As schools and districts contemplate the right mix of equipment, technology, training and policies and procedures to keep students and staff safe, the debate churns over how they should institute lockdown procedures for their buildings during an active shooter event.
Increased security measures and state-of-the-art security systems have become a common theme in today’s education industry. As threats become more apparent, security directors are turning to technology to help prevent or mitigate an event. New facilities are being equipped with cutting edge technology to ensure the safety of students and staff.
Of the hundreds of school shootings that have taken place in the last 50 years, only a few have involved the attacker having to physically break into the building, either through a window or – as in the case of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting – through a glass door. While there is technology available to mitigate that risk even further (including several brands of bullet- and impact-resistant glass), Advanced Data Risk Management LLC President and school security consultant Dan O’Neill says that perimeter security should only be one factor in eliminating easy targets for active shooters.
With programmable automatic locking from RS2 and local integrator Kendell Doors, however, Shanks can program the building’s doors to lock and unlock during various community or extracurricular events on the campus.