Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 hours ago

‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Kill Bill’ Actor Michael Madsen Dies at 67

5 hours ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

5 hours ago

Trump’s Sweeping Tax-Cut and Spending Bill Wins Congressional Approval

6 hours ago

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

9 hours ago

US Supreme Court to Decide Legality of Transgender School Sports Bans

10 hours ago

Nvidia Set to Become the World’s Most Valuable Company in History

10 hours ago

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

10 hours ago
Schools Turn to Apps, Other Tech to Guard Against Shootings
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
May 17, 2019

Share

LOS ANGELES — Schools trying to protect kids from mass shootings are turning to gunshot detection systems, cellphone apps and artificial intelligence — a high-tech approach designed to reduce the number of victims.

“We’ve kind of reached this state of frustration where we (feel like we) can’t protect our students. What we’re trying to do is find some technological fix, and there isn’t one.” Dennis Kenney, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Technology that speeds up law enforcement’s response and quickly alerts teachers and students to danger is a growing tool amid rising concerns over the inability to prevent shootings like the one last week at a suburban Denver high school. An 18-year-old student who rushed one of the gunmen died.

While a focus on gun control often emerges after school shootings, technology can be a less partisan solution that’s quick to implement — though some experts say funding preventive mental health resources should be the priority.

“We’ve kind of reached this state of frustration where we (feel like we) can’t protect our students,” said Dennis Kenney, a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “What we’re trying to do is find some technological fix, and there isn’t one.”

Districts nationwide are recognizing that and instituting an approach that combines technology with mental health programs, bullying prevention and security officers.

“If I’m intent on shooting people at a school, there are 20 ways to do it,” said Erik Endress, CEO of Share911, a New Jersey-based company with an app that allows staff to immediately report to colleagues and police everything from medical conditions to active shooters.

A New Era of School Security

“We can improve the outcome of these situations,” Endress said. “We can minimize the casualty count.”

While school attacks are relatively rare, they have been among the deadliest mass shootings in U.S. history.

The 1999 massacre of 13 people at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, ushered in a new era of school security but the carnage continued, including 27 people killed in 2012 at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, and 17 deaths last year at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.

Joseph Erardi, a retired Newtown superintendent who came to the district a year after the shooting, said lawmakers pressed for “hardening” infrastructure at schools.

That has spurred a billion-dollar industry where companies manufacture products from “ballistic attack-resistant” doors to smoke cannons. The hardening market, as well as lobbying efforts to get taxpayer dollars to fund upgrades, had stalled in recent years but rekindled after the Parkland shooting.

Now many schools, like the Beverly Hills Unified School District, are combining that kind of hardware with more high-tech solutions and therapeutic programs.

“That’s like the Number 1 concept of security for any principal: physical security and emotional security of children,” said Juliet Fine, principal at Horace Mann School, which serves kindergarten through eighth grade.

Wealthier Areas Have Not Been Immune to Violence

Beverly Hills is among 200 U.S. school districts using the Share911 app. The board of education added it and other measures, including armed security officers, following the Parkland shooting.

In the fall, the district will add a central command center that will monitor feeds from all the district’s surveillance cameras and use software to monitor keywords in online search traffic for potential threats.

“Safety in schools is evolving. Technology and software, like in all aspects of the modern world, need to be utilized and used. We want our kids to feel and be safe. … If we do all this, then our teachers can do what they need to do.” — Christopher Hertz, school safety director, Beverly Hills Unified School District

“Safety in schools is evolving. Technology and software, like in all aspects of the modern world, need to be utilized and used,” said Christopher Hertz, district director of school safety. “We want our kids to feel and be safe. … If we do all this, then our teachers can do what they need to do.”

Wealthier areas have not been immune to violence. Horace Mann parents and teachers stressed that they and students feel safe within the walled campus, and not just because it’s in an exclusive area.

“I’m grateful I live in this community that has so much security, and I know they are protected,” Evelyn Lahiji, 42, said as she picked up her sons, Lorenzo Naghdechi, 8, and Leonardo Naghdechi, 9.

Christina Richner, 45, said her 6-year-old son, Julian, and 9-year-old daughter, Olivia, have gone through so many emergency drills that “their reflexes will kick in” during a shooting.

The students are trained to gather in a corner with the classroom’s lights out and blinds drawn in a lockdown, social studies teacher Laura Stark said. Staffers check in via the Share911 app to share information, including if any kids are missing or injured.

Share911 launched three weeks after the Sandy Hook shooting. The app provides real-time data to school employees and law enforcement, such as the type of threat and its location, based on floor plans of the building.

Embracing Technology to Allay Public Concern

“You can’t decide if you’re going to run, hide or fight in the absence of information,” said Endress, the CEO.

AmberBox, an indoor gunshot detection product that looks like a smoke detector, has a similar philosophy. It alerts school officials and law enforcement the moment a shot is fired and maps the location.

The system uses sensors that track a gun’s muzzle flash and a bullet’s shockwave, CEO James Popper said.

Chicago-based Aegis AI is refining technology to identify a gun as soon as it enters an area that a camera is scanning. The company was incorporated a year ago and still is working to minimize false alarms, such as when the software flags a staple gun or drill, CEO Sonny Tai said. Most of its clients are in a pilot program.

