Southeast Schools

Site Threat Assessment for the Goshen County School District #1 in Goshen County, Wyoming Prepared by: P.O. Box 1163 Fenton, MO 63026 (314) 813-0311 [email protected] Proprietary material-confidential document-handle and store this document in a restricted manner Disclaimer The findings of this assessment are general in nature and should be weighed against cost, practicality and reasonableness. 0311 Tactical Solutions, LLC assumes no responsibility or liability for any changes in security protocols that either fail or succeed during any sort of emergency or critical incident. Recommendations are based on common security protocols and aimed at enhancing Goshen County School District’s ability to better recognize, deter, prevent and respond to armed intruder type situations. Every situation is different and flexibility in any plan is crucial. Preface The purpose of this analysis is to provide an objective assessment regarding security measures currently in place at the facilities of the Goshen County School District located throughout Goshen County, Wyoming, measured against accepted standards for similar entities. Recommendations growing out of this assessment must be examined in light of the costs associated with their implementations well as the potential they may have on impacting the important day to day functions of the schools. Security enhancements must also be consistent with identified threats and concerns. In considering the range of potential threats to the safety and security of Goshen County schools, it can be concluded that many threats are possible but far fewer are probable. It should be those threats that are most probable that receive the most attention. The assessment encompasses all of GCSD buildings. Several common themes and issues existed and multiple, if not all, the schools. Thus, some of the assessment taken as a whole may seem repetitive. Assessment Methodology One method of threat assessment used in this assessment is the “HLS-CAM M/D SHARPP MATRIX”. The HLS-CAM™ is a five-part continuous process consisting of the following: • Threat Assessment - examines and defines a community, identifies critical facilities, infrastructures and events, identifies threat groups, determines the likelihood that, given the current intelligence or designated federal, state or local threat levels, a specific target will be subject to terrorist or hostile criminal attack. • Criticality Assessment - determines the overall impact of a terrorist attack on a given target and the adverse effect it has within a community. • M/D-SHARPP Matrix - used to analyze criminal and/or terrorist targets that have been identified through the Community Threat Assessment and Criticality Assessment. The M/D-SHARPP further analyzes the targets using information obtained in the Threat Assessment and looks at the target through the threat group's perspective. • Community Priority Assessment Plan - derived from the Criticality Assessment and the M/D-SHARPP Matrix and is used to determine the order of priority for the vulnerability assessment of critical facilities, infrastructure and events as identified during the Community Threat Assessment. • Vulnerability Assessment - a critical on-site physical examination and thorough inspection of an assets perimeter, property within the perimeter, and building exterior and interior spaces to include all operational systems and procedures along with the security of a facility. The M/D SHARPP matrix assigns point values to factors to be considered during a risk assessment. These factors include but are not limited to: • Economic Impact • Environmental Impact • Symbolic effect • Mission of the entity • History of the entity • Accessibility • Recognizibility • Proximity to other assets All seven Goshen County School District facilities along with the Central Administration building were placed in the matrix following walk-through assessments of each location. The total was compared against 39 other locations we have conducted assessments on including public and private buildings, landmarks and venues. LAGRANGE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLLLLRANGE Assessment Findings and Recommendations EXTERIOR The area surveyed was the LaGrange Elementary School campus bordered by E Street to the north, 2nd Avenue to the east, D Street to the south, and 1st Avenue to the west. The remote location reduces the possibility of a spill over event from another location having an impact on the school campus. However, the school is physically connected to another building housing other entities to include a pre-school and a restaurant. It should be noted though, access to the school cannot be gained from this building. The negative aspect of the location is that it sits approximately 35 miles from the Goshen County Sheriff’s office in Torrington. Also, according to staff, this area is not a highly traveled area by law enforcement and other first responders. Thus, we recommend establishing a Sheriff’s substation in conjunction with the Goshen County Sheriff. This only requires a small room or work space where Deputies can come to the school to do paperwork, use the restroom, etc., should they be given an assignment or be patrolling in the LaGrange area. Clearly and conspicuously post “Goshen County Sheriff’s Department Substation” on the front of the building. Send a message to anyone who may be looking that a law enforcement officer could come by at any time. Stocking the room with a small refrigerator with soda, water and light snacks always helps in getting Deputies to stop by. Arial view of the LaGrange Elementary School campus The assessment will begin by addressing the exterior perimeter of the property. With due respect to the desired atmosphere that an academic institution needs to maintain, there are cost effective, non-invasive measures that could be put in place along with minor improvements to existing security assets and procedures. The main entrance will be any visitor’s first impression of your facility. As with most schools, the front entrance is comprised of a lot of glass. While it is cosmetically ideal, from a security standpoint it poses many challenges. While the procedure of requiring all visitors to be buzzed in is a very good policy, we recommend the purchase of some ballistic window tint for the main entrance doors and adjacent windows. Tint of this type can withstand multiple rounds from high caliber weapons. While, eventually, the tint can be defeated by multiple rounds, it buys time for the staff inside to alert authorities and either shelter in place or evacuate through another exit. As mentioned earlier, the main entrance to your building is the face of your school and will be any visitor’s first impression. Anyone considering carrying out a criminal act at LaGrange Elementary will likely do a reconnaissance of it first. The security posture at your main entrance will be very important. One Active Shooter statistic of note is that 40% of these events are committed by a suspect with no connection to the facility what so ever. The presence of good visual deterrents at your main entrance will have influence on a potential attacker who is simply looking for a soft target and not necessarily looking to attack LaGrange Elementary specifically. Also, the presence of faculty and staff at the main entrance during high traffic times is important. Main entrance and south side Principal’s office door Starting with southside of the building, it was clear that a camera station was missing and in need of replacement. The staff on hand was unsure what happened to the camera or why it had been removed. This also serves as a visual indication to anyone looking to do harm at the school that security measures may not be what they should be. The south side entrance to the Principal’s office is another location where ballistic window tint could be an important security addition for the same reasons mentioned above. The west side of the school has three entrances: double doors, gym access doors and storage room door that also has access to the gym. There is no camera coverage on the west side of the building and none of these doors are alarmed. The west side of the building also has a think tree line that runs along the western edge of campus along 1st Avenue. This tree line could provide concealment to a potential intruder giving him time to work on doors that are not alarmed or monitored by cameras. We recommend trimming back some of this foliage. While we understand the costs associated with installing alarms and cameras, a low cost, cosmetic option could be installing shell cameras. These are camera mounts that look real but are not actual cameras and are not actually wired. They serve as nothing more than a visual deterrent. An armed intruder looking to attack a school, and not necessarily this school, will likely conducted a reconnaissance first. If he/she sees several cameras posted at key locations, he may move on to another location. Let us emphasize, the preferred solution is real cameras and active monitoring of them, but in the absence of that, fake shell cameras are an option and usually run between $20-$30. West side of building in need of camera coverage There are key pieces of the school’s infrastructure on the exterior of the building that have unobstructed access creating a potential security issue. Propane tanks on the northwest and northeast corners of the campus are very close to the school building and have no physical barriers around them to prevent someone from tampering with them. Fire and explosions have served as a precursor for multiple school attacks in the past. If moving the tanks further away from the school is not a feasible option, we suggest some sort of fencing around them. There are also two electric panels that are vulnerable to tampering as they have no physical barriers to prevent access. The same can be said for the school bus gas pumps.

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