Columbine forces rethinking in how to combat gunmen

Changes have occurred since the deadly shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado took place almost 10 years ago. Security measures have been enhanced in school systems, and law enforcement personnel have taken a step back to evaluate procedures for dealing with armed intruders.

Speaking before New Kent’s School Board during the group’s meeting Monday night, county Sheriff F.W. “Wakie” Howard Jr. said his department is becoming proficient in the preferred strategy based on lessons learned from Columbine.

The first police units arriving on the scene at Columbine set up a perimeter around the school and operated from there. Studies since have found that was the wrong approach, Howard told school officials.

“If you have a situation, don’t pull back and wait,” the sheriff said. “The first officers move in and try to neutralize the threat.”

Since January, deputies in Howard’s office have undergone training in how to deal with what police term “active shooters.” Instruction has run the gamut from viewing videos on Columbine to advancements in technology and weapons used when confronting armed adversaries. Subtleties seemingly as insignificant as an officer’s stance and posture become an integral part, the sheriff said. Eventually, participants are grouped into teams for live simulations where use of deadly force is not out of the question.

Howard, meanwhile, is requiring all of his 33 full and part-time deputies, including animal control officers and those whose normal routine is providing courtroom security, to complete the 48-hour course.

Why? The answer is his office’s close proximity to three of the county’s four schools, Howard said. Only steps away is the middle school, and a few hundred yards beyond lay the high school and one elementary.

“Only three or four of us [plus court bailiffs] may be on duty if a threat arises,” he said, adding that having all personnel properly trained heightens chances for a rapid and successful response if deputies who normally patrol county roads are not immediately available.

The middle school building has been the training site on Sundays since January. So far, deputies have logged 36 hours. There are 12 hours to go in the course, which is dubbed “Patrol Response to Active Shooter Training.”

York County Sheriff’s Office deputies, who have been schooled at the National Tactical Officers Association in Colorado, are the instructors. And they have devised scenarios based on the design of Watkins Elementary along with the middle and high schools that New Kent deputies played out recently with Henrico Jail East as the stage.

Howard said the training is valuable, giving his deputies an advantage should a gunman be lurking in the hallways at a county school.

“God forbid that this will ever happen, but if it did, we would have a step up on it,” he told school officials.

In another matter Monday night, board members received a final report from a Bus Safety Task Force commissioned in the wake of an accident in January 2006 that claimed the life of a county middle school student who stepped off an after school activity bus in the dark on Route 249 and was struck by two vehicles. Red stoplights aboard the bus did not activate.

Several task force recommendations have been put in place to enhance bus safety, including a pair having statewide implications. New Kent has been instrumental in General Assembly passage of laws requiring a “fail-safe” mechanism aboard all new buses so that red stoplights are activated whenever a bus door opens. School Superintendent Roy Geiger said all New Kent buses, including older models, have been fitted with the devices.

Also, the General Assembly passed a task force recommendation to allow stickers placed on buses. Specifically, the task force lobbied for stickers that provide a phone number for motorists to call if they observe unsafe driving or other bus-related incidents.

New Kent, meanwhile, has implemented a task force recommendation to enhance bus driver training. Transportation director Stephen King told the board that New Kent’s three-day, before school training session each year goes beyond state requirements.

“It’s not only operation, but maintaining discipline and training students how to get on and off the bus,” he said.

A handful of bus stop locations have been changed for safety reasons, and measures have been taken to prevent incidents of other motorists failing to stop for buses with red lights flashing where required by state law, particularly in the Route 33/Eltham corridor. New Kent sheriff’s deputies in unmarked cruisers often follow buses and some ride aboard to spot violators.

Howard, who is a task force member, told the board his office’s “School Safety Initiative” continues to target the Eltham area where numerous violations occur. A tractor-trailer driver and a motorcycle operator are the latest to be cited by a deputy aboard a bus, he said.

Signs warning motorists to watch and stop for buses loading and unloading children have been erected in the Eltham area. School officials also received permission to park a bus, adorned with a warning sign, on private property near the Route 33/273 (Farmer’s Drive) intersection.

Task force recommendations to lower speed limits, particularly on Route 249 west of Route 106, to 45 miles per hour have been blocked by VDOT studies, but efforts persist.

“I think it’s just a matter of time before the speed limit on 249 comes down,” board chairman Joe Yates said.

The task force, however, declined to recommend eliminating activity buses and certain regular stops as well as pulling off Route 249 to unload students and requiring right side of the road exit off buses for all students.

“Care was taken not to make changes that could create additional hazards,” Geiger said.

In other business Monday, the board:

–Applauded county residents Sally and Kevin Eddowes for a donation of 1,300 sets of seven books (one set per student in grades K-5) from the Jane Goodall Institute. Sally Eddowes is director of brand management for the organization. Goodall is the world-renowned wildlife activist made famous by her work with chimpanzees;

–Recognized Boy Scout Kyle Fox for attaining the rank of Eagle Scout.