School Safety and Security
ALICE
Informational Meeting
School Safety and Security
The goal of ALICE is to empower all staff in the
school to respond in any emergency situation. This
may include an active shooter in the school.
School Safety and Security
ALICE is one part of an overall
safety and security plan.
Other key pieces include the following:
• Site based safety committees and audits
• Evacuation procedures/plans
• Drill schedule and practice
• Entrance control plans
• Cameras
• Communication tools
• Panic alarms
• Threat assessments
• And many others!
StopTheShootings.org
Map of school shootings 1992-2013
WE NEED TO BE PREPARED
TO RESPOND!
 16 School Shootings since Sandy Hook (as of 10/28/13)
 17 dead
 18 wounded
 “There’s a greater chance of being killed by
lightning than in a school shooting….”
 Really?
 Since Oct. 3, 2012:
 1 lightning death at school event
 44 deaths in school shootings
WE NEED TO BE PREPARED
TO RESPOND!
 25 years of mass shooting events have
yielded a national average for the arrival
response time of Law Enforcement to an
active shooter scene.
 How long will it take the police to arrive?
5-6 Minutes
We Have Three NATURAL
Responses
 Flight: Evacuate
 Freeze: Lockdown (Secure-in-Place)
 Fight: Counter Strategies
Which is the preferred?
A.L.I.C.E.
Common Sense, just not Common Knowledge
Alert
Lockdown
I nform
Counter
Evacuate
ALICE is NOT a linear, sequential response.
ALICE is based on the premise that information,
authorization, and proactive training are the keys to
surviving an Active Shooter.
ALICE is not a complete
procedure; it is a set of general
recommendations that has to
fit each building and grade
level.
There is no way to anticipate every
possibility.
ALICE moves from, “What if?” to
“When-Then.”
Alert
 Information is the key to good decisions
 Information should flow in all directions
 Provide as much initial information as possible to
as many people as possible
 Use any and all available means: Texts, PA, Digital
Signage, Web, Twitter, Facebook, Bells, etc.
Lockdown
 Excellent starting point
 Locked doors provide a time barrier. Locks can, and
have been defeated.
* Windows and blinds?
 BARRICADE: The idea is to create a stronghold that
nobody can breach… BE A HARDER TARGET!
Lockdown is a semi-secure
starting point from which to make
survival decisions. If you decide
not to evacuate, then secure the
room.
*Lock the door.
*Tie down the door, if possible, using
belts, purse straps, shoe laces, etc.
* Barricade the door with anything
available (desks, chairs, etc.)
ADD VIDEO LINK
Lockdown• Secure the door and move out of the
doorway .
• Look for alternate escape routes
(windows, other doors).
• Call 911.
• Silence or place cell phones on
vibrate.
• Do not open the door for anyone.
• Police will enter the room
when the situation is over.
Inform
 Provide as much real-time information
as possible - by all means possible.
 Use the information to make single or
collective decisions as to the best option
for survival.
 Information can create options for us.
Example: “Armed intruder in main gym.
Shots fired.”
Discuss how this information could assist
you?
Inform
• All staff members are empowered to
pass on real time information
• Provide who, what, where, when and how
information if possible
• Use plain language
Allows staff members to make
informed, common sense decisions!
Counter
This is the use of simple, proactive
techniques if you are confronted by the
Active Shooter.
• Anything can be used as a distraction.
• Create as much noise and distraction as
possible.
• Throw things to disrupt and create a
distraction.
• Staff could use the swarm technique
Evacuate
• This is our best option if there is a way
to get out safely.
 If the intruder is inside, you get
outside.
 Establish reunification/Rally points .
School Safety and Security
We MUST change our mindset from believing
that our only option is to lockdown.
The Staff will determine what the best
option is to keep you and your students as
safe as possible at this critical moment.
Empowering EVERYONE to make decisions
that can save lives!
Why do we practice?:
Everyone knows exactly what to do when a
fire alarm sounds. You’ve practiced it
since you were in kindergarten (or before).
The last time a child or teacher died in a
school fire was …..?
1958
“In a moment of decision, the best thing you
can do is the right thing. The next best thing
is the wrong thing. The worst thing you can
do is nothing.”
Theodore Roosevelt
With that quote in mind, we have
taught staff that they are authorized to
make decisions to protect themselves
and their students, such as…
Pulling a fire alarm
Calling 9-1-1
Making an all-call
QUESTIONS?
Comments/suggestions for the
site-based and District’s Safety
Committees to consider.