Often, this means turning to technology, from visitor management systems and surveillance cameras to panic buttons and remote-controlled locks. However, experts caution that technology is not a panacea and must be used in conjunction with thorough crisis response protocols. Creating those protocols, then sharing and practicing them with the entire school community, is the foundation of good security, according to Kenneth Trump, president of National School Safety and Security Services, a Cleveland-based consulting firm.
“Any technology is a supplement to, but not a substitute for, the human side of school safety,” Trump said. “The first and best line of defense is a well-trained, highly alert staff and student body.”
With solid emergency prevention training and response protocols in place, schools can use technology to help speed and strengthen those plans, according to Pat Hamilton, alliance director of the “I Love U Guys” Foundation, a Colorado-based nonprofit that provides crisis preparation, response and reunification training to schools worldwide.
The foundation was created by Ellen and John-Michael Keyes, whose daughter, Emily, was killed in the 2006 hostage crisis at Platte Canyon High School, Colo. Her last text message to her parents is the name of their foundation. Hamilton said the mission of “I Love U Guys” is to “protect the joy of youth” by increasing school safety.
“The core is having a plan and knowing how to implement that plan in a crisis,” he said. “Every piece you can add from that core, everything you can do beyond that, is going to make that plan better.”
ACCESS CONTROL
That’s where technology enters the picture. Hamilton, who spent more than two decades as executive director of operations at a school district in Colorado, recommends a visitor management system to screen all campus visitors, along with surveillance cameras and remote-controlled locks.
More advanced versions of this technology may improve school security by speeding up threat detection and response time, Hamilton said. For example, surveillance cameras equipped with AI monitoring are designed to detect threats and send an immediate alert to school officials for verification.
“Then, if you need to, you can lock your school down, and that could be 30 seconds. It could be a minute faster than what it would have ever been in the past,” he said. “And if we can find an extra 30 seconds, an extra minute of time to clear those hallways and get those doors locked, it will save lives.”
The ability to get students and staff behind locked doors as soon as possible is critical to school security, Hamilton said, as it creates a barrier against the active assailant and buys time for first responders to arrive. For this reason, lock technology, or access control, can be a boon to campus safety, according to Jake Leichtling, director of product management for California-based security technology company Verkada.
“I think the most important thing for every school to have is digital access control on the rooms where students are, so like classrooms, gyms, libraries, all these interior rooms should have the ability to be remotely locked down,” Leichtling said.
This way, the moment anyone detects a threat, school officials can lock every door — not just the main exterior ones — with the push of a button, he said, which is usually located on a connected security dashboard or app.
PANIC BUTTONS
Panic buttons are another tech-based security feature that can accelerate the initiation of emergency protocols, Leichtling said. Instead of scrambling to find a phone to call first responders, school staff can simply push a button to raise the alarm.
However, schools must avoid being lulled into a false sense of security once they have such technology in place, according to both Hamilton and Trump. Instead, systems such as remote-controlled locks, surveillance cameras and panic buttons should be viewed only as components of a broader, human-centered security plan.
“Ultimately, you can’t solve a human behavioral problem solely or largely with security products and technology,” Trump said. “The No. 1 way we find weapons, plots and kids who are going to cause harm to themselves or others is when a student comes forward and tells an adult that they trust.”
