The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative: Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States

Abstract

This publication results from on ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education. Its goals are to determine whether it could have been known that incidents of violence at schools were being planned and whether anything could have been done to prevent them from occurring. Results from the Secret Service's Exceptional Case Study Project (ECSP) are used to organize planning. This report describes the Safe School Initiative, defines targeted school violence, and discusses the prevalence of school violence in American schools. The methodology of this study, sources of information, and an analysis of survey responses are also discussed. Incidents of school violence are characterized, including characteristics of the-attacker, conceptualization of the attack, and signaling, advancing, and resolving the attack. Implications of study findings and the use of threat assessment as a strategy to prevent school violence are presented. Appendix A lists incidents of school violence by state; Appendix B lists these incidents by year; and Appendix C is a list of resources. Contact information follows the appendices. (Contains 13 references and 2 Web site resources.) (RT) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. mmmumppm..00WASWItSIIM-1114e-e. %i THE FINAL REPORT AND FINDINGS OF THE. SAFE SCHOOL INITIATIVE: IMPLICATIONS. FOR THE PREVENTION OF SCHOOL ATTACKS IN THE UNITED STATES ONITEDSTATES SEC! ET, SEIIVICE 31, N D ONITED STATES DEM FITO4 INT OF EDOCATION U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) 'This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. WASHINCT'ON, D.C. May 2002 2 BEST COPY AVA1 BLE ge)