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

The "Safe School Initiative" was implemented through the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center and the Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program. The "Initiative" drew from the Secret Service's experience in studying and preventing assassination and other types of targeted violence and the Department of Education's expertise in helping schools facilitate learning through the creation of safe environments for students, faculty, and staff. This document, the "Safe School Initiative's" final report, details how the two agencies studied school-based attacks and what they found. Some of the findings may surprise readers. It is clear that there is no simple explanation as to why these attacks have occurred. Nor is there a simple solution to stop this problem. But the findings of the "Safe School Initiative" do suggest that some future attacks may be preventable if those responsible for safety in schools know what questions to ask and where to uncover information that may help with efforts to intervene before a school attack can occur. It is hoped that the information presented in this final report is useful to individuals on the front lines of this problem--the administrators, educators, law enforcement officials, and others with protective responsibilities in schools--and to anyone concerned with children's safety. Appendices include: (1) Incidents of Targeted School Violence by State; (2) Incidents of Targeted School Violence, by Year; and (3) Resources. (Contains 31 footnotes, 13 resources and 2 online resources.) [This report is an update of "The Final Report and Findings of the "Safe School Initiative": Implications for the Prevention of School Attacks in the United States", which was published on May 2002. To access this report, see ED466024.]