Community Corner

Are School Lockdowns Becoming Too Normal?

A Maryland school went on alert status because someone reported a person in the nearby area holding a tree trimmer that was mistaken for a gun.

At least 10 schools in Maryland have been placed on alert or in lockdown in less than three months, according to Patch reporting, for reasons ranging from a convict who escaped custody to a man found sleeping in a hallway and a tree trimmer mistaken for a gun. 

School officials face an obvious challenge in trying to make decisions on whether to lock down an entire school facility and put student and parent nerves to the test.

With the recent spate of incidents, we asked Patch Facebook readers to weigh in on the issue.

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Here is the rundown on the incidents, themselves:

Earlier this month, a man was found sleeping in the hallway of an Anne Arundel County school after he gained access through a door that was not fully latched. Those in the building were relocated while police searched the school to confirm the man was alone. Police charged the man with trespassing.

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A burglary gone awry resulted in three Edgewood schools being locked down on Nov. 6 after a resident reported he was kicked in the knee by a man attempting to enter his home. Officers, a K-9 unit and the Maryland State Police helicopter searched the area for the man but could not locate him.

As a precautionary measure when an inmate walked away from work detail on Oct. 15, an Annapolis elementary school went on heightened alert to secure the building and have police present at dismissal. The escaped inmate was taken into custody the next day in west Baltimore.

Three schools in Perry Hall went on lockdown on Oct. 4, but the perceived threat turned out to be a person with a tree trimmer someone mistook for a gun. In this case, officials determined there was no security threat.

Bowie school was placed on lockdown after a report of gunshots in the area on Sept. 13. Police searched the area with K-9 units and police helicopters, and the lockdown was lifted when it was determined there was no threat to students.

The search for a wanted felon from Pennsylvania led to the lockdown of an elementary school outside Havre de Grace on Aug. 26. The wanted man reportedly ran into a cornfield. Since the search was still on at the end of the school day, officials said there was an increased police presence at dismissal as a precaution.

Earlier in 2013—but during the last school year, officers arrested one man at the scene of a burglary in Bowie on May 19 but the second suspect fled in the area near a Bowie elementary school. The school was placed on lockdown during the chase and officials warned that it was just a precautionary measure. Police later charged both men in connection with the burglary.

After a gas station was held up on May 2, three Bel Air schools went on lockdown. The schools are all within a mile of where the robbery was reported and school officials said it’s standard procedure in the case of an armed robbery.

A Gaithersburg high school was locked down on March 4 after two bounty hunters in pursuit of a man landed in the school’s parking lot. School officials said the lockdown was precautionary and students were never in danger. The bounty hunters later pleaded guilty to assault and bringing a weapon onto school property.

Patch readers responded on Facebook that it’s better for schools to take precautions when there isn’t an immediate threat than to be unprepared in an emergency situation.

“I think the schools should lock down (but carry on their day) when a suspect who has committed a crime is on the run,” wrote Marycarol Skaggs on Bel Air Patch’s Facebook page. “Whether the suspect is known to be armed or not is irrelevant—desperate people do desperate things.”

“It may seem like overkill if they do it when there is a vague threat but they have to take any threat, no matter how vague, as a serious one,” Brian Coghlan wrote on Columbia Patch’s Facebook page.

So, under what circumstances do readers think schools should go on lockdown?

“Anytime that there is any question about safety of students and staff,” Eileen Cavaness Stewart wrote on Elkridge Patch’s Facebook page.

“Gunshots, intruders, local shelter in place orders, imminent dangers outside (floods, tornadoes, prison breaks),” Vicki Miller Pitman wrote on Parkville-Overlea Patch’s Facebook page.

“Any sign of ANY threat to the school,” wrote Kelly Haught Cangemi wrote on Westminster Patch’s Facebook page. “Or any weird person lingering around the school ... Strange cars around the school.”

“Each potential threat must be handled completely differently (fire, natural disaster, enemy, etc),” wrote Timothy Scott Berkemeier on Perry Hall Patch’s Facebook page.

“When it's apparent that a threatening person(s) is inside or outside of it or if something unsafe is going on outside nearby, especially with reports of gun shots because bullets can go far,” Ellen McCourt Scarano wrote on Annapolis Patch’s Facebook page.

“Schools work with emergency management officials, local and state police and other school boards to do all they can to keep kids safe,” Chris Hersl  wrote on Perry Hall Patch’s Facebook page.

“I am supremely glad that I am not in charge of that decision!” Julia Jackson McCready wrote on Columbia Patch’s Facebook page.

TELL US: When should schools pull the lever on a full lockdown? Leave a comment to let us know.


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