Nassau County Focuses on School Safety After Sandy Hook
Nassau County Police Department held its fifth Active Shooter Seminar on Wednesday at Adelphi University, with an invitation extended to all public and private schools, as well as hospitals and large corporations, in order to prepare civilians to deal with an armed person in a public setting.
Weeks later, the nation is still on edge following the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, where twenty children and six faculty members were gunned down by a 20-year-old gunman wielding his mothers licensed rifles.
Like Lanza, an active shooter is any armed person who uses deadly force on others, with unrestrained access to additional victims.
“While we all hope to never face such an active shooter situation, Nassau County is leading the nation in preparing school administrators,” County Executive Ed Mangano said in a statement. The safety of our children is of paramount concern and working with the Nassau County Police Department we will continue to advance preventative measures that enhance education and preparedness.”
Officials used the seminar to discuss ways to improve school safety, and former New York State Homeland Security chief Michael Balboni told attendees that the state is considering sustainable and cost-effective solutions, including automatic lockdown systems in threatened schools.
Other measures discussed by security experts included beefed up video surveillance systems and advanced reporting/notification and communication systems.
Notably absent from the suggestions were any plans to post armed security guards or police within schools, or to train and arm teachers and school faculty with fire arms, as the NRA Vice President suggested a week after the Sandy Hook shootings.
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