UNM-Valencia Installs Gunshot Detection System

UNM-Valencia Installs Gunshot Detection System

The University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus is using a gunshot detection system to increase student safety.

  • By Jessica Davis
  • April 09, 2019

The University of New Mexico-Valencia Campus has installed a gunshot detection system to increase student and public safety on campus. The new technology hopes to prevent school shootings.

"With the publicity around the country and the incidences taking place, and just the fact that we feel our students need a very safe, secure environment to operate out of, and to get their education," said Rick Goshorn, Director of Business Operations at UNM-Valencia Campus.

The Emergency Automated Gunshot and Lockdown (EAGL) system uses sound energy to determine the exact location where a gun has been fired.

"It senses, basically, the sonic wave of the round, can detect immediately where it is and any building, whether it's on the first or second floor and can generally tell us what caliber the gun is," Goshorn said.

The EAGL system then sends an alert to local law enforcement and students to let them know where the suspect is, so police can locate the threat and students know what area of campus to avoid.

"Our job is to, in the event of an emergency such as this, to locate, isolate, contain, and eliminate such an active threat as a shooter on campus," said Brian Killinger, Interim Command Officer at UNM-Valencia Campus.

The developers of the EAGL system think the technology could eventually become mandatory in public buildings, similar to fire alarms.

"In the '50s, there was no fire alarm in buildings and then it became mandatory for every building," said Boaz Raz, CEO of EAGL Technology. "Today, unfortunately, the risk of having a gunshot in a building is higher than having a fire. I believe that eventually, this technology is going to be mandatory for all public buildings."

For a school of average size, the EAGL system installation costs about $25,000.

About the Author

Jessica Davis is the Associate Content Editor for 1105 Media.

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