Stop Being a Pawn in the Blame Game

More details of May’s rampage near UC Santa Barbara  are coming to light, and it seems as though everyone who previously tried to get the gunman help, from his parents to law enforcement, did everything right. His mother and father provided him with the best mental health treatment money could buy. When that didn’t work and they observed an escalation of his troubling behavior, they warned police that he could pose a threat to himself or others.

The several police officers who were prompted by his parents to check on him found no legal justification to detain him or search his residence for weapons. We learned only after the fact that it contained the three guns he used to kill or injure many of his victims. The gun dealer(s) who sold the shooter his weapons didn’t do anything illegal either. The gunman legally purchased the firearms he used in his attack.

The Isla Vista, Calif., rampage is one of the clearest examples of everyone seeming to have done the right thing, only to have the attack happen anyway. Now, if we could only extend that same understanding to institutions targeted in other attacks that have made some mistakes in either preventing or responding to tragedies.

Perhaps it’s just human nature to want to blame someone or some big, bad institution when something goes terribly wrong. And if you are in the media, the blame game can pay big dividends with schools, universities and hospitals being the perfect pawns. You’ll sell more newspapers, attract more TV viewers and/or get more web traffic if you foster moral outrage by insinuating that the institution was involved in some sinister plot to deny protection to victims or, at the very least, cover up the campus’ blunders after the fact.

To be fair, there are some who do engage in this kind of activity – and they should be punished accordingly.  I’d be willing to wager, however, that most school, university and hospital administrators and public safety officials have good intentions. Do they make mistakes? Certainly… but probably not out of malice or willful negligence. Instead, they need training, up-to-date information and more resources for things like Title IX and the Clery compliance, all-hazards emergency response and the appropriate implementation of technology.

I’ll bet that most of you in education chose your profession to help students grow, learn and thrive. Those of you in healthcare probably did so to save lives, as did the vast majority of you in security and law enforcement. I doubt any of you began your careers with the intention of anyone in your charge being harmed, whether it’s the result of an active shooter incident, rape or some other tragedy.

Despite this, our culture appears to believe we need to attribute evil intent to institutions, school districts, law enforcement or someone when something bad happens. But you as campus protection professionals and administrators can use this to your advantage. Use it as motivation to keep honing your skills and acquiring more knowledge. Staying ahead of the curve by taking advantage of some or all of the multitude of resources that are available (many for free) will help you prepare your organization so that it doesn’t become a pawn in the blame game should a tragedy occur on your campus.

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