should seek the advice and help of other communities that
have addressed similar problems, adapt these solutions, and tailor their approach
to their specific situations.
Communities must take a team approach
to addressing school violence. Addressing specific issues requires cooperation
among schools, families, police, and other community members. If school violence
should occur, a community will rely on many agencies to respond. No one agency
holds the key; rather, teamwork stands as the definitive method of acheiving
success.
Remaining well informed represents
the best approach when addressing school violence. Community officials should
refer to the plethora of resources available to help
them make informed decisions about school violence.
Finally, and perhaps most important,
communities must take a proactive approach when addressing school violence.
As previous tragic events have shown, no amount of preparation can ever eliminate
school violence, but proper preparation can help reduce its impact on American
communities.
Endnotes
1 U.S.
Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, “The School Shooter:
A Threat Assessment Perspective, 2000,” (Washington, DC, 2000); http://www.fbi.gov;
accessed March 14, 2001.
2 For
additional information on school violence, see S. Band and J. Harpold, “School
Violence: Lessons Learned,” FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, September
1999, 9-15.
3 Dale Yeager, quoted
in R. Kanable, “Patrolling the Schools,” Law Enforcement Technology,
September 1999.
4 See, for example,
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention,
“The Annual Report on School Safety,” (Washington, DC); http://
ojjdp.ncjrs.org/pubs/violvict.html; accessed February 23, 2001.
5 Alexander Volokh
and Lisa Snell, “School Violence Prevention: Strategies to Keep Schools
Safe,” Reason Public Policy Institute, January 1998; http://www.rppi.org/education/
ps234.html; accessed February 23, 2001.
6 The U.S. Department
of Education has published “Early Warning, Timely Response: A Guide to
Safe Schools,” which describes how to develop and implement an early identification
and intervention program; http://www.ed.gov/ offices/OSERS/OSEP/earlywrn.html;
accessed March 15, 2001.
7 For additional
information, see, supra note 1.
8 For additional
information, see F. Hoang, “Preplanning for School Violence,” Law
and Order, December 2000, 107-109.
 |
The Bulletin's
E-mail Address
The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin staff invites
you to communicate with us via e-mail. Our Internet address is leb@fbiacademy.edu.
We would like to know your thoughts on contemporary
law enforcement issues. We welcome your comments, questions, and suggestions
about the magazine. Please include your name, title, and agency on all
e-mail messages.
Also, the Bulletin is available for
viewing or downloading on a number of computer services, as well as the
FBI’s home page. The home page address is http://www.fbi.gov.
|