Education

Violent incidents in schools have been a near-constant concern since Columbine High School, though it has been an issue dating back much further. According to the Center for Homeland Defense and Security’s (CHDS) database on Shooting Incidents at K-12 Schools, between 1970 and June 2022 there were 2069 shootings resulting in 684 fatalities and 1937 injuries. Education Week tracks school shootings and as of August 2023, there have been 27 school shootings that resulted in either death or injury. The FBI publishes annual reports for active shooter incidents, though, unlike other shootings, they use very specific data criteria. These comprehensive reports are available online but data on incidents per year in educational facilities and numbers of killed/wounded can be seen below.

Active Shooter Incidents In Schools – FBI

  • Incidents

  • Killed

  • Wounded

Unlike other industries, the field of education has been taking this threat seriously for many years. Most organizations perform annual active threat drills; however, these are often based on older and sometimes even outdated training concepts. Additionally, they do little in the way of training prevention or recovery.

Not all training is equal

Active threat training should not be ‘one-size fits all’. Different industries and businesses have different organizational cultures. The same is true within an industry; for example, training for a university would differ from that of an elementary school. Although training should be based on current tactics, it needs to be tailored to the individual needs of the client.

Drills can be effective but have proven to be far more impactful when proceeded by tabletop exercises. Tabletop exercises are more impactful when proceeded by mindset training. NJ Burgett, LLC is dedicated to impactful and sustainable training. Often organizations have one hour of one day for this type of training and it is up to us to deliver training that has a higher chance of being retained for the remaining 364 days. It is through embedding training in an existing healthy culture that we have the greatest chance of prevention and mitigation of violent incidents.

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