School Safety in the News 5-8-13

Governor Pence signs school safety bill

Porter County Commissioners support school safety efforts

The importance of school safety stressed by Hutchinson

Penn State University hosts seminar on school safety

Tennessee school district to conduct a security assessment

Washington governor signs bill that requires schools to work with law enforcement

Burrell School District focuses on SROs and access control

Crimes against Children 4-27-13

Whitefish Bay High School student accused of forcing girl to perform oral sex

3 eight-year old boys allegedly attempt to sexually assault a female classmate

9-year old student with disabilities was allegedly sexually assulted at school

Tuscaloosa man charged with possession of child pornography

North Carolina sentenced for child pornography

High school teacher arrested, charged with rape of student

Sentence given to former Baptist school teacher

Last member of 8-person conspiracy to trade child pornography is sentenced

Scottish police are asking for any information of a sexual assault of a 14-year old girl

Georgia high school student arrested on sexual assault charge

NC high school student charged in classmate attack

Safe Havens, International

Crimes against Children 3-31-13

Vincennes man arrested for child abuse - wishtv.com

Lawsuit claims second-grader sexually assaulted on school bus - The Courier-Journal

 

Farmington schools substitute teacher charged with sexual assault - Observer and Eccentric Newspapers

San Diego Man Arrested on Federal Charges Involving Child Pornography and Enticement of a Minor - San Diego 

• Jacksonville Man Indicted on Federal Charge of Production of Child Pornography - Jacksonville

Middle schooler arrested in school shooting plot

Safe Havens, International

Crimes against Children 1-29-13 Part II

Man watched child porn for 'stress relief', court hears - The Age

Former policeman gets three-year community order for downloading child pornography - The Daily Mirror

Md. man pleads guilty to distributing child porn - SFGate US

Celebrity Architect Charged With Creating Child Porn Images - Wcbstv

School caretaker had gravest images of child porn - Limerick Post

Missouri man gets 3 years for porn cartoons - Kansas City Star

Convicted rapist enters plea in child pornography case - Channel 8 Eyewitness News

Virginia inmate gets life for advertising child porn - Daily Press

Neb. man pleads not guilty to federal porn counts - Channel 8 Eyewitness News

Porn addict caught with images of paedophilia takes police to court in bid to retrieve six confiscated computers - Mail Online

High school student sexually assaults a fellow student

Safe Havens, International

Six Teen Girls Arrested and Charged for Brutal Attack

Chester, PA

Six teen girls from Chester, Pennsylvania were arrested and charged for beating up a mentally challenged 48-year-old woman, and posting the video on Facebook.

The teen girls who assaulted their neighbor “just for fun” were charged with aggravated assault, reckless endangerment, burglary and harassment.

The woman who simply tried to offer the girls some gum or candy was repaid by getting severely beaten up by four of the girls. The attack happened on September 25th outside the woman’s house and continued into her apartment.

“It appears just for fun,” Chester police Detective James Nolan said. “There hasn’t been a discernible explanation as to why.”

The victim didn’t go to authorities, but sought medical attention for her injuries. In fact, police only learned about the assault after a local parent saw the brutal video posting on Facebook.

Expert Witnesses: A Current Hot Topic Part II

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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