Dutton discusses school security, response issues

With the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas last month and the May 31 threat of shooting in Helena that led to the arrest of a 23-year-old Helena man, , Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton addressed some of the challenges facing school security.

Dutton said he has been stressing the importance of a single point entry for schools where a potential threat can be contained. He said the Helena School District has worked to make that happen through new construction and remodeling of the schools.

Dutton also recognized that the response to an active shooter situation in Lincoln or Augusta would be different than in Helena.

"If your deputy is gone or a highway patrolman is gone, that's a 40-minute run for them to get here," he said.

Dutton said he's been told by parents they can't wait 40 minutes, but he said there's a risk in that.

"If Officer Short is coming in and you're there and you're going to shoot the bad guy...he doesn't know you. Probably I don't know you. Many of these guys don't know you, so it's a serious conversation we have to have with the outlying schools.

From a parent's standpoint, he said he understands that people won't sit outside and listen to gunshots. But he said once they arrive their job is to minimize casualties as quickly as possible. "If you 're one of those people who looks like you're shooting, how do we tell? What identifies you as one of the good people? This can be worked through. It's just going to take some conversation."

Dutton also explained his concerns about using a shooter's name in the media and the possibility of copycats who may see it as a way to solve their problems. He said they need to address the people who are doing this and what elevates school or mass shootings as a "position of honor" in their minds.