Situational Awareness For School Bus Drivers 2016

Long Branch Public Schools

“Where Children Matter Most”



» Over 22,800 school buses
» 1,300 school bus terminals
» 258 Board of Education operators
» 78,000 MVC Semi-annual Inspections
» 616 School Districts
» 2,492 Public Schools
» 1,235 Non-Public
» 104 Charter Schools
» 1.39 Million enrolled students
» 117,803 full time teachers

» First Line of prevention
» Safety conscious
» True first responders
» First and last school employees to see children daily
» The school bus is an extension of the school

» Rolling town Watch
» Fixed routes

˃ Enhance situational awareness

You are the
“Eyes, Ears & Voice
of the Community”

» 74% of SROs suggested their schools are inadequately
prepared to respond to a terrorist incident.

» 66% of SROs stated their emergency plans are not
exercised regularly or correctly.

» 43% of SROs reported their school officials do not formally
meet at least once a year with public safety officials to
review and revise plans.

» 65% of SROs stated bus drivers had not received
training in the past 3 years on security issues.

» 35% of SROs indicated that violent incidents on
school buses increased in their school districts.

» 92% of SROs believe their schools are “soft targets”
for potential terrorism.

» DHS identified 5 critical hazards specific to school mass transit:
1. Use of explosives (bomb/suicide bomber)
2. Hijacking with students aboard; use of firearms
3. Attacks on school bus dispatch and communications facilities
4. Introduction of biological agents (anthrax, botulism) radioactive
5. Chemical toxins into school buses or facilities.

» Consider your school bus a potential “soft-target”
» It is more than just shelter or emergency

transport in crisis situations.

Limited protection
Highly vulnerable

» Symbol of Freedom

A terrorist act would have an emotional impact that would severely demoralize our nation.





» October 1998: 1 Israeli soldier killed, 3 children injured (Hamas)
» November 2000: Bus hit with mortar shell; 2 adults, 9 children killed
» April 2001: Car Bomb; No reported injuries, suicide bomber killed

» April 2004: Four coordinated car bombs, 2 school buses destroyed,
17 children killed. (Al Qaeda)

» March 2005: Gunmen attack school bus: 1 person killed, 2 students
wounded.

» May 2005: Security convoy hits escorting school bus; 17 civilians, 2 US
guards and 3 children killed. (Al Qaeda)

» December 2002 –

˃ Gunmen open fire at a school bus
˃ 4 children killed
˃ 10 wounded

» September 2005 –

˃ School bus ambushed by gunmen
˃ 14 killed – mostly women and children
˃ (Ugandan rebels)

» June 2002 –

˃ Gunmen open fire on
˃ School bus carrying 27 students
˃ 2 children killed
˃ 13 children injured

» January 2005 –

˃ 2 Gunmen open fire on a
˃ School bus
˃ 2 children wounded



» January 29, 2013; Midland City, Alabama

˃ Jimmy Lee Dykes, 65-years old, Vietnam War veteran
˃ Boarded a Dal County school bus, he told the driver, Charles Albert Poland, 66, that he wanted 2

children, a 6 & 8 year old boys. Poland refused and placed himself between the Dykes and the
children. Using his body as a shield, Poland attempted to protect the 21 children on the bus.

˃ Dykes fired 5 shots, killing Poland. He then left the bus with Ethan, a 5-year old boy.
˃ No pre-existing relationship between Dykes and Ethan.
˃ Tre’ Watts, 15, was on the bus, he called 911 as soon as Dykes entered the bus.

» Dykes takes Ethan to a 6-foot by 8-
foot bunker on his property,
equipped with a ventilation pipe.
Hostage negotiators used the pipe
to communicate with Dykes, who
allowed Ethan his prescription
medication to be lowered down
the pipe.

» Dykes had homemade bombs in
the bunker

» Dykes demanded a female TV
reporter and wanted to conduct a
live interview on TV. His plan was
to commit suicide on live TV, and
he had been training Ethan to
detonate the bombs.

» RESCUE: FBI Hostage Rescue Team breached the roof of the bunker using
explosive charges after negotiations began to break down and they saw
him (using a hidden camera) holding a gun. The FBI tossed in stun
grenades and exchanged gunfire with Dykes, killing him. Ethan was
unharmed. Police found two improvised explosive devices, one in the
PVC pipe, the other inside the bunker.

» The day prior to the standoff, he was due in court for a hearing on a
menacing case in which he allegedly fired a gun at neighbors. An
investigation into Dykes recently revealed that he had cleared a path on
his property for school buses to take, and that he had started speaking to
Charles Poland weeks prior to the incident

» Joshua Reddin, Julian McKnight and Lloyd Khemradj, all 15-years old

» They were convicted of savagely beating and stomping on a 13-year old
student on a Pinellas County School Bus.

» They were sentenced to indefinite probation with electronic
monitoring and drug tests.

» The horrific attack took place on the bus and the drive, John Moody,
did not attempt to stop them. He re

July 9, 2013

» February 2012, a Salem mother was charged with assault after
attacking a 5-year old girl on her son’s school bus.

» Dominique Hans was upset about an incident that took place the day
before between her son and the girl in their kindergartner class. She
believed that the 5-year old girl had hit her son and scratched his face.

» So she started yelling at the bus driver that her son was assaulted the
day before. She got on the bus despite the driver’s pleas for her to stay
away. She marched straight to where her son was sitting and told him
to point out the little girl who hit him.

