INTRUDER DETECTION in schools

6 tips for getting your school security alarm system ready and prepared

Business and security consultant, Essay Roo

Author Bio ▼

Gloria Kopp is a business and security consultant at Big Assignments. She manages columns at Engadget and Ukwritings. Besides, Gloria is a resume writer and editor at Resumention where she also shares her career advice with students.
November 17, 2017

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In the US, there are so many potential hazards that could affect schools.

School shootings are becoming increasingly common as are extreme weather conditions including hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes.

As a school community, you’re responsible for setting out and organising the security procedures in your school for the protection of your students and your teachers. This is something that parents will also want to be informed of during meetings.

Of course, you’ve probably got a procedure set up and ready to go but here are six essential tips you can follow to make sure it’s effective and ready to go at a moment’s notice.

Educate your staff

Consider how many authoritative figures you have in your school. This could include school administrators, support staff and teachers, as well as other important people such as custodians, bus drivers and many more.

“These are the people that are going to be in charge and will need to take responsibility if something was to happen,” said George Vasquez, a security manager, in the Huffington Post. “This means each one of them will need to know what to do in each situation as well as any emergency procedures. This is the best way to keep your school and your students safe.”

Evaluate and improve your procedures

As above, you should already have emergency procedures in place, but a procedure can also be made better. Run drills, such as a fire drill, in your school to see how effective the current one is and look for ways it can be improved.

In a fire drill, inform teachers that a drill will take place throughout the day and time them to see how long it takes everybody to get to a safe location

For example, in a fire drill, inform the teachers that a drill will take place throughout the day and then time them to see how long it takes everybody to get to a safe location. You can then see how effective your procedure is and how it needs to be updated.

Likewise, you may also have other forms of security in your school. This can include security cameras, security guards or officers and even metal detectors. You need to run tests on these appliances and personnel to make sure that their knowledge and functions are up to date and they are working to the best of their abilities.

However, make sure you don’t rely on your security system, it’s only there to aid your existing security protocols.

Updating your security system

According to statistics, most schools developed their crisis plan after the Columbine attack back in 1999. This was a school attack where 15 students were massacred, and 24 were left injured.

However, that was nearly two decades ago, and many of these plans can now be found in the admin office collecting dust.

“You’ll need to include information such as how to initiate a school and class lockdown as well as evacuation procedures and how school transport can be quickly organised to get students off-site quickly.”

Michael Napier, CEO at Paper Fellows, shares his opinion: “These records and plans need to be updated to meet the modern-day dangers and then distributed to teachers and staff to learn them. Within these plans, you’ll need to include information such as how to initiate a school and class lockdown as well as evacuation procedures and how school transport can be quickly organised to get students off-site quickly.”

It’s also recommended that you keep these plans updated as much as you can. Annually you should be sufficient.

It’s also highly recommended that you share these plans with your students and while a full-scale drill would be ideal, this can be time-consuming and counter-productive. Set aside time for students to go through these plans at their desks with their students.

Recognise public safety officials

The authoritative members of staff and crisis members should have very close contact with public safety officials, such as firefighters, police and medical services, so everybody is on the same page if an emergency unfolds.

You should set up meetings with these officials around twice a year, and they should be major players when it comes to organising and creating your emergency plans. Contact numbers should be easily available through admin and posted around the school.

Educate the parents

As the students in your care are their children, it’s important that you keep the parents up to date with your procedures. Of course, you don’t need to tell them every little detail, only how often it’s updated and what the procedure’s outcomes are.

It can also be wise to set up a social media page for the parents to follow. This way, in the event of an emergency, you can update all parents simultaneously.

Make the relevant contacts

Hurricanes, tornados and other extreme weather conditions can, nowadays, be accurately predicted and therefore can give you the time you need to make sure that students are safe.

“For example, with a tornado, you usually get around 13 minutes warning so make sure that your school is set up with the necessary contacts or equipment to detect these, especially if you’re in a high-risk area. Radios, phone numbers and social media pages are the best places to find the information you need to keep your children safe,” said Lorie Butterfield, an operation manager at Academized.

As you can see, it’s quite easy to keep on top of your school’s alarm system and procedures. All it takes is a bit of organising and cooperation from your staff unit and you could be saving hundreds of lives.

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Each month, the IFSEC Insider (formerly IFSEC Global) Security in Focus podcast brings you conversations with leading figures in the physical security industry. Covering everything from risk management principles and building a security culture, to the key trends ahead in tech and initiatives on diversity and inclusivity, the podcast keeps security professionals up to date with the latest hot topics in the sector.

Available online, and on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts, tune in for an easy way to remain up to date on the issues affecting your role.

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