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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, School Safety

September was a very interesting month and a very good month for connecting the dots – including international dots. Transcending Boundaries Together & Pilot Program On September 11, I boarded a plane headed for Trinidad and Tobago, more specifically Port of Spain. My trip to Trinidad was to be the keynote speaker for the Transcending Boundaries Together with a focus on “Violence Prevention: An Integrated Community Approach”. It was an honor to be part of this international conference focusing on preventing violence and an honor to share the stage with Dr. Patricia Elder who is the founder and CEO of Elder Associates Limited. Dr. ElderRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, Government, School Safety, Security

August was a good month for connecting the dots. 2018 National School Security Roundtable August started with the 2018 National School Security Roundtable in Washington, DC.  The roundtable was hosted by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Academic Engagement and was attended by around 100 pre-qualified attendees. Day 1 of the roundtable started with speakers from DHS (Mr. Frazier) and FEMA (Mr. Long) and then Mr. Ryan Petty spoke about the horrific tragedy that took place in Parkland, FL.  Mr. Petty’s daughter Alaina was one of the 17 shot and killed in the massacre. Mr. Petty shared his heartfelt thoughts as well as whatRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

HOW can schools, organizations, and communities PREVENT shootings, violence, tragedies, and other incidents? The sad truth is most shootings, violence, tragedies, and other incidents were PREVENTABLE, but too many times prevention efforts failed.  To understand HOW to PREVENT, you must first understand WHY so many shootings, acts of violence, tragedies, and other incidents WERE NOT PREVENTED. Do you know WHY so many prevention efforts have failed? The best way to understand WHY is to research hundreds and hundreds of post-incident reports and identify the common denominators with each failed prevention.  Because hardly anyone has years or thousands of hours to research hundreds and hundreds ofRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Connect the Dots, Education, First Preventer, Incident Reporting, indicators, Risk Management, School Safety, Security

It’s no secret Security Cameras are on almost every school and organization’s wish list, especially at budget time. In fact, billions of dollars have been invested in Security Cameras and other security products… but questions about whether Security Cameras are the best solution for preventing Active Shooters and other acts of violence are emerging. Recent media stories are questioning the law of diminishing returns and Market Analysts are commenting on how anxiety is bolstering multi-billion-dollar security industry. Jim Dearing, an economist at the market research firm HIS Markit, commented how, “The U.S. spends a lot more per capita on security than any other country,” yetRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Education, First Preventer, First Responder, indicators, Prevention, School Safety, Security

Research reveals the biggest school security and school safety failures, and their common denominators. But do you know what the research says about school safety & school security? Columbine High School (1999) Sandy Hook Elementary (2012) Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (2018) Q: What are the Common Denominators since 1999 (nearly 20 years)?  A: The Pieces of the Puzzle (concerning behaviors, suspicious activities, pre-incident indicators, warning signs, etc.) remain scattered across community members and across the social media community, which is why Prevention fails again and again. Because it is impossible to Prevent everything, School Security and Response solutions are clearly needed, but it’s also clearRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Connect the Dots, Education, Incident Reporting, indicators, Prevention, School Safety

Dear School Administrators, Community Leaders, and Lawmakers: “Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill  Each of you have a huge opportunity as you deal with adversity and as you make choices that students, parents, and others are demanding to fix and stop school violence and to make sure students will #NeverAgain face a tragic shooting attack in their school. The huge opportunity requires a combination of common-sense, evidence-based analysis, and an unbiased willingness to understand what must be done DIFFERENTLY to disrupt evil and stop school violence and tragic shootings.  You essentially haveRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Health Care, Information Security, Prevention

It’s Patient Safety Awareness Week (March 11 – 17), are you sure you’re doing everything you can to keep your patients safe and ensure they are receiving the best care they can? The evidence from the tragic attack at the Veterans Home of California in Yountville mirrors similarities we have seen in hundreds of other previous attacks. The similarities exposed involve failures with “Connecting the Dots”. Clearly, more than enough “Dots” (warning signs, resources, etc.) were available to disrupt the escalation of evil but again the warning signs (“Dots”) were missed or not acted upon by the appropriate team or community member. By not ConnectingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Incident Reporting, Prevention, Uncategorized

[Disrupting Evil] Disrupting Evil attacks on innocent students and adults in schools, organizations, and communities is possible, but disrupting evil requires immediate changes. The recent act of evil in Parkland, Florida at Stoneman Douglas High School exposed numerous Enormous Dangerous Gaps that have already allowed hundreds of evil doers to attack schools, organizations, communities, and our nation, leading to a BIG growing problem.  How many more attacks before actions? A BIG growing problem is how easily Physical Security (armed guards, alarms, access controls, locks, cameras, etc.) has been defeated in schools, organizations, communities, and our nation (such as 9-11 and other terror attacks).  The Big GrowingRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer, Incident Reporting, Risk Management, School Safety, Uncategorized

[Prevention] Would you prefer to REACT to an attacker at your front door? Or would you prefer to DISRUPT and PREVENT the attacker from getting to your front door? At speaking events, 99.9% of people raise their hand for prevention, but is that where people are putting their energy and budgets? How does an active shooter drill – teaching run, hide, fight – prevent the next shooter? It doesn’t! We’re not saying these drills aren’t important, but how are they preventing future incidents? How does a camera prevent the next shooter/shooting? It doesn’t! A camera has never stopped a gunman. How does a crisis orRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Education, Incident Reporting, Prevention, Rick's Notes, School Safety, Uncategorized, Video

[Student Safety] Are you ready to transform and improve student safety by PREVENTING school shootings and other incidents? Watch this video. If you want to keep the status quo and keep Responding to them…don’t watch this video. Download an updated school shootings chart to compare your school’s security to others who have had incidents, how is your school any different? Warning Signs: awareity.com/warning-signs/ Client Transformations: awareity.com/transformations/ [inf_infusionsoft_inline optin_id=optin_3]Read More →