reviews the factors that increase the risk of 

bomb threats in schools and then identifies a series 

of questions that might assist law enforcement in 

analyzing their local problem. Finally, the guide reviews 

responses to the problem and what is known about 

these from evaluative research and police practice. 

•	 Bullying in Schools (2006) – This guide provides 

police with information about the causes and extent 

of bullying in schools and recommendations for 

developing effective approaches and practices that 

contribute to student safety. 

•	 School Safety CD-ROM, Version 2.0 (2009) – This 

CD-ROM contains more than 60 COPS Office and 

other U.S. Department of Justice agency links and 

documents related to school violence and violence 

prevention, school safety technology, gangs, and youth 

disorder. It is a resource for local policy makers, school 

administrators, parents, and students. 

•	 A Guide to Developing, Maintaining, and Succeeding 

With Your School Resource Officer Program (2005) – 

Many school resource officer (SRO) programs have 

experienced difficulty recruiting, screening, retaining, 

training, and supervising SROs. The information in 

the report is intended to enable SRO programs—

and jurisdictions that are thinking of starting SRO 

programs—to benefit from the experiences of 

selected programs by adopting or adapting some of 

their approaches to establishing and maintaining a 

successful program. 

Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention, U.S. Department of Justice (OJJDP) 

www.ojjdp.ncjrs.gov

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention (OJJDP) is a component of the Office of 

Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice, and 

accomplishes its mission by supporting states, local 

communities, and tribal jurisdictions in their efforts to 

develop and implement effective programs for juveniles. 

The office strives to strengthen the juvenile justice 

system’s efforts to protect public safety, hold offenders 

accountable, and provide services that address the 

needs of youth and their families. Under the leadership 

of its administrator and through its components, OJJDP 

sponsors research, program, and training initiatives; 

develops priorities and goals and sets policies to guide 

federal juvenile justice issues; disseminates information 

about juvenile justice issues; and awards funds to states 

to support local programming.

Resources

•	 Four-One-One Bullying (2004) – This review of research 

on bullying presents statistics on the prevalence and 

frequency of bullying at various grade levels, the shortterm and long-term adverse effects of being bullied 

and being a bully, and differences in bullying and its 

effects related to gender and age. The first section 

of this report distinguishes between normal conflict 

and bullying, provides examples of bullying, profiles 

bullies and their victims, and indicates where most 

bullying occurs. A separate section focuses on research 

related to the link between being bullied and suicide. 

In offering practical guidance based on research, this 

report advises that the role of teachers and school 

administrators is critical. 

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International Association of Chiefs of Police

•	 Truancy Reduction: Keeping Students in School (2001) 

– The report describes the correlations of family, 

school, economic, and student factors with truancy; 

notes truancy’s role as a predictor of delinquency, 

including juvenile daytime crime; and examines the 

social and financial impacts of truancy. It also discusses 

two projects funded by the Office of Juvenile Justice 

and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). 

•	 School Safety & Youth Violence: A Legal Primer (2001) – 

This guidebook seeks to outline the major legal issues 

faced by schools, including school liability for violence, 

search and seizure, threats of violence, zero tolerance 

policies, and use of student records. The primer is not 

intended to substitute for legal advice. 

•	 Refining the Construct of School Safety: An 

Exploration of Correlates and Construct Validity of 

School Safety Measures (2005) – This study evaluated 

the internal consistency of and relationships among 

four measures of school climate and safety: the 

Oregon School Safety Survey (OSSS), the Effective 

Behavior Support Survey 1.5 (EBS), the School-Wide 

Evaluation Tool (SET), and the Oregon School Climate 

and Safety Survey (OSCSS). 

U.S. Secret Service National Threat 

Assessment Center (NTAC) 

www.secretservice.gov/ntac.shtml

The mission of the National Threat Assessment Center 

(NTAC) is to provide guidance on threat assessment to 

the Secret Service and its law enforcement and public 

safety partners. Through the Presidential Protection Act 

of 2000, Congress formally authorized NTAC to provide 

assistance to federal, state, and local law enforcement 

and others with protective responsibilities in the following 

functional areas:

•	 Research on threat assessment and various types of 

targeted violence 

•	 Training on threat assessment and targeted violence 

to law enforcement officials and others with protective 

and public safety responsibilities 

•	 Information-sharing among agencies with protective or 

public safety responsibilities 

•	 Programs to promote the standardization of federal, 

state, and local threat assessment and investigations 

involving threats 

In 2002, the Secret Service completed the Safe School 

Initiative (SSI), a study of school shootings and other 

school-based attacks. Conducted in collaboration with 

the U.S. Department of Education, the study examined 

school shootings in the United States from 1974 to 

2000, analyzing a total of 37 incidents involving 41 

student attackers. The study involved extensive review 

of police records, school records, court documents, and 

other source materials and interviews with 10 school 

shooters. The focus of the study was on developing 

information about the school shooters’ behaviors and 

communications before the attack. The goal was to 

identify information about school shootings that may be 

identifiable or noticeable before such shootings occur, to 

help inform efforts to prevent school-based attacks. 

Resources

•	 The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School 

Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School 

Attacks in the United States (2002).

•	 Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing 

Threatening Situations and Creating Safe School 

Climates (2002).

•	 A Safe School and Threat Assessment Experience: 

Scenarios Exploring the Findings of the Safe School 

Initiative CD-ROM (2006).

•	 Prior Knowledge of Potential School-Based Violence: 

Information Students Learn May Prevent a Targeted 

Attack (2008).

66080_IACP_Text_ACG 41 9/11/09 12:
66080_IACP_Text_ACG 42 9/11/09 12:
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CHIEFS OF POLICE

515 N. Washington Street

Alexandria, VA 22314

1-800-THE-IACP

www.theiacp.org

66080_IACP_Cover_ACG 2 9/11/09