Active shooter prep gets a close-up

HBO's 'Thoughts & Prayers' examines $3-billion industry.

- ROBERT LLOYD TELEVISION CRITIC

HBO

IN AMERICA, we're told, 95% of schools practice lockdown drills.

"Thoughts & Prayers," premiering Tuesday on HBO, is a documentary film about the $3-billion "active shooter preparedness industry," that space where American failure meets American entrepreneurism.

Though it approaches its subject with a certain formal neutrality, the title, a phrase now synonymous with political emptiness, does suggest a point of view. (Its subtitle is “How to Survive an Active Shooter in America.”)

That industry includes various forms of training involving teachers, students and first responders and products theoretically created to increase securitylocks, alarms, robot dogs, bulletproof backpacks, bulletproof glass and bulletproof shelters that sit in the corner of a classroom. One company will put an image of your choice on a bulletproof wall hanging and sells a "skateboard [that] will outperform any other skateboard on the market, but it's also a self defense shield." "Every time there's a tragedy, it economically benefits my family," its founder admits. "We could be a $300million company by the time this documentary airs."