How does a tip reporting system assist in school safety?
Tip reporting lines and systems are very important. There are computer based systems, there are phone call lines, there are drop boxes. I think it's important to point out that the vast majority of student weapons violators do not tell anyone they have a weapon, and they don't show anyone that they have a weapon, so this should not be your primary defence. If that's your primary way of finding weapons on campus, you're missing most of what's there. At the same time, tips that are received about weapons are one of the most important ways to recover weapons that are more likely to be used. For example a student who is planning to come and attack multiple victims, in many cases will in some way telegraph their actions through words or their activities, so the tip may prevent some of the more serious types of incidents. But again, its our least reliable way to know when weapons are on our property. So we need to be sure that this is just one part of our strategy, like metal detectors. No one approach is going to take care of this problem. So it's a piece of it, it's one that should be emphasized in every school. It is one that every school should utilize.
