'Focus on school safety:' Wisconsin DOJ releases guides to help schools ID potential threats

Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul

WEST ALLIS -- The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) released new guides in West Allis on Monday, March 18 to help school officials identify potential threats. Attorney General Josh Kaul called the guides road maps to a safer school -- as they can be shaped to fit any school in Wisconsin.

The DOJ released the Wisconsin School Threat Assessment Protocol and the Wisconsin Comprehensive School Security Framework on Monday. The goal is for teachers, administrators and law enforcement to use the guides as a resource while designing school safety programs.

"I think these new documents are going to be very fruitful for us to be using to start dealing with our plans and make sure we're all kind of on the same sheet of music," said Dennis Nasci of the West Milwaukee Police Department.

The threat assessment protocol includes suggestions like threat assessment teams and training for students and teachers to recognize unacceptable behavior.

The security framework lists things like practice for preventing, responding to and recovering from violence.

"To build a comprehensive mental health structure, to shape a school climate that reduces violence to harden physical buildings," said Attorney General Kaul.

Marty Lexmond, West Allis-West Milwaukee superintendent

"The tools released today will help us and all the schools in Wisconsin do this work better as we continue our focus on school safety," said Marty Lexmond, West Allis-West Milwaukee superintendent.

Suggestions include challenging visitors, tracking school climate and adopting strategies for dealing with an attack that range from locking doors to evacuating.