Today, school safety and the ability to respond to an emergency or
crisis situation at a school has become of paramount importance. Crime,
particularly violent crime, is a problem at many schools around the
country. Consider these startling statistics:
¥ From 1996 through 2000, teachers were victims of 1,603,000 nonfatal
crimes at school, including 1,004,000 thefts and 599,000 violent
crimes. On average, this translates into 74 crimes per 1,000 teachers
per year.
¥ In the year 2000 alone, students between the ages of 12 and 18 were
the victims of 700,000 violent crimes and 1.2 million crimes of theft
at school.
¥ Last year 9 percent of all students and education staff nationwide were
victims of felonies.
On April 20, 1999, the unthinkable happened in Columbine, Colorado when
13 students and staff were killed and 23 wounded by 2 students who
entered the school with firearms and went on a literal rampage. No
parent, teacher or school administrator will ever think of school
safety and security the same way again. But Columbine may have just
focused attention on a problem that had been lingering for some time.
Americans had almost become desensitized to school violence before
Columbine. There were literally hundreds of murders in our schools
before most of us ever heard of the name Columbine.
The events of September 11, 2001 and the ongoing threat of terrorism
have only served to reinforce the need for high security on our school
campuses. School violence is actually compounded by Homeland Defense
issues. What better way to spread true terror than by attacking a
school? In Israel, schools and school buses are common targets of
Islamist terrorists.
An important first step
Fortunately, efforts are being made to establish procedures and
standards for keeping schools safe and dealing with emergencies. The
first step in that effort is known as ÒThe SOS Littleton Initiative.Ó
The SOS Littleton Initiative was spearheaded by the Littleton, Colorado
Public School District and Xybernaut Corp., the world leader in
tactical, wearable computers, to conduct a full-scale school emergency
management demonstration to identify the best-practices and technology
solutions to assist first-responders during school emergencies.
Specifically, the Littleton Initiative is designed to benefit schools
in Colorado by assisting in the digital mapping and archiving of
critical operational information necessary to initiate tactical
intervention, rescue, and recovery operations at a number of school
district sites.
Congressman Tom Tancredo of Colorado was a key to putting together a
May 21st training exercise in Littleton and he had the Columbine
tragedy in mind when he decided to lend his support:
ÒNo one will ever forget the tragic Columbine shootings in 1999. It is
a constant reminder that we must continue to do all we can do to
prevent further tragedies at our nationÕs schools. That is why I fully
support the Littleton Initiative. One of the chief obstacles responders
had difficulty overcoming in the Columbine tragedy was the lack of an
updated and accessible information clearinghouse allowing emergency
personnel to obtain even rudimentary information about the
buildingÑthings like the location of exits, hallways, or even a basic
floor plan for the school. Acquiring that information could someday
help us save lives.Ó
Under the Littleton Initiative, the first responder communities in
Littleton, Colorado, a suburb of Denver, conducted a full-scale
evaluation of technologies and best practices for managing emergencies
at schools.
A high-tech tactical training exercise
Tactical first responder units from federal, state and local law
enforcement demonstrated procedures and technologies implemented under
the Littleton Initiative program in a full-scale, mock training
exercise at the Littleton Elementary School. The purpose of the
exercise was to demonstrate how the school district and the first
responders would perform in the event of a school emergency.
One of the units participating in the exercise was the Littleton Police
DepartmentÕs SWAT team, commanded by Lt. Bill Black. Largely due to the
Columbine tragedy, Littleton SWAT trains at school sites six times per
year, after the school district requested an active training
association with school security personnel. Black says that his team
has conducted roughly a dozen exercises with the school district.
The May 21 exercise was the first exercise in which BlackÕs team was
able to test Xybernaut equipment and the ÒSEMPSÓ (School Emergency
Management Program) system. Created by Guy Grace, the manager of
safety, security and emergency planning for the Littleton Public School
District, SEMPS has the potential to make first responders instantly
capable when they arrive on the scene of a school-based emergency.
Using Xybernaut hardware, a SWAT team can use SEMPS to call up stored
images of a schoolÕs interior layout, or even video of classrooms and
passageways before they enter the school. The system can also show
firefighters where to find a schoolÕs shutoff valves and it could be
used to alert police to potential hiding places for intruders.
The training was designed to be very realistic and involved scripted
scenarios using actors. Among the scenarios that were presented were an
Òactive shooterÓ script and a hostage rescue situation. Xybernaut
computers, using the SEMPS software, are instrumental in such
scenarios. This combination puts a wealth of information right at the
disposal of the on-scene tactical commander, including imagery of the
target area.
The Effects of 9-11
Lt. Black explained that units such as his, even in smaller
municipalities, have had a change in emphasis since the September 11th
terrorist attacks. More and more of their training involves countering
weapons of mass destruction (WMD). As might be expected, the equipment
needs for such missions are extensive and most departments are still
ramping up nearly two years after 9-11, still outfitting for WMD.
Unfortunately, much of the Homeland Defense money has not trickled down
from the Feds; in the last fiscal year, the state of Colorado received
only a $5 million grant for the entire state.
Xybernaut equipment can be vital in WMD scenarios, particularly since
their computers have already been integrated with and are totally
compatible with all known WMD sensors in the US inventory.
