Essentials Magazine Essentials Spring 2018 | Page 9

Campus Safety
will quickly undermine other security
measures.
Classroom Perimeter
• Secure academic wings —
strengthen and utilize smoke partition
doors to create another interior layer of
resistance.
• Sightlines — like the exterior,
maintaining interior sightlines can be
critical to view potential threats.
• Door Hardware — all door hard-
ware should be a minimum “Grade 1”
quality and should be properly installed
and maintained.
• Doors and frames — inspect for
proper alignment for closing and latch-
ing, and review door closers and hinges
to ensure full functionality.
• Enhance glazing with products
such as School Guard Glass to delay a
forced entry attack.
• Communication — the ability to
call for help is the second most crit-
ical asset after the ability to secure
the building perimeter and interior
spaces; multiple means of communica-
tions should be available and regularly
tested.
TECHNOLOGY
In addition to the aforementioned
architectural strategies, technology is
also important. The ability to remotely
monitor and control doors is para-
mount and predicated on knowledge
of the incident. The use of well-de-
signed video surveillance systems and
other ancillary components provide
the supporting data to effect actions
of initiating a lock-down or other
incident response procedure. When
designing a technological system that
supports safety measures it is import-
ant to remember several points. These
include:
• Design a security program first
and then determine the technolog-
ical tools that will best support that
program.
• Use technology as a tool to help
mitigate the campus risk profile.
• Understand the capabilities of the
staff tasked with monitoring the tech-
nology put in place.
• Organize and implement security
technology so it can be used as a force
multiplier.
OPERATIONS
Operations include communications,
information sharing and situational
awareness for everything related to
campus activities. However, no amount
of planning can prevent a threat if
those within the school are not properly
trained, empowered, and supported.
When designing the operations plan
there are several points to keep in mind:
• Develop programs to increase
awareness of the campus population
including interactive sessions, technol-
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