School Safety Experts Disagree on Lock Down Procedures After Newtown Shooting

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Dec. 16, 2012

Crane said 300 schools and universities have implemented ALICE since the mid-2000s, but Sandy Hook Elementary was not one of them.

In the days to come, Crane said he will be curious to learn how long it took for word of the shooting to reach teachers before the shooter made it to certain classrooms, and whether anyone had time to leave. He pointed out that the people shot and killed in the Columbine library sat there for five minutes before the shooters entered and shot 18 of them.

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Crane said standard lockdown drills often happen only once a year, but fire drills happen once a month. When he teaches ALICE courses at schools, teachers often tell him standard lockdown drills involve turning out the lights and sitting quietly for 20 minutes, which doesn't make them feel safe.

In response to the Connecticut shooting, police in New York City, Los Angeles, Oakland, and several Maryland school districts stepped up visible school security.