There are several definitions for the term lockdown, the most common of which pertains to a state of containment or a restriction of progression.
In its most common usage in corrections units, the term lockdown can be defined as a course of action to control the movement of inmates. There may be various levels of "lockdown". Confining all prisoners, except workers, to their cells until the end of the day is a good example of a "lockdown period" in a corrections schedule. However a "full lockdown" is used when all prisoners are locked in their cells to prevent a riot from spreading or during an emergency.
A lockdown is an emergency protocol to prevent people or information escaping, which usually can only be ordered by someone in command. They are also used to protect people inside a facility from a dangerous external event: in the United States, schools practice lockdowns in the wake of the Columbine High School massacre where potential assailants who were possessing firearms, (with a hostile intent), enter the school, or from an internal event; prison facilities also practice lockdown procedure on their inmates when faced with rioting or unrest.
A partial lockdown means that the doors leading outside of the building are locked and people may not exit or enter the building. A full lockdown means that people must stay where they are and may not exit or enter a classroom, apartment unit, store unit, an office space, condo unit or to enter or exit the building. If people are in a hallway they must go into the nearest classroom, apartment unit, condo unit, office space or store unit.
In the US protest movements dating from the 1960s and 70s the term lockdown means for a person to attach themselves to a building, object, fence or other immobile object. This was originally done with chains and handcuffs, but other devices have been introduced including tripods and tubes or pipes with handholds built in to link a person to an object or to create chains of people.[1]
Contents |
In the wake of the September 11 attacks a three-day lockdown of American airspace was initiated to prevent any remaining perpetrators from escaping.
In December 2005 the New South Wales Police Service initiated a 'lockdown' of the Sutherland Shire and other beach areas of New South Wales to contain race rioting (and retaliative strikes). The New South Wales Labor government, in an emergency sitting of parliament, passed an array of amendments to legislation giving the New South Wales Police Service additional powers to 'lock down' targeted areas and roads within New South Wales. The legislation introduced to deal with the 2005 Cronulla riots was the Law Enforcement Legislation Amendment (Public Safety) Act 2005 (NSW). The Law Enforcement Legislation Amendment (Public Safety) Act 2005 (NSW) amended four separate pieces of legislation:
Under their new powers, the New South Wales Police Service 'locked down' targeted areas and roads at Cronulla, Bondi, Coogee, Maroubra and Brighton-le-Sands to prevent persons of middle eastern appearance from committing reprisal attacks and prevent white supremacist agitators from further violence.
An example of a campus/school lockdown was demonstrated at the University of British Columbia on January 30, 2008 where an unknown threat was made and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) issued a lockdown on one of the buildings on campus for 6 hours, cordoning off the area and a campus alert was sent via email to everyone who is affiliated with UBC while students and faculties were to remain locked in the building.[2][3][4]
On April 10, 2008 two Canadian secondary schools were locked down due to suspected firearm threats. George S. Henry Academy was locked down in Toronto, Ontario at approximately 2:00p.m.[5]. The Emergency Task Force (TPS) were contacted and the lockdown lasted for more than two hours. New Westminster Secondary School was locked down in New Westminster, British Columbia at approximately 1:40 p.m.[6]. The Emergency Response Team (ERT) were called and the school was under lockdown until 4:30 p.m. Due to the size of the school, some students were not able to leave until 7:00 p.m.
It is considered an overreaction to lock down a school due to nearby criminal activity, such as a bank robbery, as criminals of that sort don't fit the profile of those who would take advantage of the perceived safety of a school (perceived because the reality is that it's a terrible place for refuge, as it's full of people in every room all the time) and only rarely have entered a school while fleeing police.
In some schools (unlisted for "certain" reasons), a "Non-aggressive" lock down would mean that all students would follow school lock down procedure, and a student locker drug search will be performed by either the school staff, a K9 unit, the local police, or all three. However, not every school practices this, and some will actively search all lockers without requiring a complete lock down.
Another example of a "lock down" would be an air raid emergency. During the 1940's and 1950's, neighborhoods in Detroit, MI (Other areas not verified) would practice a "black out". During this time, the city's Civil Defense workers would immediately activate the neighborhood air raid siren, and families would be required to do the following in order: 1. Shut off all appliances, such as stoves, ovens, furnaces. 2. Shut off valves for water and natural gas or propane, as well as disconnect electricity. 3. Close "blackout" curtains, which were plain black curtains that would block light from coming in or going out. Unlike an atomic bomb, where white curtains are used to reflect the blast, black curtains were used to prevent any airborne enemies from seeing in windows. 4. Get to a public shelter, a bomb or fallout shelter, or the household basement, and stay there until the local police would dismiss the black out. Although this is no longer practiced, it is still used by a small portion of people who would protect against any enemies. These blackout incidents would begin at 3:00 PM and usually end around 3:30.
A digital lockdown is to prevent all outward flow of information on a computer, including internet access, and internal applications. It is used to prevent the spread of viral infections, and glitches in the computer, or to keep a computer hijacker from stealing information. However shutdown week in school generally refers to the last week of school where there are no exams/assignments and is optional to go to school