Going nationwide
The Littleton Initiative is just the first part of a larger nationwide
effort to establish safety standards in schools. The individual who had
more to do with creating the Littleton Initiative was Guy Grace:
ÒThe most important fact is that we are using this as a platform to
talk about the ÒSOSÓ Standards of Safety in our nationÕs schools. All
school district across the nation should have standards for dealing
with school-based emergencies and security operations. At this time
there are no set standards for any school district to follow when it
comes to security operations. The overall objective is to emphasize the
importance of high standards of safety in our nationÕs schools.Ó
Grace went on to say, Ò School-based emergencies present an array of
significant issues, particularly in our day and age. All educational
entities are well advised to adopt response procedures and technology
designed for immediate, effective implementation. An effective response
in dealing with todayÕs types of school emergencies starts with using
the appropriate action learned from oneÕs training and in many cases
using necessary technology to facilitate that appropriate response.
And Grace is definitely doing his part to make nationwide standards
a reality and develop technology to make AmericaÕs schools safer. He
created the software that is the heart of a portable emergency response
system. The SEMPS software works with Xybernaut hardware to give SWAT
and fire/rescue teams a leap forward in terms of technological
capability. Grace and Xybernaut have worked as a team to ensure that
first responders could make use of his immensely valuable tool. The
SEMPS software works with all of XybernautÕs wearable computers,
including the ubiquitous MA V, the first choice among military and law
enforcement units around the world, to form the portable emergency
response system. This 1-pound, 500 Mhz computer can be fitted on an
emergency response vehicle, complete with a small monitor, a keyboard,
and a headset. Of course, the computer also becomes portable when
attached to the belt of a police officer wearing the headset and
monitor. The system also includes tiny, chest-mounted cameras that
could allow a police officer conducting a search to transmit live
images back to the monitor.
According to Grace, XybernautÕs MA V is a great platform for running
the virtual tour section of SEMPS due to its mobile computer
configuration. The MA V also offers hands free display and voice
activated browsing of the SEMPS program. Moreover, the MA V is wireless
compatible. This allows it to be used as a web browser on the go or as
a server to other mobile devices, including computer-operated cameras,
sensors of various types and hand-held devices. In addition to the MA
V, XybernautÕs new Atigo line of ultra-user-friendly mobile/wearable
computers look very promising, according to Grace.
It comes as no surprise that Xybernaut has stepped up to provide the
tools to help school security and law enforcement officials use the
SEMPS system to make our schools safer. As Xybernaut CEO Steve Newman
likes to say: ÒWe specialize in Ômass customization.Õ We always build
in special features and capabilities for every customer.Ó
Grace actually began developing his software before the Columbine
tragedy happened as a better way to investigate break-ins when he began
compiling detailed information about LittletonÕs public school
buildings on computer. According to Mr. Grace, the objective was to
assemble all the data that would be needed in school-based emergencies
for each school within his district into easily accessible formats
using CD/DVD ROM and PC hard drive storage. The software can provide
school, police and fire department leaders with a virtual tour of
school facilities and contains comprehensive, interactive, hyperlinked
information that includes emergency contacts, main utility shut-off
locations, security system and fire system device locations, building
floor plans, maps, video photography, related community information,
and aerial photographs.
The Littleton School District, in conjunction with the Colorado
Association of School Resource Officers is now hard at work in
preparing and formalizing the concepts of the SEMPS program and
distributing it to other school districts and public safety agencies
throughout the US and Canada. SEMPS can be customized to meet the needs
of any sized agency, providing a cost-effective and fully operational
source of information. Best of all, the SEMPS application is available
for FREE as a platform from which more effective emergency management
can be coordinated to schools.
Xybernaut and Grace had been testing the system with the Arapahoe
County SheriffÕs Department and the Littleton police and fire
departments even before the May 21st exercise and it holds great
promise for future law enforcement and rescue work nationwide.
Also working with Xybernaut on this system was Second Chance Body
Armor, AmericaÕs leading provider of ballistic vests and other forms of
body armor. Second ChanceÕs founder, Richard Davis invented soft body
armor and, in the early days, literally stood, not just behind, but
also in his product while it was being tested against the impact of
bullets!
In addition to being a pioneer in the field of body armor more than
three decades ago, Second Chance has worked with Xybernaut in
pioneering body armor than can incorporate and protect Xybernaut
systems in a real-world tactical environment. The two firms have been
working together in a strategic partnership for five years providing
equipment to both law enforcement and the defense department. Second
ChanceÕs products specialize in saving lives and have done so in 896
cases over the past thirty years. Obviously, first responders have an
absolute need for body armor because they put their lives on the line
every day in potentially deadly situations. Xybernaut and Second Chance
have worked together to integrate XybernautÕs wearable computers with
Second ChanceÕs tactical vests to give law enforcement the best tools
to deal with varying situations. The Xybernaut/Second Chance
configuration is the only one of its type in the world and includes a
CJAZ tactical vest with a channeling system for wiring and system
components. Second ChanceÕs vests not only protect the wearer, they
also protect the computer he is wearingÑagainst rounds up to .44 magnum
(adding plates to the vest can increase the ballistic protection level
even more).
Second Chance had three representatives on hand at Littleton to help
law enforcement personnel with their product line: Factory
Representative Matt Davis, Tactical Products Manager Steve Samek and
Tactical Instructor Richard Wren.
Tancredo has been trying to arrange funding for a
nationwide initiative. On April 24th, he requested that the Justice
Department provide funding under the new ÒSecure Our SchoolsÓ program.
That program would incorporate many of the features that Grace and
Xybernaut have pioneered, including, digital archiving of floor plans,
utility diagrams, digital photographs of rooms, hallways, and other
areas that could be made available to first responders, assisting them
in crisis situations like the Columbine tragedy. The information would
also be useful in meeting a variety of other homeland security and
first responder needs.