It is a scenario no one wants to imagine, but Police Chief Gene Meek says school shootings must be approached with the mindset of “when,” not “if.”

Meek met with school board members Dec. 22 to present sobering statistics regarding hostile intruder situations and school violence.

“The focus with what we’re doing now is prevention,” Meek said at the meeting. “Everything after the first trigger squeeze is a response. We want to avoid that if possible.”

He told the board he bases his planning on strategies developed by psychiatrist Dr. Jack Rozel, co-author of the book “Left of Boom.” The book emphasizes the proactive phase of crisis management — operating “left of boom” — where the goal is to identify red flags, assess threats and intervene before violence occurs.

The chief explained that the department’s plan centers on identifying potential threats before an incident. He said the vast majority of school shootings are committed by individuals who demonstrated signs of mental health distress prior to the event.

To emphasize his point, he cited data gathered from past mass shootings.

According to the Safe Schools Initiative, a 2002 study by the Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education, 71% of attackers involved in school violence reported being bullied or feeling persecuted.

“If you have someone who has been bullied every day for five years, and it gets worse without anything being addressed, those are some serious stressors and a real recipe for crisis,” Meek said.

He noted that the typical school shooter is a white male between the ages of 18 and 35, with a majority showing a strong interest in violent topics. Additionally, Meek explained that most shooters reported difficult home lives and obtained firearms from their own residences.

“The potential warning signs for these things are out there, and they’re looked at daily, and they’re ignored.”

The next step, he told the board, is training faculty and staff to develop specific strategies for handling potential threats.

Schools Superintendent Joshua Garrett said the district plans to hold discussions with staff and police to review different scenarios and determine appropriate responses.

“It’s possible that we could use a couple of in-service days for that,” Garrett said. “We want to stay focused on learning and communicating with the public.”

He described future “tabletop exercises” designed to bring different borough agencies and individuals together to assist with planning.

During the discussion, Board Member Liz Roundtree asked about the possibility of arming teachers.

“I’m not going to say no, but that is a conversation we will need to have at some greater length,” Garrett said. “There are a lot of things to consider before making a decision like that.”

He noted that while security is paramount, the district must ensure any armed staff members are fully trained and certified to safely maintain a firearm around children.

“I’m a fan of doing anything that will protect the students and the learning environment,” Garrett said in a separate interview on Dec. 23. “But it’s like: We could put up a large fence around the school, but if we do, what will we lose by doing that? Everything needs to be taken into consideration before an action is taken.”

Roundtree volunteered to participate in future hostile intruder training exercises at the school.

Meek concluded his presentation with a simple message: If you see something, say something.

“Apathy is not a good thing where this is concerned,” he said. “The signs are there, and they are identifiable. It doesn’t do anyone any good to ignore them. If we treat this kind of situation like it’s an ‘if,’ it will eventually become a ‘when.’”