Michael Dorn told law enforcement, antiterrorism, emergency management, educators and other key officials from across the nation that millions of tax dollars have been squandered on poorly selected school safety measures since September 11, 2001.
Dorn said alarmist predictions further goals of terrorists by spreading fear and prompting waste of limited resources.
He said this type of haphazard response has been more pronounced since the Beslan atrocity last fall with schools expending funds on measures including overtime police coverage for schools on Election Day and antiterrorism consulting services from consultants who do not even have antiterrorism experience.
Dorn urged educators to keep their schools safe by working to address terrorism concerns with local emergency response officials by developing modern safe school plans following the U.S. Department of Education planning model.
Michael Dorn along with his son Chris Dorn authored the new book "Innocent Targets - When Terrorism Comes to School" which will be released later this month. The book examines incidents of school terrorism that have occurred in the U.S. and other countries since 1968.
The Dorns maintain that while often horrific, these attacks are rare with fewer than 40 incidents globally in the past 35 years. These figures exclude incidents in Turkey and Afghanistan where hundreds of school related attacks occurred during periods of governmental instability.
Michael Dorn served in a number of law enforcement capacities including as the Lead Program Manager for the Terrorism Division of the Georgia Office of Homeland Security. Dorn authored 20 books on school safety and was selected as a Senior Analyst by Jane's, the British Defense publisher after an international search for the world's top school safety expert.
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