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This is the header image for the BPS Security Article titled, “How Can School Districts Increase Their Security Without Going Over Budget”

How Can School Districts Increase Their Security Without Going Over Budget

In response to the Northside ISD school lockdowns caused by shooting in close proximity to John Jay High School here in San Antonio in late October, many people asked us, “How can school districts increase their security without blowing their budget?!” Below, we suggest a few different tools that individual schools and entire districts can use to instantly increase the level of safety!

 

Note that, these suggestions do require upfront costs. But in the long haul, the costs are actually less expensive than alternatives!

Suggestions — How School Districts Can Increase Their Security

Use Artificial Intelligence

When it comes to AI, there are been major advancements! Recently, we started using a new system that detects the presence of a pulled gun. In best-case scenarios, no one should have a gun near or inside a school. However, we do not live in “best-case scenarios” and therefore, we (society) need to have a fast reaction anytime a gun is drawn. And that is exactly how this system helps! Even better, not only does it immediately recognize the gun, it can track the individual holding the gun as they move throughout a property.

Prior to this system, onsite security and police would have to identify threats while scanning multiple surveillance screens. Then, when a threat would move between rooms, the security team would have to quickly identify their location on screens that are set in random order. Ultimately, this old way of security monitoring has a lot of room for error. 

This image is of a security camera installed on a brick wall inside of a school. This image is used in the BPS Security Article, “How Can School Districts Increase Their Security Without Going Over Budget.”
Whereas, this new AI system has a very high accuracy rate and can detect threats significantly faster than a normal human being.

Install Automatic Lock Features - Entry and Exit

Today, it is possible to lock any and every door within a building with a single push of a button. Now, you may be thinking, “Don’t schools already have a locking system!?” Yes! But most of these locking systems just prevent individuals from entering a building… but do not prevent people from exiting the building.
Here is an example. Let’s say that there is an armed perpetrator spotted outside of a school. Now, there is always a lag time between spotting the perpetrator and informing every individual in the building that there is a threat outside alerting them to all stay inside. That said if the perpetrator is spotted, and a parent leaves the building, the door will be temporarily open… providing enough time for the perpetrator to enter the building.
This is an artistic image of five padlocks, four of which are closed and one is open. Behind the locks are lines and dashes representing codes and technology. This image is used in the BPS Security Article, “How Can School Districts Increase Their Security Without Going Over Budget.”

Sure, the timing has to be spot-on for the above example to work. However, the timing always seems to be spot on when something horrible is happening.

Ultimately, giving police and school officials access to quickly lock down a building, preventing individuals from both entering AND exiting, can make a major difference in the level of security.

Final Thoughts

There is, sadly, no way to make a school 100% safe at all times. But there are ways to beef up security! Implementing the above suggestions can drastically help school districts increase their security without breaking a budget!
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