Public Support for School Security Measures: An Analysis of Public Perceptions of School Security Measures and the Regional Variants among Pennsylvania Residents

Recent incidents of school shootings and media attention surrounding such events have started a discussion amongst criminologists about the utility of different types of school security measures. While prior research has explored perceptions of certain types of school security measures, to date, no study has examined public perceptions of the four dominant types of school security measures documented in the scholarly literature (i.e., physical, interactionism, legalistic, and preparedness mechanisms). The goal of this study was to help fill this gap in the literature by assessing Pennsylvania residents’ perceptions of school security measures (N = 522). Specifically, this study investigated what types of physical, interactionist, legalistic, or preparedness mechanisms were most supported by the public. Furthermore, this study sought to explore regional variants in public support for types of school security measures. Findings suggest that a majority of the public favor all types of mechanisms, but showed the most support for policies designed to increase teachers' abilities to effectively secure individual classroom doors and training teachers in threat detection techniques and de-escalation techniques.