Soft Targets:Target Analysis
School Characteristics and Vulnerabilities As with all other possible civilian targets that are categorized as being “soft”, the main vulnerability of a school is that there are no military defenses or personnel on site to defend against possible attacks. Since the amount of access differs between different types of schools (e.g. universities versus K-12 grade schools, public versus private) we decided to focus our analysis towards public high schools, performing a case study on Chula Vista High School, part of the Sweetwater Union High School District in San Diego County. We evaluate the current policies dealing with an attack on an American public high school due to relevant historical attacks (both domestic and international) and the public’s natural sympathy towards attacks towards children.
Chula Vista High School is located in the city of Chula Vista, situated south of the City of San Diego in a community that stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the foothills and six miles to the international border. Chula Vista High School’s 2,500 students are composed of Hispanic (68%), White (13%), African American (6%), Filipino (4%), Asian (1%), Pacific Islander (1%) and American Indian (1%) 9th to 12th grade students. It is also served by a certificated staff of 110 teachers, 7 counselors, 5 administrators, and a classified staff of 31 employees [1]. The school is actually built on an old naval air station, Brown Field. There are 9 gates surrounding the outside perimeter of the school which is surrounded by metal bar fence in the academic courtyard and a chain linked fence around the sports fields [2]. There are no metal detectors or other security check points of any kind one would go through to get into the school during normal school hours (5 a.m. to 7 p.m. although certain buildings remain open later for sporting events, dances, and other special school events.) The campus contains a variety of specialized labs including an auto shop, a number of computer labs, as well as science classrooms. Some of the science classrooms include natural gas sources for experiments that could be used in an attack on the school. The school has two main parking areas, one in front of the main administrative office and one on the side of the school between the academic courtyard and sports fields. All cars parked in the lot are required to display Chula Vista High School parking permits but no school personnel is assigned to check the cars regularly. School buses provided by the Sweetwater Union High School District all load and unload in the front parking area, making this a high population density area before and after school.
The Chula Vista Police Department is responsible for responding to and settling any disturbance relating to the school. In case of a fire or other school evacuating situations, the Chula Vista Fire Department is notified and responds for assistance. Once a semester the school participates in a fire drill where teachers lead students to designated evacuation areas [3]. They must follow evacuation guidelines described in the Emergency Procedures document [4] as well as fill out an emergency absence report form [5]. The CVFD also arrive and walk around the school campus, staying familiar with the school’s layout. The CVPD and CVFD are also responsible for after school activities, such as sporting events and school dances. These school sponsored events also gather a large number of students and faculty in a relatively small area, making it a prime target for attack. After school events also come in the form of student run, teacher advised clubs. Although most of these clubs gather to discuss academic and sporting interests, there are a few that relate to religion and cultural background which might create a reason for attack.
The school has a closed campus policy, meaning once students are on campus they are not allowed to leave without a parent or guardian escort. This also means any non student personnel must check in with the front office and receive a visitor’s badge before proceeding on to school grounds. The students and teachers of the school do not wear any visible badges or uniforms but do carry school identification cards. In an effort to create a safe and secure environment, a security background check is performed on all new faculty and staff. This check verifies past credit history, criminal records, education verification, as well as residential addresses.
Public high schools in America have many characteristics making them susceptible to attack. Chula Vista High School's campus is strikingly open. Any intruder can easily walk on campus and into any of the classrooms or administrative buildings. This is a major vulnerability to an attack on the school. National School Safety and Security Services, a school security consulting firm, recommends “providing special attention to perimeter security and access control issues.” [6] Having a clearly defined perimeter and a staff that is trained to identify and monitor suspicious individuals is a clear first step. Also, the classrooms are all closely spaced together creating a dense population target ideal for a high casualty attack. The school, as with almost all other public schools in the US, is also without any armed security guards. There are two staff members who are responsible for detecting intruders and act as peacekeepers on campus. However, their role is to deal with possible violence between students, and are not trained nor equipped for handling a situation like the ones that occurred at Columbine or Beslan, Russia. A teacher’s responsibility only extends to shutting and locking the classroom door, blocking any windows or glass doors and placing a green or red placard under the door to notify whether there is an intruder or not in the room. The only communication to these teachers is through a “crisis email broadcast” account where messages and updates are posted.
Another vulnerability the school faces is its close geographic location to the border of Mexico. Being only a few miles north of the US-Mexican border brings up issues of possible terrorist attacks by possibly smuggling chemical or biological weapons across the border. If thousands of illegal immigrants cross into the United States every year undetected, can one expect to stop all terrorists from doing the same with said weapons? The existence of a number of US military bases (the Marine Base at Miramar and Naval base at Camp Pendleton) just a few miles up the coastline also pose an interesting threat. An example of this vulnerability happened in 1995 when Shawn Nelson, an army veteran and unemployed plumber, stolen a tank and drove it through the residential streets of Claremont, California, a suburb of San Diego similar to Chula Vista [7] [8].
Deficiencies at schools such as Chula Vista include training as well as physical infrastructure. Richard Mutka, 9th grade Social Science teacher at CVHS, received only a one page document regarding what to do in case of an attack on school grounds. The topic of a terrorist attack on the school such as the one that occurred in Beslan, Russia where over 350 people were killed (including 156 children) [9], was never mentioned nor are there any plans in the future for training to detect and defend against such an attack. This “Ostrich-Syndrome” approach to the problem of not addressing the issues at hand will leave our schools at high risk for repeats of history.
[1] "CVHS Information Page." http://www.suhsd.k12.ca.us/cvh/cvhwebsite/cvhsinformation/cvhsinformation.html. December, 2005.
[2] Appendix A – Map of Chula Vista High School
[3] Mutka, Richard. Personal Interviews. December 1-4, 2005.
[4] Appendix A – Emergency Procedures
[5] Appendix A - Emergency Absence Report Form
[6] National School Safety and Security Services. "Terrorism & School Safety: School Safety Issues Relted to the Terrorist Attacks on the United States." http://www.schoolsecurity.org/terrorist_response.html. December, 2005.
[7] "Rachael's film night presents: Cul de Sac: A Suburban War Story." http://www.atasite.org/2002apr14.html
[8] "PoliceJobs - Photos." http://www1.policejobs.com/photos.php. December, 2005.
[9] "High death toll in Russia siege." BBC News. September 4, 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3624024.stm