» She then went over and started hitting the young girl and yelling at her.
» She admitted to yelling at the child but not hitting her.

Dominique Hans

» October 7, 2002; Lee Boyd Malvo, one of the two Washington D.C.
“Beltway” snipers – shoots and critically wounds a 13-year old boy who
was near the loading/offloading bus zone at his Middle School in Bowie,
Maryland.

» Canadian school bus driver linked to June 2006 terror plot. He and 17
others were arrested and charged with coordinating a bombing attacks
in southern Ontario.

» Mana Saleh Almanajam, 23 & Shaker Mohsen Alsidran, 20, both
arrested after they boarded a school bus on 05-19-06 and rode to
Wharton High School in Tampa, Fl.

» Both were Saudi men tied to al Qaeda

» Mohamad Kamal Elzahabi , September 2004, school bus driver in
Minnesota, was arrested by the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

» He was known as “Abu Kamal al Lubnani” and was a sniper & small
arms instructor at a jihadist training camp in Afghanistan from 1988 to
1989. He was known to have several kills near Kabul.

» Safety – the quality of averting or not causing injury, danger or loss.

» Security – precautions taken to guard against crime, attack, sabotage,
espionage, etc.

https://www.ptsi.org/?dp=index

[email protected]

» Security Measures For School Transit Yards

• Yard is fenced, gated & locked upon
closing.

• Equipped with CCTV and adequate lighting
• Employees trained in security awareness
• Trained in reporting procedures
• Wear photo ID badges
• Bus locked when not in use

TYPE A TYPE B
TYPE C TYPE D

• Sport Utility Chassis
• Weight rating is less than 10,000 pounds
• Passenger capacity 8-20

• Standard van or Chop-van chassis
• Weight rating more than 10,000 pounds
• Passenger capacity 16-24

• Conventional bus
• Weight rating more than 10,000 pounds (GVWR between 25,000 lbs to 29,500 lbs)
• Passenger capacity 78 maximum

• Rear engine & forward control or Flat Nose
• Weight Rating more than 10,000 pounds (GVWR between 25,000 lbs and 36,000 lbs)
• Passenger capacity 90 maximum





» Numbering legible

US Homeland Security says that all buses should
have identification numbers on roofs!

» TSA recommends checking the following areas for suspicious packages,
devices, substances, unattended baggage, briefcases, etc.:

» Floors
» Below seats
» Driver’s area
» Steps
» Wheelchair lifts
» Lights
» Wheel wells
» Engine compartments
» Exhaust system
» Fuel and air tanks
» Back/side emergency exit door(s)

» Consider GPS system that can monitor speed, route, schedule, and time
delays at stops.

» Refrain from publishing bus stops and routes

» Guidelines should be established for all stops which outline:

˃ Distance to children’s home
˃ Distance between stops
˃ Visibility
˃ Waiting area
˃ Road grade
˃ Road maintenance
˃ Street lighting
˃ Width of street

» Report any use of a vehicle to follow, pace, cut-off, or force maneuver
a school bus.

» Do you report parents that follow the bus?

» Protocols established for angry motorists chasing bus because of
student taunts, mischief etc..?

» Observe and report any suspicious person(s) videotaping,
photographing or note taking along the route.

» Report any suspicious questions about students, school staff, school
facility, school security procedures, bus routes, bus stops and types of
buses

» Know school lockdown procedures if in school loading zone.

» Identify alternate bus staging areas.

» Active Shooter
» Angry Motorist
» Angry Parent
» Bomb Threat
» Chemical/Biological Release
» Collision
» Explosive On/Outside Bus
» Family Custody Issues
» Field Trip Emergencies
» Fight/Bullying
» Fire
» Hostage/Hijacking
» Medical Crisis
» Stolen Bus
» Staged Accident

» Suspicious device or CBR Release inside school bus
» Follow school district policies on immediate safety procedures.
» Shut down the bus and relocate students to safe area at a minimum of

500 feet, up wind and upgrade.
» If escape not possible, open all windows to lesson positive blast wave.

» SEE THE BUS? TOO CLOSE!

» Shelter-In-Place; threat outside the school bus.

» Relocate bus to safe location, if possible.

» Is the threat environment on a bridge/tunnel or in heavy traffic volume?
Consider your options & safety must come first!

» DISTANCE COUNTS

» If bus can not be relocated away from threat:

˃ Open windows (secondary glass debris), & get on the floor
˃ In a CBR event, shut off the HVAC system, close windows and doors.

˃ CBR: Chemical/Biological or Radiological

» To report suspicious activities call
» 732-222-1000 (Long Branch Police Dept.) or 9-1-1
» NJ Homeland Security 866-4-SAFE-NJ
» GIVE the dispatcher the
» Who, What, Where, When, Why.
» NEVER APPROACH A SUSPECT

» Michael Salvatore, Ph.D., Superintendent
» Alvin L. Freeman, Assistant Superintendent
» JanetLynn Dudick, Assistant Superintendent for Pupil & Personnel Services
» Peter E. Genovese, III, School Business Administrator/Board Secretary
» Nancy L. Valenti, Assistant School Business Administrator/Assistant Board Secretary

» Donna Critelli, Transportation Manager
» Walter J. O’Neill, Jr., District Public Safety Liaison

» Rose M. Widdis, President
» Bill Dangler, Vice President
» Mary L. George
» Avery W. Grant
» Michele Critelli, Ed.D.
» Armand R. Zambrano, Jr.
» James N. Parnnell
» Donald C. Covin
» Caroline Bennett