A shooting at an Albuquerque, N.M., middle school on Friday, Aug. 13, left one student dead and the suspect in custody. Police say the incident at Washington Middle School took place at lunch as the victim tried to prevent another student from being bullied.
- By Matt Jones
- August 16, 2021
In June, the San Jose Unified School District in San Jose, Calif., voted to end its school officer resource program. However, on the evening of Thursday, Aug. 12, the board voted to hire off-duty SJPD officers as security for extracurricular activities and events on campus.
- By Matt Jones
- August 13, 2021
Auburn University in Auburn, Ala., announced this week that it’s launching a mobile student ID card that can be used on compatible iPhones, Apple Watches or Android devices. The electronic version of the “Tiger Card” can be used in place of a traditional, plastic ID card to access campus buildings, purchase meals, do laundry and more.
- By Matt Jones
- August 10, 2021
The University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, has announced that its campus police will now use body-worn cameras. According to a news release, the purpose of the body cameras is to “promote accountability; increase public trust; provide supportive documentation for complaints, investigations and prosecutions; and improve training opportunities.”
- By Matt Jones
- August 09, 2021
A former high-school custodian from Medford, Ore., has been arrested and faces charges including attempted second-degree murder after he “made significant steps to carry out a mass casualty event,” according to officials.
- By Matt Jones
- August 06, 2021
The New Mexico Public Education Department has suspended an entire five-person school board after its members voted to ignore statewide mask guidelines.
- By Matt Jones
- August 06, 2021
Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker has announced a mask mandate for schools to take effect immediately. All students, teachers and staff, regardless of vaccination status, will be required to wear masks indoors to prevent the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19.
- By Matt Jones
- August 05, 2021
Officials have confirmed that a police officer was killed on Tuesday, Aug. 3, during a violent incident at a Metro bus platform outside the Pentagon in Arlington, Va. The fallen officer’s identity has not yet been publicly released. A suspect was shot and killed by responding law enforcement officers at the scene.
- By Matt Jones
- August 04, 2021
Educational campuses are busy, complex environments. Amidst all the bustle, there are countless discreet traffic interactions governing whether people and vehicles make it to their destinations safely and smoothly.
- By Nick Valdez
- August 01, 2021
An important area of emergency preparedness for campus settings involves appropriate procedures for both internal and external hazardous materials incidents.
- By Michael Dorn
- August 01, 2021
In late May 2021, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed an executive order banning the state’s government entities—including public schools and universities—from requiring face masks.
- By Matt Jones
- August 01, 2021
The past two school years have presented many challenges with virtual classrooms, hybrid programs, and increased hygiene measures being implemented in K-12 and higher learning educational facilities.
- By Paul Hefty
- August 01, 2021
Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is an enormous school system, as are the challenges that Ralph Velez, director of security operations, is tasked to manage.
The recent COVID-19 pandemic forced millions of children to transition to a remote learning environment – far too quickly for many districts to make adequate preparations.
- By Nancy Islas
- August 01, 2021
I was recently approached about the value of fire and life safety inspections by a higher-education campus that is seeing severe budget pressures, staffing shortages and fewer students due to COVID-19.
- By Mike Halligan
- August 01, 2021
Physical security systems such as access control, video surveillance with analytics, and intrusion detection are primary security solutions at K-12 and higher education campuses that protect students, staff and assets.
- By Bill Brennan
- August 01, 2021
The past school year required campus leaders to think on their feet as they addressed the evolving challenges presented by COVID-19.
- By Scott Himes
- August 01, 2021
Children are a society’s most precious asset, from them comes a future head-of-state, captain of industry, or the inventor of the next revolutionary technology.
- By Debbie Pendleton
- August 01, 2021
When the National Center for Education Statistics surveyed schools about security in 2018, it found that most public schools in the United States – 95 percent – reported that they controlled access to buildings during school hours.
- By Dan Rothrock
- August 01, 2021
Remember back in the day when fans crowded at the gate, tickets in hand, eager to rush en masse to their seats?
- By Mark McCormack
- August 01, 2021
he health and social crises of this past year have increased demand for enhanced safety, accessibility, compliance, and convenience.
- By Tom Morgan
- August 01, 2021
The school has grown to host more than 300 students and 50 staff members and volunteers; with the preschool adding more than 40 students and staff members to the campus tally. A main challenge at the parish was being able to control access at all seven buildings.
- By Monique Merhige
- August 01, 2021
It is hard to believe that many parts of the country are still in a state of emergency, more than a year after the first pandemic lockdowns began in March 2020.
- By Todd Miller
- August 01, 2021
Let’s face it - the technology environment of a typical campus brings with it a unique set of situations and challenges that even the most seasoned technology manager may not fully appreciate.
- By Mike Spanbauer
- August 01, 2021
The University of Utah Police Department has committed to joining the 30x30 initiative, a national coalition pledging to increase representation of women in police recruit classes to 30% by 2030.
- By Matt Jones
- July 27, 2021
According to the results of a new survey from Honeywell Building Technologies, 93% of schools reported an emergency incident due to an infrastructure malfunction within the last year.
- By Matt Jones
- July 22, 2021
A survey from Safe and Sound Schools and Raptor Technologies has revealed a gap between parents and administrators in perceptions of school safety. The results of the survey, which was conducted among district administrators, public safety staff, students, teachers, and parents, suggest that administrators are significantly more confident than parents in schools’ safety policies and procedures.
- By Matt Jones
- July 20, 2021
Universities need to understand that different forms of stored personally identifiable information (PII) need different security tactics to best secure the data. Every effective university PII protection effort needs to address three critical requirements: data discovery, access governance and risk mitigation.
The Pomona Unified School District in Pomona, Calif., recently elected to end on-campus police presence and patrols following a multi-year community activism campaign. The district will instead turn to proctors trained in de-escalation methods as a first method of resolving disputes between students.
- By Matt Jones
- July 07, 2021
Seven Florida counties have selected school safety software company Raptor Technologies as their mobile panic alert system provider in compliance with the requirements of Alyssa’s Law.
- By Matt Jones
- June 30, 2021