Addressing School Security Issues

School administrators are tasked with protecting students. BrickHouse Security provides the right tools to help achieve that goal.

Did you know that 70% of students say that they have seen bullying happen in their school? These bullies often go without discipline as 64% of students who have been bullied fail to report it to teachers or school administrators. If students are afraid of the consequences of reporting the behavior of their classmates, it becomes an important job of the school to ensure that student bullying is caught and addressed.

Student safety is one of the highest priorities of educators and administrators, and it goes far beyond bullying between students. Institutions are tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that those within their school are protected from personal violence, their equipment and tools are protected from theft, and their security personnel are prepared to maintain the safety of those within the school grounds.

When it comes to doing the job of school safety, there are a wide variety of security devices available to assist you with meeting those needs. While each type of school will have different primary security concerns, there are tools available to meet any school security need, ensuring that all of your concerns are addressed.

Types of Schools and Safety Concerns They May Face

Whether your school is a private, public, or charter school, and whether your students are children, teenagers, or adults, safety is a concern for all present. Depending on the neighborhood where your school is located, the crime level in your city, and the issues facing your particular body of students, you may be challenged by a variety of safety needs on campus. Before you begin selecting security tools to meet your needs, it’s important to first identify your areas of greatest concern on campus.

The following issues are some of the most common that school administrators face in their schools:

  • Bullying

  • Drug sales

  • Drug use

  • Fights

  • Equipment theft

  • Fights

  • Gang-related activity

  • Loitering

  • Vandalism

  • Uninvited visitors on school grounds

There are tools to help combat each of these concerns and they can be effective as long as they are used in optimal ways. Below are some of the most commonly used school security tools and how to best use them to address your school’s security issues.

The Role of Hidden Security Cameras on School Grounds

Security cameras are considered one of the most important security assets in schools as they offer administrators and educators the opportunity to expand their reach, putting eyes in places they wouldn’t ordinarily be able to monitor full time. They give users the opportunity to gather evidence for intervention in cases of vandalism, bullying, drug use, or theft. If schools deem the situation to be an internal concern, they can use the evidence gathered to administer discipline, and if crimes are committed which involve police action, footage captured can help aid in criminal investigations.

Hidden cameras are among the most important tools when it comes to enhancing your security efforts and capturing footage that your typical security camera system may miss. Those engaging in inappropriate behavior want to remain unseen and will likely look for blind spots in a school security system. Common behavior found in these blind spots include drug sales, drug use, or other inappropriate activities. School administrators may worry about being unable to catch these behaviors in the act. In these areas, hidden cameras are powerful tools for school administrators to use as they can be disguised as regular objects. This allows hidden cameras to remain undetected and able to capture the wrongdoing occurring on school property.

Hidden cameras come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles, and many can be concealed inside ordinary objects that could easily be found around a school building. These may include exit signs, smoke detectors,electrical boxes, power strips, and more. Depending on the style of your school grounds and the specific areas where you suspect inappropriate behavior taking place, the right hidden camera is out there.

Using GPS Tracking Devices to Protect School Assets

When it comes to valuable school equipment, school administrators are often concerned about making sure that these items are secure against theft, while also ensuring that they are usable by the students and teachers they’re there for. It’s important that these assets remain secure, or in the event of theft, can be recovered quickly, for the sake of school budgets and high equipment costs. Security systems can be used to monitor vulnerable areas such as science labs, computer labs, equipment supply rooms, and administrative offices, but in the event that a valuable piece of equipment is stolen, GPS devices can be used to help track it down.

Users have a variety of options for monitoring and managing equipment, depending on the device selected for location monitoring. Geofences are a useful tool as they can be set up around the school property and send school administrators and security teams notifications if the equipment has left campus. GPS tracking devices can be used to review locations of equipment, be alerted in the event of removal, and monitor movement from one place to another, especially if the equipment is removed from campus.

Self-Defensive Tools for Campus Security Personnel

School security personnel often operate like small police departments, maintaining the safety of students and teachers on campus. It’s important to ensure that school security teams are adequately equipped to maintain safety and protect themselves as needed. Some popular school security tools include:

These safety and defensive devices are designed to assist security professionals when dealing with safety concerns on campus. Body-worn cameras are useful for security guards or campus police who want to keep a record of all encounters and potential altercations. GPS trackers can be used to keep tabs on the locations of campus patrol vehicles or even campus maintenance vehicles to ensure that they are not removed from campus by means of theft. Self-defensive weapons are also important for security personnel to carry in the event that an encounter becomes violent or threatening, and they need to be equipped for their own safety as well.

No matter what your school type or the crime level in your area, school administrators and educators are unquestionably responsible for ensuring the safety of the student body, teachers, and educational tools at their disposal. Our team at BrickHouse Security is able to answer your questions, help you prioritize your primary school safety concerns, and direct you to the best tools to meet your needs.

 

Published August 2rd, 2021

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