Anyone would be hard-pressed to think of a place where security is more important than in schools. But how can educators and administrators ensure they’re protecting students and staff as securely as possible? And how can parents trust that they’re sending their children to a safe place every day?
These security solutions are designed to protect schools from external and internal threats.
When asked, “how can I improve school safety?” cameras may seem like the obvious answer. What’s important is to ensure your video security system is up-to-date and is equipped to prevent dangerous incidents—not just to play the footage after the fact. Your school should be outfitted with high-quality cameras, digital IP-based video security system and offer comprehensive coverage in all lighting conditions. You should also seek a system that can stream live footage to administrators both within the school and externally, such as at the district level. This offers multiple opportunities for footage to be monitored.
Emergency points are typically tall metal poles, perhaps with a light on top, with a phone or intercom button to call for help either from the local police force or campus security. They are common on college campuses but rarely found in the K-12 setting. However, for certain school layouts, particularly at the high school level, they can be an excellent school safety resource. Should a student observe a threat or feel endangered, they can find the nearest emergency point to easily alert nearby authority figures and ask for help. Emergency communication points on school or campus grounds secure these environments and instill peace of mind to the athletes, students, parents, faculty and visitors.
School districts looking to protect students and staff from external threats in particular must strongly consider installing controlled access doors at all entrances and exits. This allows school security staff to exert complete control over who enters and exits the school building and makes verifying the identity of any visitors safe and simple. Additionally, students can use their school-issued ID cards to gain access to specific areas and events but not areas restricted to them.
It’s important for schools that are endeavoring to implement a robust suite of security solutions to have an alarm system in place. The purpose of this system is to notify students, faculty, and staff of lockdowns, drills, or other hazards. It’s an efficient way to let everyone in the building know to commence any safety procedures. An alarm system can have different ways of notifying school occupants of varying types of dangers and can do so subtly, to avoid alerting potentially dangerous intruders that the administration is aware of their presence.
In order to effectively implement sufficient security measures in your schools, you must partner with an experienced security technology integrator that can offer expert guidance, products, and service. Commercial Technology is the premier progressive integrator of customized IT, AV, and security solutions in the New York metropolitan area. Review some of our past security projects to learn more about the robust security solutions we’ve had the privilege of implementing for our clients or contact us directly to find out what we can do for you.