Critical Incident: What to Do in the First 20 Minutes

• NCJ Number: 216075
• Author(s): John Bason
• Date Published: 2006
• Length: 0 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC)
• Corporate Author: North Carolina Dept of Public Instruction; North Carolina Dept of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; North Carolina Dept of Justice Attorney General's Office
• Sale Source: North Carolina Dept of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Ctr for the Prevention of School Violence
• Publication Format: CD-ROM
• Publication Type: Instructional Material
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This CD-ROM presents a dramatization of a critical school violence incident followed by a step-by-step analysis of the critical incident response.

Abstract

Introduced by Roy Cooper, the North Carolina Attorney General, this training scenario was prepared by the North Carolina Attorney General's Office, the North Carolina Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and North Carolina’s Department of Public Instruction to prepare North Carolina’s schools for critical incidents. The dramatization features a teacher who spots a young man with a gun walking through the parking lot toward the school. The teacher immediately initiates the critical response plan by alerting the office of the danger, locking the classroom door, and posting a green card on the door and classroom window indicating to law enforcement that the classroom has been secured. Meanwhile, the principal was following the critical incident plan by accessing the Critical Incident Kit and alerting law enforcement. The dramatization depicts the law enforcement and school administration responses that ultimately end in the apprehension of the suspect and the evacuation of the school. A step-by-step analysis of the critical incident response is then offered, which highlights several phases of the response: (1) communication; (2) the Critical Incident Response Kit; (3) the card system used on the doors and windows of classrooms; (4) the authority and roles of law enforcement and school administrators; and (5) the priorities for law enforcement, school administration, and teachers and staff during the critical incident. The analysis underscores the importance of a clear communication system for critical incidents that is universal across the entire school system and the importance of coordination between law enforcement and school administration in the development of the critical response plan. Contact information is provided to gain additional information about critical response plans and assembling a Critical Response Kit.