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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer, Prevention

Had enough with bad things happening? If you agree it is time to start PREVENTING tragedies and evil, please continue reading. Immediately below is the Tale of Two Wolves followed by a blog I published on December 18, 2012… An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good– he is joy, peace, love, hope,Read 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*, 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*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, First Responder, Prevention

No matter who you were cheering for… the Super Bowl was exciting, history-making, and it provided super valuable lessons for anyone who is responsible for leading a team or an organization! First valuable lesson If you want to be a “winner” you need BOTH Offense and Defense. There is an OLD SAYING that “Defense wins championships” … but have you ever seen a team win a championship with the score 0 to 0?  No! To win a championship the Offense must do their part too. Second valuable lesson The Super Bowl showed how a good Offense can come back even after a horrible start andRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, Prevention

Numerous surveys reveal: 99.9% of people WANT a shooter to be prevented from arriving at their organization rather than responding to a shooter at their organization. 99.9% of people WANT a terrorist to be prevented from attacking their organization rather than responding to a terrorist attack at their organization. Evidence-based data and lessons learned reveal: Hundreds and hundreds of acts of violence were preventable, but failed to be prevented. More research from the “The Final Report and Findings of the Safe School Initiative” by the Secret Service found in over 80% of the shootings, other people knew about the attack before it took place. TheRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, First Responder, Prevention

Burlington/Seattle. New York. New Jersey. Minnesota. Orlando. San Bernardino. Chicago… and on and on. How do communities, states, and nations stop mounting violence? It requires leadership across organizations, communities, states, and nations to actually make changes. Leaders from all levels of government (and organizations too) have been “talking about preventing violence” and “talking about changes” for years, but in reality people are creatures of habit and rarely change until the pains get so bad they have to go from talking about changes to making changes. How much more pain will you and your community allow and endure before you start making changes? What Changes NeedRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, First Responder, Prevention

Fifteen years after 9-11-2001 we still honor all First Responders for their responses and we remember the tragic losses of 265 people on four planes, 2,606 people in the World Trade Center and 125 people at the Pentagon…and we honor the losses to their family and loved ones too. Fifteen years later, we have learned there are tens of thousands of people who responded and worked at ground zero who are now coping with long-term health effects including physical ailments and complications from mental health issues like post-traumatic stress disorders. We also learn about the ongoing suffering and struggles of the health effects have onRead More →