Page 32 - School Planning & Management, July/August 2019

SAFETY&SECURITY THE FUTURE OF SCHOOL SECURITY
up to 3,000 students pour onto the campus within a short window via multiple entry points and several travel modalities — by foot, bus, car, bike or, soon, self-driving cars. Not unlike the passenger mix at most airports, the typical campus community welcomes a diverse mix of parents, teachers, community visitors and students varying in age, abilities and development —
all expecting a safe, secure campus that doesn’t feel like a prison.
As schools look to evolve alongside the changing landscape of security, layered, ongoing and expanded measures have required an evolution in how to think of and define passive security. Schools must detect and deter threats earlier and at multiple times and points of the student’s day to maintain clearance from a growing number of safety concerns. However, the added layers of monitoring, scanning
and tracking also requires that these measures are all but invisible. Airports, confronted with the same challenge, have expanded the definition of passive security to include the growing trend of ambient technologies and practices embedded
into the environment that, virtually undetectable, reduce interference in how humans interact with their environment. Drawing inspiration from the future of passive security in airports, schools have a powerful opportunity to adapt these tools for the safety of today’s campus.
The Approach
Security and threat detection should begin as early as possible. Securing the campus’ approach mirrors aviation
safety designations between “airside”
and “curbside” clearance. Through a combination of safeguards, the campus is secured to maintain similar clearance and potential threats are diverted before they enter the campus.
In addition to scanners built into bollards and awnings along the approach and campus perimeter, new technologies are making it possible for school administration to better allocate their resources and
Face recognition software, for instance, can be used to register identities, grant clearance, provide an alert when recognized or located within the network or identify and track unauthorized visitors.
detect threats. Environmental sensors from airports that measure vehicle and pedestrian activity can be used at the parking lot and in lighting not only to add surveillance but also collect data and better allocate resources.
Systems are also currently available that scan and detect possible threats within a transport vehicle. In aviation, passengers can have their luggage scanned and their identification verified as they make their way to the airport — “clearing” the traveler before they ever reach the airport. Similarly, fully automated school transportation systems are being tested
to reinvent the nearly 100-year-old busing methods in use today. While this doesn’t address how everyone arrives on campus, “pre-screened” bus riders can proceed onto the campus without added visual interruption or time.
Environmental Monitoring
Once on the campus, multiple stages of detection and deterrence that follow the daily paths and rhythms of students seamlessly integrate into the environment for ongoing screening to maintain “campus-side” clearance.
At an airport in Dubai, entertaining environments serve as visual spectacles to alleviate travel anxieties while also creating a visual distraction from in- tandem screening measures. For instance, a tunnel can be transformed in a virtual
aquarium or a space exploratorium and, using a system of cameras and biometric data, can complete screening for large groups in as a little as 10 seconds. As this technology becomes more developed, it is foreseeable that such technology could be introduced to a school vestibule or hallway, replacing the metal detector in scanning high volumes of traffic entering the building.
The advancement of technologies
also makes it possible to manage large numbers of people with screening that is quick, inconspicuous and flexible. Radar and flooring systems, for example, can detect concealed weapons and effectively screen up to one person every five seconds through a single-entry point. They can
be used for specific events and later be removed for use in another location.
Once inside the building, real-time monitoring systems can provide data for the campus population through existing cameras — helping identify where best to position staff, reduce bottlenecks and improve situational awareness.
Airports are also experimenting with automated baggage screening, including small imaging or scanning pods. One day, this could allow students to drop off a backpack at the door when they arrive to have it screened and waiting at their classroom
or provide ongoing screening of lockers and other storage areas throughout the campus.
Biometrics
Most campuses already employ some sort of badging and background screening
of visitors. However, emerging biometric technology used in some airports provides
a glimpse into the possibilities of a more accurate and less intrusive method of managing access, detecting threats and mitigating security issues. Face recognition software, for instance, can be used to register identities, grant clearance, provide an alert when recognized or located
within the network or identify and track unauthorized visitors. Retina and fingerprint scanning complement this technology at
32 SCHOOL PLANNING & MANAGEMENT / JULY/AUGUST 2019
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