Columbine's Affects on School Safety
Following Columbine the United States wanted to make all schools safer, which meant increasing the students and faculty's physical protection. Before Columbine there was almost no chance of seeing a armed guard, or "resource officer" in school, however after this shooting it became routine in schools around the nation. These resource officers are police officers who patrol, and help in school matters. These officers will act as police officers first, especially in the case of an intruder. These officers will have the potential to stop a crime in progress, their presence will also help deter criminals. The President came up with a plan to fund these resource officers by creating a programs including one called Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS). The President's plan, to make schools safer, put 150 million dollars aside to fund to hire resource officers, and also create connections between local law enforcement and the school. Between the years of 1999 and 2003 the ratio of officers to students was 3,360, and the number of student crimes was about 73. However in the year 2007 the number of resource officers increased to 3,777, and the number of crimes dropped to 53 per officer. This shows that as the number of resource officers increased, the number of crimes decreased. This increased security presence has increased 32.3% since the Columbine massacre. This also is the reason that the presence of officers around the country will continue to increase. The goal of this program, and increasing officers in schools, is to combat violence, and prevent these tragedies from happening again.
Physical Security
Another way this program aims to increase school safety is to improve the social environment of the school. In order to improve the school's environment, many schools are now putting metal detectors in school entrances and setting up cameras throughout the school. Installing metal detectors and cameras in schools make schools safer because they will be able to detect any weapon that a student, or visitor might be carrying, and cameras will not only document what happens during the day, it also can be useful to find suspicious behaviors. In addition to cameras, metal detectors, and officers, many schools are now also requiring visitors to check in, and locking all doors.
Discipline Procedures
In addition to cameras, metal detectors, and officers, many schools are now also requiring visitors to check in, and locking all doors. The number of schools that have created tighter security procedures has increased 62.7% after Columbine, The disciplinary procedures in schools have become stricter as well. Now a student who is found carrying a weapon, including a gun, is punished immediately without any explanations, or excuses. These disciplinary procedures have increased in 40.0% of schools since the Columbine shooting.