Keeping students, faculty, and staff safe must be the top priority of any educational institution. Here are some suggestions to try when it is time to consider how to improve your campus security and protect everyone on your grounds.
Keeping students, faculty, and staff safe must be the top priority of any educational institution. This is just as important for public schools as it is for higher education. Here are some suggestions to try when it is time to consider how to improve your campus security and protect everyone on your grounds.
Improve Communication
First of all, assess how well your communication systems work. In the event of an emergency, communicating what is happening to all stakeholders is of the utmost importance. Whether that emergency is caused by a weather disaster or an armed intruder, crisis prevention hinges on timely and effective communication. Tip lines, email lists, emergency phone calls, text messages, and emergency call boxes are all viable solutions for improving your campus security through communication. Implementing modern technology and making it a vital part of school operations is one way to boost the visibility of these security measures and help everyone who might need to use them gain familiarity with them.
Try Geo-Fencing
Geo-fencing might have a complicated-sounding name, but it is surprisingly simple to understand. While email blasts are useful, geo-fencing can help send a message to a specific area, such as one building under immediate threat, rather than across the entire campus all at once. Geo-fencing will create an alert that will notify anyone who enters that area – this can help cut down on thefts in the library or other common spaces used by hundreds if not thousands of people a day.
Improve Situational Awareness
One last piece of advice is to help everyone improve their situational awareness. This is a method that is often used in lower levels of education. This helps students understand the importance of fire drills, emergency drills, and how to keep themselves and others safe during events that threaten their safety. Colleges and universities of all sizes, no matter where they are located or how large they are, must do the same. After all, smartphones can help everyone keep their eyes and ears open for potential threats, and they can do their part to stop a crisis by displaying improved situational awareness, especially when they can do this without fear of reprisals or other punishments.
Trust the Professionals at ARK Systems
Located in Columbia, Maryland, ARK Systems provides unsurpassed quality and excellence in the security industry, from system design all the way through to installation. We handle all aspects of security with local and remote locations. With over 30 years in the industry, ARK Systems is an experienced security contractor. Trust ARK to handle your most sensitive data storage, surveillance, and security solutions. Contact ARK Systems at 1-800-995-0189 or click here today. Check us out on Facebook and Twitter as well!