ACTIVE SHOOTERS IN MUSEUMS: BEST PRACTICES FOR PLANNING AND PREPARATION
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Authors
Spencer, Bruce Jacob
Issue Date
2016
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Alternative Title
Abstract
Active shooters are on the rise. The number of incidents have increased in frequency in the last decade or so according to the best and most detailed research conducted on the topic to date (Blair & Schweit, 2014). For this reason and for many others, including common sense and plain prudence, it is incumbent on museums to actively prepare themselves for the possibility that one-day someone might come to their museum with a firearm aimed at ending lives. Determining and developing a set of best practices that all museums should follow was the intent of this work. Helping museums find the resources and tools available to make the institution, their staff, and their visitors more prepared and safe was the ultimate goal of this project.
It is my hope that this thesis will provide the individual museum professional and the museum community as a whole with a better understanding of the current threat posed by active shooters to any public space where large congregations of people come together, especially those as open and inviting as museums. I further hope that through the proper planning and preparation, security within museums will be increased, but with the understanding that we must not sacrifice or exchange the feelings of welcome and sense of inclusion that museums have fought so hard to foster within their communities for the mere illusion or perception of safety given by simply taking the easy route and installing metal detectors or new security cameras. Security is everyone's concern and a museum will only be secure when everyone is on board with new security changes.