Some experts are concerned that districts are embracing technology to allay public concern while taking money away from mental health programs and violence-prevention efforts.

“It’s something you can show. I can go to a board meeting and hold up this shiny thing,” said Amy Klinger, co-founder of The Educator’s School Safety Network and a former teacher and school administrator in Ohio.

Despite the advances in both safety technology and mental health programs, experts say there’s no foolproof way to predict or stop a shooting. Wealthy, suburban districts like Beverly Hills that can afford the latest innovations face as much risk as inner-city schools where metal detectors have been commonplace for years.

“Nobody ever thinks it’s going to happen there,” Endress said. “Well, it’s happening everywhere.”

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

DON'T MISS

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

DON'T MISS

RIP John Harris: Fresno County Rancher, Racehorse Breeder Was a Visionary Leader Who Leaves a ‘Profound Legacy’

DON'T MISS

Valadao, Costa Spar on What Passage of Trump’s Bill Means for Medicaid Recipients

DON'T MISS

US Military Says 200 Marines Being Sent to Support ICE in Florida

DON'T MISS

Boeing Secures $2.8 Billion US Satellite Contract

DON'T MISS

Kaweah Health Names Its New Chief Nurse. She’s From Texas

DON'T MISS

Clovis Police Say At-Risk Missing Woman Found Dead in Mariposa County

DON'T MISS

Over 100 Former Senior Officials Warn Against Planned Staff Cuts at US State Department

DON'T MISS

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

UP NEXT

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

UP NEXT

Americans Celebrate Their Independence With Record-Breaking Travel Numbers

UP NEXT

San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Grows to 35,000 Acres, More Evacuations Ordered

UP NEXT

Poll: 41% in US ‘Extremely Proud’ to Be American, Near Historic Low

UP NEXT

Poorest Americans Dealt Biggest Blow Under Senate Republican Tax Package

UP NEXT

CHP Officer Dies in Line of Duty After Medical Emergency While on Patrol

UP NEXT

Downtown Housing Could Rise in Many California Cities, but Barriers Remain

UP NEXT

Poll: Most Americans Say National Divide, Political Violence Threaten Democracy

UP NEXT

Trump Pulls Back 150 Guard Troops From Federal Duties in California

UP NEXT

California Republicans Send Message to Trump: Deport Criminals, Not Our Vital Workers

Valadao, Costa Spar on What Passage of Trump’s Bill Means for Medicaid Recipients

3 hours ago

US Military Says 200 Marines Being Sent to Support ICE in Florida

3 hours ago

Boeing Secures $2.8 Billion US Satellite Contract

3 hours ago

Kaweah Health Names Its New Chief Nurse. She’s From Texas

3 hours ago

Clovis Police Say At-Risk Missing Woman Found Dead in Mariposa County

3 hours ago

Over 100 Former Senior Officials Warn Against Planned Staff Cuts at US State Department

4 hours ago

US Electric Vehicle Tax Breaks Will Expire on Sept. 30

4 hours ago

‘Reservoir Dogs’ and ‘Kill Bill’ Actor Michael Madsen Dies at 67

5 hours ago

Fresno Police Recover Some of the $40,000 in Fireworks Stolen From Bullard High Team

5 hours ago

Eyeing Arctic Dominance, Trump Bill Earmarks $8.6 Billion for US Coast Guard Icebreakers

5 hours ago

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

A two-vehicle collision sent a woman driving one of the vehicles to the hospital with a head injury Thursday afternoon in Fresno. Fresno pol...

46 minutes ago

A crash causes a traffic jam in northwest Fresno on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (GV Wire/Paul Marshall)
46 minutes ago

Fresno Crash Involving Unlicensed Teen Driver Sends Woman to Hospital

The Madre Fire near New Cuyama has burned 52,593 acres with 5% containment, prompting evacuation orders in several San Luis Obispo County zones as of Thursday, July 3, 2025, afternoon. (CalFire)
2 hours ago

Madre Fire Burns More Than 52,000 Acres in San Luis Obispo County

2 hours ago

RIP John Harris: Fresno County Rancher, Racehorse Breeder Was a Visionary Leader Who Leaves a ‘Profound Legacy’

3 hours ago

Valadao, Costa Spar on What Passage of Trump’s Bill Means for Medicaid Recipients

An ICE agent talks with migrants about their scheduled appointments with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Father’s Day, to learn about their immigration status, in Chicago, Illinois., U.S., June 15, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

US Military Says 200 Marines Being Sent to Support ICE in Florida

Boeing logo and miniature satellite model are seen in this illustration taken, March 10, 2025. (Reuters File)
3 hours ago

Boeing Secures $2.8 Billion US Satellite Contract

3 hours ago

Kaweah Health Names Its New Chief Nurse. She’s From Texas

Clovis Police are searching for Pathmani Goonawardena, 82, who went missing nearly three weeks ago and was last seen driving a white Volvo near Copper and Auberry, possibly en route to Coarsegold. (CHP)
3 hours ago

Clovis Police Say At-Risk Missing Woman Found Dead in Mariposa County

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend