Expert opinion
Schools advised against metal detectors.
A safety consultant advised the Broward County School Board on Tuesday against moving forward with metal detectors, saying they provide limited benefits and great risks.
Michael Dorn, executive director of Safe Havens International, said Superintendent Robert Runcie abruptly halted idea of metal detectors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High earlier this month at his request.
He said it’s also impossible to conduct reliable metal detection without patting people down, which he said creates liability risks for the district if someone feels unfairly or inappropriately searched. He said that’s especially problematic because the school district doesn’t have an established policy on the use of metal detectors.
Dorn said it can be expensive to provide enough employees to make them operate efficiently.
He said the district should focus more on identifying behaviors of students who may be a threat, rather than on metal detectors.
The suggestion provided litthe tle comfort to Tracy Lund, who will have a freshman entering Stoneman Douglas on Wednesday. The school was the site of the Feb. 14 massacre that killed 17 people.
“How are you going to tell me no one is going to have a gun or a knife at school tomorrow?” Lund asked. “When you said you were doing metal de
tectors
Now she said she’s worried again. School Board members haven’t ruled out metal detectors but they want to hold community discussions before moving forward.
School Board member Rosalind Osgood said she understands the concerns she’s heard from parents. She said she wants students and parents to feel safe for the first day of school.
“But I sit here with no way of ensuring that,” she said. “I don’t feel there’s a quick way or there’s a way we can [give] 100 percent assurance” that something terrible won’t happen.
Beau Simon, 16, a student at Cypress Bay High in Weston who serves as the student my anxiety level dropped drastically.” representative on the board, said after listening to Dorn, he’s convinced metal detectors aren’t a good idea.
“There’s a difference between feeling safe and actually being safe,” he said.
Although many have criticized the school district for acting slowly on security measures, Dorn said the district has made a number of improvements, including adding surveillance cameras as well as other measures that, for security reasons, aren’t being shared with the public.
He said it’s important that the district not rush through the process.
“I can’t tell you how many disasters there are when people try to do too much too fast,” Dorn said. “They end up with a longterm mess by spending $25 million and it’s not working.”