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As the recent Los Angeles high school shooting highlights the issue of school security, experts suggest it cannot be solved without a multi-layered approach.

Instead of worrying about whether the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) or Gardena High School should be taking responsibility, University of Virginia Professor Dewey Cornell said it’s time to start testing the effectiveness of certain security measures. 

“Metal detectors don’t work well in parking lots,” Cornell said, adding that “security measures can generate a false sense of security.” 

Two students were shot on Tuesday at Gardena High School in an accidental shooting. Police said a 17-year-old senior at the high school had brought an automatic handgun to school. 

The gun accidentally fired inside his backpack, wounding two classmates. Officers said the student fled his class before hiding in another room, prompting a police search and campus lockdown before his arrest. 

Gardena High had violated LAUSD’s policy of conducting daily random weapon searches, according to incoming LAUSD Superintendent John Deasy.

 “Parents, understandably, want a guarantee that an incident like that won’t happen again,” said Kenneth Trump, President of National School Safety and Security Services. 

Yet, a 100 percent guarantee is impossible, given a broad continuum of possible threats including bullying, harassment, and bomb threats. 

Other school systems also use metal detectors, including the Detroit Public School system and Baltimore City Public School System, although not on a daily basis. Several schools are also authorized to search lockers, desks, or even students and their personal property under reasonable suspicion. 

 “Certainly no safety procedure is going to be fool proof,” Cornell said, acknowledging that different schools might call for different security measures. 

Still, the issue with Gardena High may be the “disconnect between policy and practice,” as Trump put it. 

He recommended the school to take a comprehensive approach that combines prevention, mental health support, security and some equipment, and emergency plans. 

Cornell, too, supports a layered approach that educates students on weapons and assesses any personal problems.

Instead of spending millions on safety measures with little evidence of effectiveness, Cornell said more funding should go into a “scientifically rigorous” study of school safety. “The main message is to stop making policy decisions in the dark,” Cornell said. “Or making hunches about what might be safe.” 

Schools should also focus their policies targeted by district or individual cases, Trump said, with guidelines being reviewed annually or on some regular schedule. 

 “It’s when you let your guard down – which they apparently did- that incidents like this happen,” Trump said.  

Reach reporter Jenny Chen here.