Across the country, school districts are working to increase the security of their entryways, including windows and doors, to give occupants time to take cover and local law enforcement time to respond in the event there is an active shooter or some other form of violence.

Rick Dietel, owner of Amersol out of Dallas, has witnessed this firsthand. His company provides window film and architectural finishes throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area and has installed 3M™ Safety and Security Film on schools from primary to higher education.

“Each school system now has a police department,” Dietel said of the independent school districts in Texas. “If they have an active shooter, they tell me that they want to have two to three extra minutes of response time.”

The Center for Homeland Defense and Security reports that more gun violence incidents took place in 2018 than in the last four decades on K-12 school campuses. Amersol is one of the largest window film companies in Texas. Having served the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1974, the company is among the oldest 3M™ Authorized Window Film dealers in the country. In 2018, Amersol won 3M™ Window Film Dealer of the Year for South Central.

Dietel’s team often works with school districts to install 3M™ Safety and Security Window Film Ultra 800, which is 8 mil thick and contains 56 distinct layers of film- making it difficult to tear. The film works by holding shattered glass together after impact, which can protect people and property from flying glass shards. Backed by science and innovation, 3M ensures its safety and security films, when combined with an impact protection attachment system, can withstand bomb blasts and explosions, seismic and spontaneous glass breakage and more.

Despite its thickness, 3M’s Ultra Series provides a clear view through the glass and dries fast, Dietel said. “3M is the only one in the industry with that technology,” he said. The film has proven to hold back an active shooter by up to two to three minutes, allowing for valuable police response time.

For more information about Amersol, visit www.Amersol.com or call (214) 503-9977. For more information about 3M™ Safety & Security Window Film, contact Accent Distributing at (941) 922-5268 or visit www.AccentDistributing.com.