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School Lockdown

5/25/2016

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by Joy Dike, PhD
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Having and practicing a lockdown procedure at your school is something we ceaselessly advocate for here at Invictus Consulting. We believe that drilling your plan is just as important as having a plan. We've talked about this multiple times before on this blog - look here and here and here and here and here for further discussions of this topic.

What I want to talk about today is a scenario in which your school needs to go in to lockdown because of something happening nearby. Earlier this month in Katy, Texas a disgruntled former employee walked into the front door of his former place of work, yelled something about his life being ruined, aimed his shotgun, shot at multiple people (killing one of them), and then took his own life. This man had been fired from the company recently and was out to get revenge. We could discuss this situation in the context of workplace violence and warning signs or situations that may cause an employee to commit an act of violence, but the focus of this blog post is on the nearby schools. A high school, a junior high school, and an elementary school are located directly across the street from the business where the shooting occurred. These schools (Morton Ranch High School, Morton Ranch Junior High, and Franz Elementary) went into immediate lockdown. 

There are a few issues to think about here. (Before we go any further, please understand that this commentary is in no way reflective of the Katy ISD Police or schools and how they conducted themselves. The active shooter situation and subsequent school lockdowns in Katy, Texas are merely serving as the jumping off point for a thought exercise here.):
  • Why didn't the other nearby schools go in to lockdown as well? A map of the area seems to indicate that there are at least three other schools within a mile of the business where the shooting occurred and another four schools less than three miles from the shooting. That's a total of 10 schools within a 3 mile radius of this incident. It seems that the local school district department put the first three schools on lockdown, but if you're a parent or educator or employee at one of the other nearby schools, wouldn't you want to keep your students safe as well? A lockdown plan (in addition to being drilled regularly), should stipulate what circumstances qualify for initiation of the lockdown procedure.
  • At least three nearby schools did go into lockdown mode even though nothing violent happened at these schools; they were put on lockdown because of a nearby incident. If you are an administrator or educator, you need to realize and understand that incidents at other locations can affect you, even if the incident is not on your campus. Many administrators and educators that we work with think that nothing bad will ever happen at their school. Whether or not that is a reality, the fact is that bad things may happen near your school, and this should be reason enough to write and drill a lockdown procedure.
  • The three schools put on lockdown were ordered to do so by the local school district police department. We've met with a lot of school administrators who feel that they are perfectly well prepared for a lockdown or active shooter event because the local police department has a SWAT team. While a trained SWAT team may be effective in neutralizing an active shooter, are you going to rely on that SWAT team to set up your mass notification system? Audit your security protocols? Audit your camera and alarm coverage? No, of course you're not - its not the job of the SWAT team to write an evacuation plan for you or to make sure your mass notification system is in place and functioning properly. The job of the SWAT team is to neutralize the threat. The point here is that having a local police department and/or SWAT team is not enough - you need to have a proper security audit performed for your school and a proper lockdown procedure written and drilled. 

We are always sorry to hear about active shooter events, and our condolences go out to the family of the employee killed by the active shooter. However, we do strive to learn from active shooter incidents, and this particular incident has the ability to teach us a few things about school lockdown procedures. 

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Scenarios Your Business Continuity Plan and Business Impact Analysis Probably Don’t Cover: Lease Issues

11/30/2015

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by Joy Dike, PhD
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​Consider the following situation: A major hurricane comes through your city and devastates part of the city and you will need to move out of your building for a number of months. Hopefully you have a business impact analysis and a business continuity plan that cover the situation where employees can work remotely and business can continue apace during this time. Great. You’re on the right track.
 
Now consider this: Your lease dictates that you still pay rent on your business space, even when you’re not occupying the space. Even when NO ONE is occupying space in the building. Even when they building is off limits for 6 months. We’ve seen this happen after Hurricane Sandy.
 
Have you examined and reviewed your lease recently? Do your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan say anything about the cost associated with moving office for 6 months? Does it say anything about paying rent during this period?
 
We are not suggesting you need to re-negotiate your lease. What we are suggesting is that you need to include your lease and associated costs in your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan. Don’t’ forget about these things.
 
Continue to follow us as we discuss other unusual situations that you probably haven’t thought about when it comes to your business impact analysis and your business continuity plan.

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Paris

11/13/2015

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Our thoughts and prayers go out to those affected by the Paris Attacks. Sadly we see this play out all too often. The new “norm” is terrorist attacks intent on killing as many as possible. Have a plan. Be aware.
 
As with all situations of this matter, information is fluidly changing as the situation continues to develop.  A full review of the situation will be possible once law enforcement is able to complete clearing the scene, establishing control, and can conduct an investigation.

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Scenarios Your Business Continuity Plan and Business Impact Analysis Probably Don’t Cover: City Lockdown

11/6/2015

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by Joy Dike, PhD
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​There is an explosion in your city, and it turns out that a building near yours has had a gas leak and explosion. Law enforcement has responded, and they have shut down portions of mass transit, closed streets, and put buildings on lockdown. 

​You might think: How does this scenario fit in with my business continuity plan or my business impact analysis? It might not if the lockdown lasts for an hour or so. But what if your employees can’t get to work that day because transit and streets are closed? You might lose an entire day of business because of this. If your business is small, maybe one lost day isn’t a big deal to you. More likely though, an entire day of lost business will deal a blow to your company.
 
What if the explosion was terrorism related? What if city officials tell you that you can’t move back in to your building for a few days or a few weeks?
 
A scenario involving city lockdown (or even major disruption on public transport) is something you might want to consider for your business impact analysis or business continuity plan.
If employees can’t get to work because the city is on lockdown, it probably doesn’t mean that they can’t work from home. Don’t simply give everyone a free pass because of something beyond your control that doesn’t even directly affect your building or company. If you have contingencies in place in your business continuity plan and your business impact analysis for events like this, you won’t be scrambling trying to keep your business going in a situation like this.
 
Continue to follow us for more scenarios you’ve probably never thought of when writing or reviewing your business continuity plan and your business impact analysis. 
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  • Home
  • About Us
    • Our Values
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    • Security Management
    • Emergency Response & Planning
    • Design & Engineering
    • Business Continuity
    • Training & Education
    • Project Management
  • Resources
    • Resources
    • Case Studies >
      • Education Sector
      • Water Sector
      • Workplace Violence
      • Active Shooter Statistics
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