Crocker Farm Elementary School, Monday morning
So for the first time in memory, I was actually happy not to see an overt police presence, even though that was the expectation. Not that uniformed officers make school children or their parents nervous.
At least, normally, not in Amherst.
But these times are far from normal. The shock waves from Friday's mass murder are still profoundly in the present, like the dark gloomy weather that delayed by two hours the opening of the Amherst schools this morning.
A police department is, by nature, reactionary. You see something wrong, call 911, and they come quickly. But they can't possibly stand guard, at all our schools, during all their hours of operation. For that we would need to mobilize the National Guard.
And is that the message we want to send to our kids: Our schools can only be safe when patrolled by armed guards?
Amherst has come a long way in implementing strong security protocols, a byproduct of Jere Hochman's tenure circa 2003-2008. Before that, the doors remained open during school hours. In spite of what happened at Columbine in 1999.
But then again, when I grew up in Amherst a generation ago, my mother never felt the need to lock the front door at night.
Our flag is at half staff today to honor and remember those innocent lives lost ... but will soon return to its routine position atop the staff. Friday however -- like 9/11 -- was a morning to never forget.
20 comments:
Actually it was Maria Geryk who implemented strong security in the ES. It was just last year that the doors began being locked in all ES during the day. Let's give credit where credit is due.
My experience is mostly with Crocker Farm, and I seem to remember the locked door policy going into effect a few years back.
I will say Maria is doing very well with communications (also very important).
The locked door policy at Fort River did not start until last year. Maria Geryk is responsible for standardizing security measures in our schools.
Maria gets the credit.
Now you can stop bending over backwards.
Brilliant comment, CAN 6:08.
All one needs to do is buzz to get into Fort River. The locked doors mean shit frankly. No security can stop someone and frankly the Amherst "security" is about the same as the front doors being open. And this guy in Connecticut did the same thing. Broke into a locked school.
And how do you get into Crocker Farm ?
Transporter.
I'm serious. Are folks also buzzed in at crocker farm as they are at fort river?
Forget asking how he got into the school and start asking exactly what it is that the FBI found in his house that "helps explains" why he did it.
I suggest that perhaps we ought to insist that whatever it is that the FBI has found ought to be made public and soonest. After all, the perp is dead...
I think locked doors at the schools are a terrible idea.
They slow down first responders and won't stop somebody determined to get in (the doors were locked in Newtown).
AFD still carries axes (not to mention chain saws).
From the Amherst school system today:
"In addition, please take note that when you buzz to enter a building, the office staff will be asking that you come directly to the office upon entering to sign in. This is just one way that we are working to be more careful and attentive to safety in light of our review of our current practices."
What a joke.
Oh and when we blindly do buzz you in please don't take your guns and go shoot students, report to the office on your own good merit first and sign in would you. This is just one way that we are working to be more careful and attentive to safety in light of our review of our current practices.
It's about as silly as when they ask you if you have any flammable bombs in your mail when you go to the post office.... Um, no, nothing in my packages is dangerous. Thanks for asking.
Frankly the Amherst buzzing system is ridiculous and they might as well leave the door open because that is about how effective the blind buzz anyone that rings the buzzer is. But somehow people feel it's safe.
I hope they also carry Halligans, my personal favorite tool for making expedient entry into a building. Even quicker if you can do it is to secure a chain to the door, the other end to the front bumper of the fire truck, and drop the truck into reverse....
Yes, you can chop the door down, but there is a bit of time involved that sometimes you really don't have, and besides, it is an awful lot of work to do something like that when you are wearing all that gear....
Gavin is right though, it isn't hard for a perp to get into a school and there isn't much you can do about that.
People are not blindly buzzed in at Fort River. There is a camera so the office staff can see who is at the door before buzzing them in. I suppose a known parent could also go off and enter the building and wreak much havoc. That is the depressing fact of all of this. No one is really safe anywhere.
Oh and office staff know who that is in the wide angle face distorting camera? I've come to the school with just me, once with a scarf and hat covering my face and another time with a goodie pulled tight and each time I'm buzzed as fast as they can push the button.
That said who cares. There are over 100,000 schools in the US. Since 1998 there have been about 31 school related shootings. The odds of you getting hit by lightening and catching a world series foul ball are greater than your kid getting hurt by a gun at school. Relax. Stuff happens. It's never acceptable but you don't need to run off and think it can happen to you too anytime soon or in your lifetime.
Wow! Somebody on this thread is really worked up. And what would you suggest to help. We've certainly heard your whining. The schools doors are locked. Is that a bad thing?
When you buzz to come in someone in the office, a hard working clerical person in all likelihood, is going to look at you through the windows or the camera and then open the door electronically. While this system is not an armed guard at the door, it is a substantial improvement in security.
You obviously want to blame somebody for something, though that too is unclear.
The schools have been working hard since Columbine to face the dark times we leave in and drill for the worst. I know because I teach in these schools.
And that is a big change in school culture, to wonder if some mentally ill person with a high powered automatic rifle is going to shoot his way into your school.
But we have been dealing with that. You don't hear us whining. So what exactly is your beef. People are trying, man, and all you can do is look to blame someone for something. Get on board and help or get the hell out of the way.
We're trying to teach our children and give them safe , happy lives. What are you doing?
to wonder if some mentally ill person with a high powered automatic rifle is going to shoot his way into your school.
First and foremost, the principal and school psychologist were helping his mother get a guardianship of him so she could commit him against his will. That is a whole lot more than being innocent bystaders...
Second, the Bushmaster is by no means either "high powered" or "automatic" and facts do matter.
The M-1 rifle used during both WW-II and Korea (made in Springfield) was a high powered rifle that shot the .30-06 round. Research showed that the majority of firefights were at close range where high powered rounds weren't necessary and the M-16 was designed to fire a LOW powered and SMALLER bullet, the .223 round.
This is morbid but needs to be said -- you can shoot someone multiple times with these .223 rounds and not kill them, where hititng the person in the same place with a standard handgun round (9MM or .45) would kill them, as would hitting them with a high powered .30-06 round.
And then as to "automatic" -- those have essentially been been banned since 1933 and the Bushmaster is no more an "automatic" weapon than a vehicle's cruise control is autopilot.
Even our soldiers aren't issued a fully automatic weapon anymore -- the M16 now only has single shot and three shot options -- no nore fully automatic for a bunch of reasons including the fact that it jams.
Not that I want to confuse members of Team Maria with the facts, but ask yourself one other thing -- what if he had just stolen a gasoline tanker truck and simply rammed it into the school. Think there might have been a few more dead children in such case?
Well you've done it again, Ed. Your fascination with minutia, and addiction to mindless argument has you looking to start an argument.
You win, Ed.
Merry Christmas!
Bah Humbug - Christmas is the work of Satan....
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