Preventing School Shootings Focus of Event

Community event at CSUSB Palm Desert Campus to focus on preventing school shootings

PALM DESERT – Members of the community are encouraged to attend an event at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus on Friday, March 31, about identifying and correcting existing school vulnerabilities that have been associated with recent school shootings.

Since 2013, 104 people have been killed and 162 injured by gunfire in 56 school shootings, according to a school shooting tracker NBC News has made public. 

As of March 9, 2023, it has been 24 days since the last school shooting.

“Zero Tolerance: A Different Approach to Preventing School Shootings” is jointly presented by Cal State San Bernardino and George Mason University, and will feature guest speakers Dale Watson, executive assistant director, FBI (Ret.) and Angela C. Pohlen, executive director, Catholic Academy of Bridgeport. The discussion will be moderated by Thomas McWeeney, a public administration faculty member in the Jack H. Brown College of Business and Public Administration at CSUSB and the director of the college’s Institute for Public Management and Governance.

The event, which will be specifically geared toward teachers, school administrators and staff, parents, and government officials, will showcase a self-assessment approach that has been successfully used by the FBI and other organizations seeking to prevent a tragic event from occurring. The self-assessment approach requires those having the greatest stake in the safety of individual schools to ask the following questions of themselves:

• Is our school able to identify and assist all troubled students?
• Does our school have a process/protocol for collecting/evaluating all relevant information?
• Are our school administrators able to address vulnerabilities and take corrective action?
• Do our school’s security measures address all the physical vulnerabilities at our school?

The event will take place from 7-8:30 p.m. in the Oliphant Auditorium at the CSUSB Palm Desert Campus – 37500 Cook St.

There is no charge for admission, but advanced registration is required by emailing OLLI@csusb.edu (subject line: School Shootings) or by calling (909) 537-8270.