School Safety Beat Intro Voiceover 00:00 This is the Beat—a podcast series that keeps you in the know about the latest community policing topics facing our nation. Interview Cindy Pappas 00:08 Hello and welcome. My name is Cindy Pappas, and on behalf of the COPS Office I would like to thank you for joining us for the third in a series of five podcasts on the issues surrounding school safety, the role of police in schools, and the importance of community coordination in the identification and referral of children who have been victims of or witnesses to violence, as well those who are in need of support services. Joining us today is John-Michael Keyes, who along with his wife Ellen started the I Love U Guys Foundation after the tragic shooting death of their daughter Emily on September 27, 2006, at the Platte Canyon High School. Mr. Keyes, thank you so much for sharing your story with us today in the hopes of advancing student and school safety throughout the nation. John-Michael Keyes 00:51 Good day. Cindy 00:53 First, could you please tell us about the genesis and the mission of the I Love U Guys Foundation? John-Michael 00:58 Yes. In 2006, a gunman entered Platte Canyon High School and held seven girls hostage. Over the course of the afternoon, he released five of those girls. During that time, my daughter, one of the hostages, sent a text message to us, “I Love U Guys.” Slightly before 4:00, Jefferson County Regional S.W.A.T. team, along with Park County Sheriff’s Office, made the decision to intervene. Unfortunately, Emily was shot and killed by the gunman during that intervention. With those events, we started the I Love U Guys Foundation with the tremendous amount of support that came from not just the community or even the state but across the country. Cindy 01:44 And out of that tragedy you developed a standard response protocol. Can you share a little bit of information about that and how you believe that it helps to forge a common language between first responders and school administrators. John-Michael 01:59 Yeah. In 2009, we started looking really closely at this whole fuzzy concept called school safety. What we saw was that there wasn’t a common language between students, staff, and first responders during any type of a crisis. We worked with various law enforcement and school officials to refine a protocol that’s based on four actions that can be used during a crisis: * Lock out * Lock down * Evacuate, and * Shelter We put materials together that are available at no charge to districts, departments, and agencies to help schools and first responders train students and staff on those four actions and how to use them in a crisis. Cindy 02:46 Now, you provide these safety resources free of charge. How is the foundation and how is this sustainable? John-Michael 02:53 We do a couple of fund-raising events over the course of the year that handle the bulk of our revenue needs. We’re a small foundation so it’s always a challenge keeping that revenue stream going. I additionally do some speaking engagements out of state. In the last 3 years, I did over 150 presentations in 14 states and British Columbia. Eighty of those, though, were in Colorado. Our commitment in Colorado is that we’ll do presentations or training and it’ll cost you—typically lunch [laughter] and I like those $5 foot-long subs. It really is about getting the word out and getting the message out on how this protocol works and how schools and first responders can implement it in their district. Cindy 03:43 And it is such a powerful message. If we could go back to the day of the incident, about the interaction with law enforcement, their response, and their interaction with you and your wife and your family members, if you could walk us through a little bit of that and then maybe what guidance you can give to law enforcement and emergency medical services on how they can and should respond to surviving family members during and following a traumatic incident. John-Michael 04:12 Well, in Colorado we’ve got very strong lessons learned from Columbine. One of the things that Ellen and I were very committed to immediately is that we don’t blame the first responders. Often that becomes one of the focus points for blame and for us that was a non-starter. It was absolutely imperative that we supported law enforcement decisions and actions during that crisis. A lunatic entered the high school and I saw hundreds of first responders show up to help. We immediately embraced law enforcement and their actions. That’s resulted in some amazing outcomes down the road and has really made it easier to heal, if you will. Cindy 04:58 And there’s been some other interesting partnerships in this, from my understanding. Can you tell us a little bit about the ride that occurs every year? John-Michael 05:05 In the immediate aftermath, the darndest thing happened. The motorcycle community here in Colorado wanted to do a ride, a symbolic ride from Columbine High School to Platte Canyon High School. Literally thousands of bikers showed up at Columbine and rode 38 miles to Platte Canyon. We’ve upheld that tradition in the years since; that’s one of the fundraisers that helps keep our program available at no charge to districts, departments, and agencies. That ride has been absolutely phenomenal. In the second year, we wanted to honor first responders with a 5K simultaneously. The Jefferson County Regional S.W.A.T. team approached us and said that they wanted to do a symbolic run. We talked about that 5K but they wanted to do something bigger. They actually ran from the Sherriff’s Office in Jefferson County 38 miles to Platte Canyon High School. It was an amazing event and my son Casey had asked if he could join in that run. It was absolutely magical. Cindy 06:16 That is amazing. I’ve been on the website. Actually, if you could tell our audience a little bit more about where they can find more information about the I Love U Guys Foundation as well as the multitude of resources that, again, you provide to schools and agencies seeking. John-Michael 06:31 Absolutely. The website URL is www.iloveuguys.org. We’ve got a ton of materials up there that can help schools and law enforcement really implement these programs with fidelity. Somehow we created enough materials that folks can do it themselves and do it well. Cindy 06:56 Very good. Do you have any final thoughts that you’d like to share with our audience today? John-Michael 07:01 One of the things we’re seeing as a beneficial side effect of using this protocol is that it really empowers kids in knowing what to do, especially with recent events and the active shooter concept. If we can delay having that actor find targets as law enforcement arrives, then we are helping save lives. That’s really the basis of the protocol—is to keep kids safe during an event so that as law enforcement arrives, it gives law enforcement the ability to seek the target. Cindy 07:46 Very good. Well thank you, both to you and your wife Ellen and your family. I appreciate your time and your expertise today. John-Michael 07:54 Thank you. Beat Exit Voiceover: 07:56 The Beat was brought to you by the United States Department of Justice COPS Office. The COPS Office helps to keep our nation’s communities safe by giving grants to law enforcement agencies, developing community policing publications, developing partnerships, and solving problems. Disclaimer: 08:13 The opinions contained herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position or polices of the U.S. Department of Justice. References to specific agencies, companies, products, or services should not be considered an endorsement by the authors or the U.S. Department of Justice. Rather, the references are illustrations to supplement discussion of the issues. ####END OF TRANSCRIPT####