by Ron Borsch

EARLY CITIZEN AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OPTIONS

Just as we have mistakenly treated the symptoms of a malady instead of the root cause, so too have we failed to adequately address the copycat root problem of Rapid Mass Murder© (1) by an active killer (2) in educational facilities and workplaces.

When the shooting starts, the "Final Option" for citizens is to run, hide or fight. An armed citizen in the right place at the right time needs to be seriously considered for schools and workplaces. Enlisting licensed volunteer parents, even younger grandparents to be "Hall monitors" in schools where they have a vested interest in the safety of their children is currently a neglected resource. All that is required is written permission from the school board, some vetting, and an extra training program. The present arrangement is the unintentional creation of a "Killer Empowerment Zone"©.

Law enforcements final option is armed intervention. While law enforcement has total control with their own response, it is beneficial for both the community and law enforcement to become partners in an advisory capacity with their schools and workplaces to assist in the development of earlier options and strategies to avoid the final option.

What is "KIDS" and where did it come from? KIDS© (3) is an acronym for the concept of a "Killer Inside Discovered Sooner"©. KIDS evolved from the pressing need to explore any and all early options to avoid the "final option" after the shooting starts. Typically in school murders the criminal is a student, former student, suspended or expelled student. The exceptions are facilities such as Day-Care, Pre-School, Kindergarten and Elementary schools where the killer is typically an outsider and where restricted entry is the most crucial. In workplace incidents, typically the murderer is an employee, former employee, suspended or fired employee.

INCREASING THREAT

For both schools and workplaces worldwide, between 1975 and the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Colorado, rapid mass murder events occurred on average, about one per year. Post Columbine to date, we are averaging almost four a year. 2011 broke the record with an all time high of eight (8) rapid mass murder events. Unfortunately, we are already on track for another record-breaking year. Of all the different locations of copycat rapid mass murder, +/- 60% are at Schools and Educational facilities. This is probably because juveniles and adults with "Numerous Unstable or Troubling Symptoms"©, (NUTS (4)), are more susceptible to the Copycat Effect (5).

While law enforcement in general is aware of active killers, rapid mass murder, and how they occur, your local schools and workplaces may not be. They may be confused and thinking in terms of hostages, negotiation, or organized terrorism when in reality these are not the threats they are typically facing. For example, in our 20-minute prerequisite for rapid mass murder, no hostage taking, negotiation or organized terrorism incidents in schools or workplaces come to mind. The cowardly active killer is indeed a totally different bird than a hostage taker.