Page 86 - Security Today, October 2018

COVER STORY
TIPS FOR ASSESSING YOUR SCHOOL’S COMMUNICATION STATE
Educators concerned about the level of communications readiness and emergency preparedness for their schools can consider the following suggestions:
1. Evaluate and understand your existing security measures and communications equipment, including radios and related infrastruc- ture; surveillance cameras, video management systems, metal detectors, GPS tracking systems, access control systems, mass notification systems, and so on.
2. Review and update your emergency preparedness plans, including crisis communications, with your local public safety part- ners. Leverage their expertise, and help them increase their famil- iarity with your policies and procedures.
3. Clearly understand who within your school staff can commu- nicate directly with public safety personnel in an emergency. Do you have gaps? Wings or even entire buildings without a staff member who can communicate with first responders? Consider expanding that pool of individuals, or redistributing them for maxi- mum coverage.
4. Evaluate scenarios where one or more communications net- works fail. What happens in an emergency if one nationwide cellular carrier network is swamped? If all of them are swamped? If the school WiFi network crashed? If the radio system was unavailable? Establish backup communication strategies wherever possible.
5. Improve training of school crisis teams with lockdown drills and other simulations, including public safety partners as well as school
security staff, custodial teams, bus drivers and other support staff. 6. Understand and address the coverage gaps within your cam- pus. At a minimum, recognize where there is poor WiFi coverage, two-way radio reception, or cellular device coverage. Improve cover- age in these areas with repeaters or other technology when feasible. 7. Help first responders help you by providing the campus infor- mation they need to respond effectively. Number each school entrance/exit door so they can be easily identified. Provide police and fire departments with the latest floor plans and blueprints to
improve their tactical responses.
8. Maximize your investment in new technologies by selecting
comprehensive solutions from reputable vendors that address the gaps you’ve identified in your assessments.
9. Review your video technology investments closely, as innova- tion, analytics, and search technology are improving aggressively in this area. Standard definition cameras that show you vaguely per- son-shaped objects do little to help security staff. High definition cameras and systems with unusual motion detection analytics can notify security teams of out-of-the-ordinary behavior, leading to rapid intervention of clearly visible suspects in emergency situations.
10. Help in securing grant funding for your vital safety initiatives can be found online. EducationGrantsHelp.com, partnering with Motorola Solutions, offers an informative guide of tips and advice on applying for and securing school safety grants, including funding for emergency communications equipment.
in the most horrible circumstances.
A joint study conducted by the Rand Corporation in conjunction
with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) and multiple uni- versities supports this observation. In their survey of schools large and small in rural, suburban and urban areas, they concluded that one of the few topics that resonated with all respondents was the indisputable need for reliable two-way communications with first responders.
FOCUS ON EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATIONS
The safety challenges they face make it vital for school officials to be proactive in preparing to deal with emergencies of all types. Given the variety of job functions supported by a school—maintenance workers, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, security personnel, counselors, admin- istrators, teachers, and, of course, students—educational institutions must ensure they consider all possible threat vectors and associated communications plans when an emergency arises.
With the right communications infrastructure in place, schools can better connect with their own personnel as well as with the public safety agencies that respond to incidents. Understandably, a growing number of educational institutions are proactively assessing their emergency communications systems and improving them to minimize risks. For example:
Fremont School District 79. Serving over 2,000 students in Mun- delein, Illinois—the school district adopted a more robust and reliable radio communications system than its previous push-to-talk cellular technology because of the growing number of school violence inci- dents nationwide.
Elmore County Public School District. Among the fastest growing in Mississippi, Elmore County Public School District upgraded its communication system to include GPS tracking and technology to extend the reach of its digital radios to non-radio users in a move to better connect with its bus fleet to improve student safety.
Fulton County (Georgia) School District. Decisions were made to upgrade an obsolete video surveillance system with high-definition cameras with self-learning video analytics, network video recorders and video management software. Now when video administrators spot something out of the norm, they can immediately radio their in-school police force to investigate further.
In each of these scenarios—even those deploying sophisticated new technology—the fundamental purpose remains the same: gather criti- cal information quickly, so it can be communicated to the appropriate personnel to minimize risks.
SUPPLY IMMEDIATE, INFORMATIVE COMMUNICATIONS
Reliable communications create an environment where nobody is left in the dark. In an emergency, schools must strive for communications with students, parents and particularly to first responders that is both immediate and informative. When responding to an emergency, effec- tive communications allow first responders en route to see into the event as it unfolds, better preparing themselves to take appropriate and efficient actions once they arrive.
In an optimal scenario, first responders would be able to communi- cate directly on their radios with the users of a school-based radio system when an emergency arises, securely gathering information from educators while bypassing commercial networks that may be swamped by panicked students and parents. A comprehensive solution like this would also include regular co-training between public safety and school personnel in emergency drills, and training educators in the art of speaking concisely and clearly when communicating during an emergency.
Many school districts pursue effective emergency communications by simply outfitting key personnel such as School Resource Officers and security teams with the more resilient radios used by first respond- ers. This ensures that school security personnel—who are often already
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