Security Systems for Schools: The Technology You Need

This article is meant to help school administrators understand the current tools available for building out a security system for their campus. We’ll cover the current methods most commonly in use (as well as their shortcomings) and introduce you to a new class of technology that can help improve your approach to school security.

Most Common Security Systems for Schools

Let’s start by reviewing the most commonly used security systems in place in K-12 schools across the country. You can review a full list of all school security statistics here as well.

• School Resource Officers (SROs): 58% of schools employ law enforcement officers on campus at least once per week, helping to maintain school safety.
• Access Control Systems: 97% of schools use access control systems like badging systems to control who can access certain portions of the campus or school grounds.
• Metal Detectors: While a widely known option, only about 6% of schools employ metal detectors in their school security systems.
• Security Cameras: 93% of schools have security camera systems installed on campus.
• Silent Alarms: 43% of schools use silent alarm systems that allow staff to silently contact law enforcement.

All of these security systems for schools have their benefits, but the problem is that each of them has a pitfall. The majority of these options are forms of physical security. Some are purely reactive, meant primarily to reduce response time once an incident has begun, in an effort to try and reduce the damage caused. Others are inconsistent and highly reliant on a human being able to catch a potential problem fast enough to prevent something happening, which is very difficult and very unreliable.

What School Security Systems do Laws Require Schools to Have?

The laws governing what kinds of systems schools are required to employ are highly variable between states. The most consistent set of requirements comes from Alyssa’s law, a set of legislation named after school shooting victim Alyssa Alhadeff. 

Each state can follow their own version of Alyssa’s law, but most have a consistent set of core requirements. To date Alyssa’s law legislation has been passed in several states including New Jersey, Florida, and New York. Many more continue to follow suit.

The security systems required by the law include:

• Silent panic alarms: Schools must install silent panic alarm systems that are directly linked to local law enforcement.
• Direct communication: These alarms should provide a way for schools to immediately notify law enforcement in case of an emergency or life-threatening situation.
• Quick response: The system aims to reduce response times for law enforcement and emergency services during critical incidents.

New School Security Solutions are Improving Proactive Response

The newest class of security systems schools are implementing include AI security camera technology on top of existing security camera system installations. And this approach has drastically changed a school’s ability to detect threats in real-time, respond to potential school shooting situations before they might even begin, and help staff and law enforcement respond instantaneously.

The key features of AI security camera software systems that can help round out a school’s security solution, primarily with regards to stopping school shootings include:

• Ability to work with existing security camera systems: Software, like Volt.ai’s technology, that can integrate with an existing camera setup helps reduce infrastructure cost and avoid major overhauls of existing systems. Given that 93% of schools already have security cameras in place, this makes the ability to add AI functionality both fast and cost-effective in almost all cases.
• Proven weapon detection capability: Volt.ai’s technology includes ML models trained to detect weapons in a variety of scenarios. It has been tested heavily, and consistently proven reliable at detecting weapons, even when held at a person’s side.
• Alarm monitoring with human review and 24/7 support: To ensure there aren’t false alarms that a human has reviewed all potential weapon detection scenarios, you’ll want a system backed by a fully staffed Virtual Security Operations Center (VSOC) to ensure immediate review of incidents.
• Real-time alerting to potential threats: The ability to send automatic and customizable alerts to all necessary security personnel on devices that can catch them anytime, anywhere is vital. Volt.ai works with mobile devices and smartwatches to send alerts that will be caught immediately by the appropriate staff members.
• Automatic 911 notification: Integration with nationwide 911 systems is an important security measure most administrators are looking for. Volt.ai offers this, as well as customizable escalation options to vary strategies as needed to support either automatic law enforcement notification or notification only after a staff member reviews and approves.

The value of this technology for a school administrator is that the benefits extend far beyond just stopping major catastrophes and can also help improve other aspects of student and school safety. They include:

• Catching student health issues: Fall, or “person down,” detection technology allows for immediate response to medical emergencies. The right technology can identify accidents, asthma attacks, and more even when students are out of view of staff.
• Fight detection: Technology that detects fights in real-time allows staff to respond in seconds and break things up before students can get seriously injured.
• Bullying prevention: Volt.ai’s technology can even detect potential bullying incidents and allow the school to stop issues with bullying as they are happening, rather than responding to these incidents after the fact. This has the added benefit of helping reduce the impact of bullying, mitigating retaliation events by students who are regularly bullied.
• Unauthorized access: Customized rules allow administrators to identify exactly where and when access to the campus, or particular areas of the campus is unauthorized and get notified, in real-time, when those rules are being broken, keeping students safe and protected.

Case Study: How Volt.ai has Transformed Prescott High School’s Security Response from Reactive to Proactive

Learn more about how Principal Adam Neely, and his administrative team, are using Volt.ai, in conjunction with existing school cameras, School Resource Officers and a Silent Alarm System to live out their mission of providing a safe and supportive environment that fosters a comprehensive education for all students so that they may reach their full potential. 

"This is the first time where I really have been able to be out ahead of things that are happening. I'm not just using my cameras for investigation, I'm using them for immediate action and response which is pretty special."

- Adam Neely, Principal, Prescott High School

Neely and his staff have been able to maintain a better understanding of activities occurring on their school grounds, alert security staff to active incidents, and reduce response times for emergency situations.

Read the full case study here.

School Security Solutions: When Seconds Means Saving Lives, Volt.ai Meets the Challenge

Learn more about how schools across the nation are implementing AI security camera technology into their school security systems to revolutionize the way they can respond to major school safety or campus security events.

Curious about how it might work in your school? Get a demo from one of our team members, who can walk you through all the features of our software, and help you understand the level of effort required for integration (commonly our system can be up and running within a single week and can work with your existing IP security cameras!).

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