Crisis Management Plan To Controal School Violence

Crisis Management Running head: CRISIS MANAGEMENT

Crisis Management Alfonse Javed Liberty University

Crisis Management Crisis Management Crises do not come by permission, no knocking on the door. However, crises are led by few un-checked, and unlocked doors, and once these crises step in any organization, it takes them a lot less time to devastate the entire organization. Whole structures can come down to earth in a moment if the organization has lack of management plan or sufficient facilities and resources to deal with such situation. Violent deaths at school have been the focus of a great deal of recent media attention particularly in the form of school shootings. Sadly, these tragic events affect not only those involved, but also many others in the school and community.

Violence is a serious problem in human

society; every day we hear or read about incidents involving violence and cruelty, and undoubtedly thousands more go unreported. Virginia Tech incident was one of those sad incidents, which everyone prays may never happen again. April 16th, 2007 was a challenging day for both Virginia Tech and American Nation including entire civilized world. President of The University of Louisvillie, James R. Ramsey issued a statement about V-Tech stating that the University of Louisville was stunned and saddened by the events of

Crisis Management that day at Virginia Tech University. He said that his deepest sympathy goes out to the victims, their families and the entire Virginia Tech community. While there was not any reason to expect a similar occurrence at Uof L, it was encouraged that all the students and employees should review our emergency procedures. In addition they will review their procedures to ensure that they are doing their best to protect the students and employees. An incident like this one, touches us all. Please keep the Virginia Tech community in your thoughts and prayers as they struggle to cope with this tragedy. The terrible event that happened at Virginia Tech has shocked the foundation of every school, college and university and led the administrators to believe that university campuses are not immune from the threats of violence that exist in our broader society. This incident has forced the school policies to be re-thought and focus on both prevention and response, and hard work to apply the lessons of the V-Tech incident. Virginia Tech University has more than 25,000 full-time students on a campus and is spread over 2,600 acres. This American University is one of the best universities in the world. Therefore, it has been demanded that such university

Crisis Management should maintain all security procedures, and emergency procedures. Witnesses, who described the scenes of mass chaos and unimaginable horror, stated that they were shocked and horrified to see some students lined up against a wall and shot. Others jumped out of windows to escape, or crouched on the floors to take cover. The first attack started as students were getting ready for classes or were on their way there. The university did not evacuate the campus or notify students of that attack until several hours later. Which resulted to the death of thirty two innocent people. The killings occurred in two separate attacks on the campus in Blacksburg, Va. The first was at around 7:15 a.m., when two people were shot and killed in

a dormitory. More than

two and a half hours later, 31 others, including the gunman, were shot and killed across campus, in a classroom building, where some of the doors had been chained shut. Victims were, found in different locations around the building. Investigation revealed that the gunman Cho had a mental illness. In summer, 2006 Cho’s mother was very concerned about his inattention to class work, his time spent out of the classroom and his antisocial behavior; she

Crisis Management took him to various churches throughout the Northern Virginia community. She thought that he might have autism, but no autism diagnosis could be verified with Cho’s parents, and no evidence has surfaced to indicate such a diagnosis was used by U. S. school authorities. On December 13,2005, Cho was found “mentally ill and in need of hospitalization” by New River Valley Community Services Board. Virginia Special Justice Paul Barnett certified an order that Cho was “an imminent danger to himself as a result of mental illness,” but instead recommended treatment for Cho as an outpatient. On December 14, 2005. Cho, was released from mental health facility after Judge Barnet ordered Cho to under go mental health treatment on an outpatient basis. Since Cho underwent only a minimal psychiatric assessment, the true diagnosis for Cho’s mental health status remains unknown. Regarding Cho’s behavior issues, his professor Nikki Giovanni describes Cho’s writing as “intimidating”. she insisted that Cho be removed from her class in 2005. Lucinda Roy head of the department removed him from her class and also alerted student affairs, the dean’s office, and the campus police, but each said there was nothing they could do if Cho had made no overt threats against himself

Crisis Management or others. Roy urged Cho to seek counseling, but he never followed through with the request to her knowledge.

