Buyer's Remorse

Yesterday's front cover of the World-Herald had a somewhat interesting article- in the wake of the awful shooting of a vice principal at Millard South by a student, the Millard School District hired a company called Crisis Management Inc. to advise them on making their schools safer.

In the wake of a tragedy, it's only natural to look for answers and solutions.  But honestly, this is what Crisis Management Inc. came up with?  Their recommendations:

-adopt a “closed campus” policy that would bar high school students from leaving their campuses at lunchtime.
- A ban on student cellphones.
- Requiring students to wear mandatory identification cards and to use backpacks or bookbags that are clear or made of a mesh product so the contents are visible.
-Baggy clothing also should be restricted, the consultant said, because weapons can easily be concealed under such clothing.

I won't debate the merits of each policy, because of one simple fact- not one of these policies would have prevented the tragedy from happening.  I just don't have patience for irrelevant supposed solutions.  For example, a few weeks ago we took our daughter to the Shrine Circus, where they made a big show of searching purses- but announced loud and clear that they were not searching diaper bags.  If you've ever seen the size of some of these diaper bags, you probably realize that you could sneak in a B-52 Bomber in one of these things.


The reason why this particular tragedy was able to take place was because a police officer- who should know better- did not lock up the gun that was used in the crime.  Not because of cell phones, baggy clothes, or kids going out to grab Taco Bell during lunch break.  Would this have happened if the shooter didn't have easy access to a weapon?  Of course, nobody can tell with certainty, but I would say it's doubtful.

As a side note, I've tried in vain to look for any disciplinary action that has been taken against the officer- either through the Omaha Police Department or through the Prosecutor's Office- and haven't found anything nor do I recall of hearing of any punishment meted out.

One could argue that he paid the ultimate price in losing his son, and it would be tough to argue against it, but would a non-police officer receive the same treatment?   Ironic, because I found the following quote from Chief Hayes from the aftermath of this incident:  “We don't expect our children to act like this. We're not any different than anybody else in society.”

To finish up, I'd like to go back to their point about cell phones.  The article states: 

Cellphones helped spread misinformation during the Millard South shooting incident, in some cases to the news media, Lutz said.

Probably true, but how many students were able to talk to friends and family to confirm that they were unharmed and safe in the wake of the shooting?

I'm not sure what Millard Public Schools paid for this, but I can imagine they are having a serious case of buyer's remorse today.  I can find very little about Crisis Management Inc. on their website, but it appears they are basically a public relations company and not a security consulting firm, unless I am missing something.   Better keep the folks from Millard Public Schools away from the Home Shopping Network on TV, or maybe their house is already filled with ShamWow! towels, Ginsu knives, and cheap jewelry.   

(Note:  I wrote the bulk of this before I say my partner-in-crime had also tackled this subject.  Our interests typically lie in different directions, so I think it says something about the idiocy of this plan that we both went after it.)