By Chris Skinner, Security Technology Director
June was officially recognized as Gun Violence Awareness Month by congressional decree last year on June 2, but the event has been unofficially recognized since 2015.
It was originally held to commemorate the tragic passing of Chicago student Hadiya Pendleton, 15, who was killed as a bystander in a shooting two years prior.
Since 2015, When Pendleton would have celebrated her 18th birthday, organizations around the country have taken time to call for action on the issue of gun violence in our communities.
The Right Equipment
Tech Electronics is proud to work with organizations like the Partner Alliance for Safer Schools to prevent these incidents at your campus.
Active shooter events are rare, but every organization, schools and offices alike, needs a plan of action, and the correct infrastructure to keep people safe.
Investing in technology like video surveillance, mass notification and access control systems are only part of the equation. Organizations also need the right people and processes to ensure these systems can operate under pressure when it matters.
Groups like PASS have spent the last decade building the frameworks and guidelines that organizations like schools need to build a security stack that works, and to use it effectively.
Asking the Right Questions
Surveillance cameras are crucial in securing a building’s perimeter, but when a potential threat is detected, are there clear steps for staff members to take next?
Classrooms can be equipped with panic buttons, but do teachers know when to activate them?
Mass notification systems can alert entire campuses to a potential threat, but does that alert come with specific instructions to keep individuals out of harm’s way?
You have card readers in place at the exterior doors, but can you monitor who is using them?
Without the right processes in place, these questions can go unanswered, and when these systems need to operate under pressure, those answers are vital to their success.
These are important questions administrators and security professionals need to ask themselves when preparing for the worst. Tech Electronics, along with our partner manufacturers, has the experience and knowledge to help you answer them.
Schedule a consultation to learn more about how the right systems, and the right procedures can keep your organization, and most importantly, your people, safe.