In this scenario as it is given to review and come with solution. The interesting thing, that has arisen, is the resemblance of the story with those incidents which changed the entire security, and crisis plan of every institution. Somehow, it is always the same, how people who attempt to murder or murder someone are so sure about their conviction that what they are doing is the right thing to do. Most of the time, it is a psychological problem. Even hatred toward some one or a group of people is a kind of psychological problem because it leads to revenge and revenge stimulates inhuman action. The Psychological problem can be a minor one which may not be diagnosed on early stages but later it may become developed over the period of time and eventually take over the person. It paralyses the mind and ability to choose the right thing. It enforces the person to attempt such inhuman acts of violence. It can be called “mantle sickness”. In the scenario, when it was analyzed, the problem was very clear.

Crisis Management It is a psychological problem, where the person considers that what he or she is doing, is the right thing to do. It is also interesting to see how this guy who wants to kill the complainer, is convinced by self created imaginary that the girl still loves him. It is reported that “He knows that this girl really likes him but won’t hurt my feels and break up.” The situation is very dangerous, the seriousness of the situation can be notice by the visibility of the somewhat shaken student. The character of the guy, who has been threatening is well known and seen by the complainer. The complainer is sure about the information and the reality behind the information and this can be seen by what he said “This guy is a real bad character and has been in fights in and around school.

He even gets in trouble in

class and threatens students in class.

He is crazy enough

that I think he meant really shoot me.” The involvement of the girl’s love has resemblance with the Virginia Tech case. The investigation revealed that Cho the gunman had a imaginary girlfriend. Secondly, he had hatred towards rich people. This scenario has four main phases, first the threat, second the weapon that is involved and third the murder of

Crisis Management the student. Fourth, the threat that he is going to kill him self. In the first phase and in this particular scenario it is wise to start from the formal investigation. It can be done in three ways. First, the administrator can investigate personally. Second, the administrator could call the security director, inform him about the situation, and let him do the investigations if the statement is true or false. Third, appoint a special team or individual to do the investigations. During investigation four people should be involved. First, the classmate who reported the incident. Second, the person whom this report was about (the gunman), and third, the girl and forth the family of each one of them, if it is proven the report was correct. Every school has its own crises management plan, since the scenario is too serious to take lightly. The administrator should be involved immediately. Complete the primary investigation. If there is, need to involve the security officer keep him in the loop from the beginning. Try to discover if the report was true, call the classmate and find out when, was he told that the gunman was going to kill the complainer. What was the tone, gestures, attitude and body language? If it is clear from the interview that the classmate’s intentions were good and he just told what

Crisis Management he heard directly from the gunman then without wasting anymore time, he should call the parents of this guy and inform them about the situation. Then he should put the student under counseling, or temporary behavior check. If he is not agreeing to see a counselor or psychologist then without taking any further risks suspend him, and report the security to watch out for this student. Second stage of the scenario talks about the weapons. The possession or use of a firearm on campus is strictly forbidden. Any one violating the policy is subject to arrest under ARS 13-2911 and/or subject to applicable college disciplinary procedures. Members of the college provided with safety presentations during class orientations. They are also available to talk to any department or groups of students. The orientations and talks are, designed to educate members of the college community about the services provided by the college and how to avoid becoming the victim of a crime at the college. The personal possession of firearms in all campus buildings and on all campus property is, strictly prohibited. This prohibition applies to all students, employees, independent contractors, and visitors, including those who have a valid permit to carry a concealed weapon.

Crisis Management Individuals who possess a valid permit to carry a firearm may however, keep it locked in the trunk or glove compartment their vehicle in a campus parking lot. This prohibition does not apply to authorized security or law enforcement personnel. Individuals wishing to store firearms and ammunition at college can do so by bringing them to the Office of Safety and Security. Except under circumstances noted above, students and employees are, prohibited from using, storing or possessing weapons, fireworks or explosives on property owned or controlled by the College and/or in the course of any College program or employment. Weapons may include, but are not limited to,: firearms, pellet guns, air rifles or BB guns, paintball guns, bows and arrows, sling shots, water balloon launchers, martial arts equipment, swords, switchblade and large knives, and clubs. Therefore, according to the security policies and on the base of orientation, which, was provided to the student body. It seems that the gunman who was carrying the weapon, should be well aware about the consequences. It is strongly recommended to call the security and let the policy know about him that they may arrest him. However, it is very important to secure the building and vacuum it. If this

Crisis Management part is, properly handled, and the police are informed and have taken charge then there is no further need to do anything with the person who is accused of such crime. However, counseling is needed for both the girlfriend and the boy who were threatened by the gunman. Now for the third stage, when the gunman kills the student and escapes. The most important thing is to protect the rest of community from such a person. The college should be vacuumed carefully, the police should be involved throughout the process, and both the college community and the public should be informed through the proper source of media. The following are the some of the important points to be considered in such a situation. 1. Make the school building secure. 2.

