Raw Numbers for School Shootings
TownHall.com
What is the difference between having armed
school officials/resource officers on site and
relying upon police officers at a station just over
two miles away when it comes to protecting the lives
of students at a public school when there is a mass
shooting incident?
Because of a
recent incident at a public high school in
Troutdale, Oregon on 10 June 2014, we are now able
to answer that question and to directly compare the
outcome of that situation with the
tragedy that occurred in Newtown, Connecticut on
14 December 2012.
Here's the
basic background for the Troutdale, Oregon
shooting:
Authorities just wrapped up an 11:15 a.m. news
conference where they shared the latest developments
in the shooting at Reynolds High School.
Police identified the shooter as 15-year-old
Reynolds High School freshman Jared Michael Padgett.
Padgett exchanged gunfire with officers, then
apparently shot himself, authorities said. He used
an AR-15 type of rifle, owned by his family, that he
obtained after removing it from its secured storage
place, said Troutdale Chief Scott Anderson.
The shooting, which left 14-year-old Reynolds High
School freshman Emilio Hoffman dead, and teacher
Todd Rispler grazed by a bullet, occurred just as
students were heading into their first period
Tuesday morning.
Other news reports
indicate that Padgett was armed with "an assault
rifle, a handgun and nine ammunition magazines", so
the incident had the real potential of reaching the
same death toll as did the Newtown, Connecticut
shooting. That tragic incident resulted in the
deaths of six adults and twenty children before the
shooter, Adam Lanza, was finally confronted by armed
police officers who had just arrived from their
station, which was just 2.3 miles away, roughly
eleven minutes after the shootings began. Lanza
committed suicide with a self-inflicted gunshot
after being confronted by the armed police officers.
By contrast, the incident at Reynolds High School in
Troutdale, Oregon
ended very differently:
Troutdale school resource Officers Nick Thompson and
Kyle Harris were at Reynolds High School when
Tuesday's shooting occurred, Multnomah County
Sheriff Dan Staton said.
"As soon as this happened, they were there in less
than a minute," Staton said. "Had they not been
there, it could have been a lot worse."
One of the first dispatches to police was at 8:07
am: In the boy's locker room, two shots, one person
down.
Troutdale Police Chief Scott Anderson credited the
two resource officers -- the first responders -- and
two other local officers who formed a tactical team
-- for preventing further carnage.
"I believe their quick response saved many of our
students' lives," Anderson said. "For that, our
community and I thank you."
And so, we're left with the following raw numbers to
describe the difference in outcomes between both
tragic events:
Difference in Distance for Armed Responders to
Travel to Confront Suspect: 2.2 miles (2.3 miles at
Newtown, approximately 0.1 mile at Troutdale).
Difference in Elapsed Time for Armed Responders to
Confront Suspect After First Shots Fired: 10 minutes
(11 at Newtown, approximately 1 at Troutdale).
Difference in Elapsed Time for Shootings to End
After Suspect Was Confronted by Armed Responders:
Less than one minute.
Difference in Number of Fatalities: 25 (26 at
Newtown, 1 at Troutdale).
Difference in Number of Non-Fatal Injuries: 1 (2 at
Newtown, 1 at Troutdale).
Difference in Total Economic Cost for
Fatalities and Non-Fatal Injuries to Community:
$247,396,766 ($257,405,794 at Newton, $10,008,998 in
Troutdale).
Difference in "Lifetime"
Costs for Training and Staffing Two Armed School
Resource Officers On Site at Public School:
$11,170,860 ($0 at Newtown, $11,170,860 at
Troutdale).
Ratio of Benefits for Avoided Deaths and Injuries to
Costs of Training and Staffing Armed Resource
Officers On Site at Public Schools: $22.15 to $1.
We estimated the lifetime cost of staffing two armed
school resource officers at a public school to make
more of an apples-to-apples comparison in the
benefit-cost analysis above. The $11,170,860 would
represent the cost of training and total
compensation (salary, benefits, pension) of a
dedicated armed school resource officer based on the
annual costs
estimated by Ned Hill over 60 years (typically,
a 20-30 year career followed by 30-40 years of very
generous pension benefits.
In reality, it would be much more affordable and
cost effective for most communities to augment the
public safety training of a number of school
employees who have other, primary responsibilities
at the schools, such as school administrators.
The bottom line however is that sharply reducing the
reaction time of armed responders to confront an
armed suspect is the key to realizing the benefits
for a community - and that holds even if the
offender behind such an event that can result in a
large number of casualties
isn't armed with a gun.