About a month ago, I attended an intensive three-day orientation session for my summer internship. One of our instructors noted that we were essentially “drinking from a firehose,” and I’ve found that I really like that analogy. As a student soon to be graduating, I’ve recently drunk from a lot of firehoses. Multiple internships, jobs, difficult classes – all have provided the overwhelming firehose experience. I anticipated that the PRIMA Annual Conference would be no different; fun, of course, but an absolutely overwhelming three days.

Now more than ever, the world has seen an increase in the number of threats to our schools, colleges and universities. One of the deadliest events in U.S. history occurred in April 2007, where 32 people were murdered on the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech) campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. More recently, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida had claimed national attention with the murder of 17 people.

In today’s public school environment, both students and staff are constantly on the alert for unauthorized persons on campus. Children, in particular, are often taught to announce the presence of unknown third-parties with the familiar cry of “stranger danger!” But what about those persons (other than parents or guardians) who are temporarily invited to be on school property?

By all accounts, it appears that the number of medical personnel participating in heavily armed raids is on the rise.

In the mid-1960s, major police departments around the U.S. began employing Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams: heavily armed, specially trained officers who can act swiftly and decisively in volatile situations. Although the exact figure is unknown, it's safe to say that today a majority of municipalities use SWAT teams.

Water damage to physical property remains the most common type of loss in most parts of the country. There are a few states, like Texas, Oklahoma and Colorado, where hail and wind prevail, but damage by water is far more common for most public entities. It can be caused by, rain, wear and tear to plumbing and other infrastructure or simple negligence. Whatever the cause, the longer the water damage goes untreated, the worse the damage gets and the more expensive the repairs become.

Through articles, presentations and news reports, you’ve probably heard about automakers developing and testing vehicles that require little or no human driver interaction. These highly automated vehicles, or HAV, will create a new paradigm in vehicle use, safety and insurance.

Realistically though, given the number of new automobiles sold annually and the industry’s manufacturing capacity, a total turnover to driverless cars is decades away.

“The man who makes no mistakes does not usually make anything.”

Inspiring words from Edward J. Phelps, and certainly in some aspects of life, mistakes need to be made in order to learn and grow. Unfortunately, in the increasingly digitized world in which we live, when people make mistakes online, the things they create are usually very messy and very costly.

Employees play a large role in the state of your organization’s cybersecurity. Here are some tips to help you refine your strategy:

Employee Training

Every day the media reports on new stories involving children harmed by bullying, in both big and small ways. Any institution that provides programs for children (e.g. schools, day camps, park districts, recreation departments) faces the potential that bullying may occur on its watch and the risk that it may be held responsible for the impact of that behavior, or, at a minimum, be required to defend itself against allegations that it should have done more.

Sunshine laws are intended to promote transparency in government by requiring that information about government activities be made available to the public. Public access to this information allows citizens to make informed judgments and identify corruption and waste. Consequently, sunshine laws are critical to maintaining accountability, trust and efficiency in government.

Whitewater rafting, kayaking and river surfing are quickly becoming some of the most popular adventure sports in America. Given this growing popularity, recreation departments across the country are building whitewater parks as entertainment attractions. Before building a whitewater park in your city, town or county, it is important to understand the hazards that accompany the construction of these parks. This evaluation will require significant skills in risk identification, contractual risk transfer, signage wording, site inspection and working with your legal consultant, etc.