Provide counseling for students and teachers.

3. Choose a spokesperson to deal with media. 4.

Give the dead body the proper respect; that is, the school should help the family members organize a funeral ceremony.

5.

The girl who was involved in this scenario should be provided proper police protection and professional counseling.

Crisis Management Like V-Tech there are chances of mistakes.

But to

minimize risk it is imperative to close all possible gapes that might allow the gunman to kill himself or others. For instance, in Cho’s case (who was the killer in V-Tech), it should be reported to the school and state properly that he has mental illness; further, that he has a tendency to suicide. How was he able to get a gun when state law says no mentally sick person can buy any firearms? Perhaps it would be a different situation if his record of mental illness had been taken into consideration seriously. If it would have been available and the shopkeeper would have known of his illness, perhaps he would not have sold him a firearm. The following are a few suggestions to prevent the schools from such horrible and painful incidents. 1.

All education institutions should develop a screening process but make sure it remains private and is not used for discrimination.

2.

All education institutions should have outside and inside security procedures. Outside means, the security department should have immediate access to all emergency services. Inside means, there should be a student-to-student accountability process so that

Crisis Management students can report problems and concerns about their fellow students to administrators. It can be done in several ways.

The first way is by groups. Divide the

students into small groups and appoint a group leader either from students or from staff. Secondly, develop a buddy system so that the students can hold each other accountable. 3.

Behavior reports should be considered very important for both admission in the school and while students are going to school. The behavior reports from teachers and from parents would help administration to determine whether a student has any emotional, physical, or educational issue. It would also help the administration to evaluate the student’s character and behavior, to determine whether he or she is a threat to the school or community.

4.

Regular monthly mandatory appointments with school counselors or psychologists to evaluate their behavior would be very helpful to track down those who might be harmful to the students and community. This service should be provided by the school so that the student does not feel obligated to pay for such things (since it is for the school’s safety).

Crisis Management 5. Limited numbers of students in each class, department, and building will help to identify the person who is not behaving properly. 6.

Multiple exits for each class room. In this era where valance is so common it is necessarily important to change the structure of buildings. Make enough room in the building that the emergency services can easily access all class rooms.

This way they can easily

locate the troublemaker without harming other students. The best example is the World Trade Center. The structure was one of the main reasons that emergency services could not do a lot to save people. Also, terrorists used the structure to plan their evil action. That is true in the case of V-tech as well. If the building structure was a little different perhaps it would have saved a few more students from dying and getting injured. 7.

No matter how good a crisis management plan is, it is very important to take everything seriously. There is no room for a mistake when it is matter of death and life. It is sad how the director of security responded to the first shooting. It would have been a very different situation if the classes had been cancelled or the university had been shut down. Chief Flinchum

Crisis Management the head of security at V-Tech said that initially officials thought that the shooting was “domestic,” suggesting that it was between individuals who knew each other, and isolated to the dormitory. He said the campus was not shut down after the first shooting because authorities thought that the attacker may have left the campus, or even the state. “We knew we had two people shot,” he said. “We secured the building. We secured the crime scene.” He later added: “We acted on the best information we had at the time.” It is important to uncover the true situation. Even, if it is just only gun display still it is threatening. 8.

It is also important to put some kind of lights or alarms to inform the students about the situation. One of the best things is to train students about what to do in such situation.

Crisis Management

References Witness survives by pretending to be dead. Retrieved June10, 2007, from http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/16/vtech.shooting/index.html

The New York Times. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from http://www.nytimes.com Virginia Tech. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from http://www.vt.edu/campus alert.php Virginia tech messacre. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia Tech messacre Daily Orange. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from http://media.www.dailyorange.com/deia/storage/paper5 22/news/2007/04/26/News/Virgina.Tech.In.Case.Of.Emer gency.Vt.Tragedy.Spurs.Analysis.Of.Sus.Safety.Proc.2 881581.shtml

Crisis Management SUNY the state university of new york. Retrieved June -10, 2007, from

http://www.suny.edu/sunynews/News.cfm?filname=FINALJRR Testimony-LaValleHearingCampusSafety.htm