[dr2005]

I guess the key question in all of this is: was what the principal signed off an accurate depiction of what a "lockdown" situation would be like? I'm in no position to comment about such things as we don't tend to have or need them over here (thank goodness), but I'd say that's the key thing in this scenario. If it is very unlikely that officers with firearms would enter the school in such circumstances, then yes this was overboard and yes there should be some action taken to correct it (although whether it warrants a disciplinary I'm not so sure about - the road to hell being paved with good intentions and all that). If, on the other hand, officers with firearms would enter the school in such circumstances, then to be honest I don't see the problem. Yes, it may have scared the children - but if the risk they face is that serious, then isn't it better that they take it seriously? Treating such things too casually is likely to make people complacent if a real incident occurs, and that's when things can go very wrong indeed. I'm not suggesting scaring the living daylights out of kids on a regular basis is the way forward, but nor is shielding them completely from the reality of what might happen in a lockdown.

Again, I speak from a position of relative ignorance here but that to me seems the defining point.