Oakland County Gives ‘Go-Ahead’ for $500,000 Review into Oxford School Shooting Response
In an important decision, the governing body of Oakland County decided this Thursday to put aside a whopping $500,000 for a thorough, unbiased review into the response of emergency services to the heartbreaking Oxford High School attack that took place in 2021.
What’s the Review For?
This detailed examination is set to analyze the effectiveness of how emergency management, the police force, and Fire/Emergency Medical services responded to the mass shooting. The aim is to understand what worked, what didn’t, and learn from the incident to improve future responses.
The third-party doing the review will be recruited through a proper attorney-driven request procedure. Their job will include gathering facts, conducting interviews with key people, checking the response and recovery efforts, and producing a useful report with suggestions for raising public safety levels and shaping emergency response strategies.
Why this Review?
The report resulting from this review will be critical in making changes to policy, setting up training programs, and deciding how to allocate resources better. All these are aimed at avoiding future distressing incidents like this and boosting community safety. Till now, no independent review of the emergency services’ response to the Oxford incident has been done.
The Funding
The funding was approved by all members with two absent. This one-time funding will be taken from the county’s fund balance and given to the department in charge of managing emergencies and maintaining homeland security. This department will then hire an independent firm with experience in similar reviews. The firm’s final report will be made public once completed.
The individual who lost his son in the attack welcomed this move for a review into the police and emergency services’ response. He expressed that he still has several unanswered questions about the attack. “At the end of the day, we have to learn from these tragedies,” he said, hoping that this review will enable that learning.
Previous Demands for a Review
There have been requests for an independent review of the same kind in the past. Although it was claimed that the Sheriff’s Office turned down these requests for a review, the office denies it. The office did participate in an independent evaluation conducted by a consultancy firm, but that was limited to investigating the school district’s role in the attack, not the emergency responders.
A statement from the county expressed appreciation for the move to approve funds for the review. “Reviews like these help ensure we update and improve those plans so that we can quickly activate and provide the best possible resources to our residents and our communities,” it said.
