I-Team 8: Schools put to the test Pt. 3

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - All week long, I-Team 8 has been testing the security of Indiana schools.

Here in Marion County, Rick Dawson found an issue in one school where a total stranger would be able to walk right off the street and right into a middle school locker room.

History has shown us that in many cases where an attacker enters a school. It's a crime of opportunity. It shows that staff members and students need to be on the same page when it comes to security.

In the battle to keep schools safe, school staff members are the foot soldiers. “The first line of defense, the first line of action is always the adults,” said Dr. Tony Bennett, Indiana’s Superintendent of Public Instruction. “It is always a team of adults who make sure they're watching out for the safety of the kids and as part of that having students watch for the safety of themselves,” Bennett added.

That wasn't the case at Belzer Middle School in Lawrence. The back doors of Belzer back right up to a public street. When we checked one school day, we found several doors not fully closed. When kids headed out for gym class, a door was still left open, and even after teachers and students went back inside, two doors were still ajar. So we walked inside, walked into a locker room, walked right back outside and straight to the principal's office.

Then we showed the principal Ron Davie the open doors. “The teacher probably came this way and didn't lock the door behind him. That'd be my guess,” said Davie.

The principal promised it wouldn't happen again, blaming the breach on both an irresponsible adult and faulty hardware on one door, now fixed.

We came back a few weeks later to see if the doors were locked this time and they were.

Keeping doors locked is critical to school security.

Three years ago, an armed intruder sneaked into a Colorado High School through an open door. He took seven female students hostage, raped several of them, and killed one as police stormed the classroom. He committed suicide as police shot him. Later surveillance video showed the gunman's vehicle in the school parking lot the day before as he waited for the perfect opportunity to get inside.

We showed some of the security breaches we found to school safety expert Chuck Hibbert who always cringes when school leaders brush them off as "isolated incidents." “We have a tendency to think that hardware is the solution to these issues in school safety, certainly that's part of it,” said Hibbert. “But the other side of that and the much more important equation is the people, students and staff. A well-trained student population and staff set the foundation for solid school safety,” added Hibbert.

We're asking you to take pictures or video of security lapses at your child's school and send them to us. Or if you want us to check out your neighborhood's school, drop us an email at schoolsafety@wishtv.com .