Further research on the Internet revealed a blog article by Ken Trump, Buyer beware: Risky school safety consultants, expert witnesses. This article provided some relevant info. His first question, "If
a consultant represented himself as having written dozens of “books”
in a short period of time, did he really write “books” or perhaps a
series of short pamphlets or booklets instead of real books?" This question should be
one a school administrator asks when viewing a person's resume.
However, this is clouded by knowing what constitutes a "book." The dictionary tells us that a book is: 1. A set of written, printed, or blank pages fastened along one side and encased between protective covers. 2.a. A printed or written literary work.
There is nothing that mentions length of time between books, or the length of the books. A booklet is a thin book, and a pamphlet is usually just a few pages without binding. What is more important than the length of work is the content of the work. Consider the impact of Thomas Paine's pamphlet Common Sense. So consider the content, not the length of work or other extemporaneous details.
Of more importance is the technical expertise of the expert, and for what particular reason you need this expert. Mr. Trump goes into this a bit as well with his next question, "Did the “expert” actually work in K-12 school settings specifically on
safety, security, and emergency preparedness issues or were they
employed in capacities where, at best, they were remotely involved with
such responsibilities?"
The key here is to ask yourself in what regards do you need this school safety expert, then ask in what capacity that person worked with the schools, and what they accomplished in that position. A security guard may be well grounded in security, and in some aspects of safety, but may not necessarily have a similar background in all matters of safety, or in emergency management. A security guard may have knowledge of emergency management, and if that is what you need the expert in, you would need to ask them about their knowledge of emergency management. An EMA director should have excellent knowledge of emergency management, but they may not know the various issues in implementing such measures in a school setting.
Remember,
often among peers in any line of work, a certain amount of competition
or rivalry develops which can color viewpoints. It's worthwhile to look
to what is fact and what may be nothing more then innuendo. Don't assume
you're getting the correct information until you've done a little
research on your own, to verify the veracity of what you're being told.
The lesson here is caveat emptor, "Let the buyer beware." Mr. Dorn, Mr. Babitsky and Mr. Trump are telling us to look into the backgrounds of people who will be working for us, and to not take anything at face value.
Good advice.
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