TechBeat Special Issue: School Safety

• NCJ Number: 241370
• Author(s): Kate Poindexter
• Date Published: February 2013
• Length: 0 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2010-MU-MU-K020
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This special issue of TECHBeat, posted on the JUSTNET.org Web site, contains eight articles that highlight successful ways of dealing with the problem of school safety.

Abstract

Following the murders at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, in December of 2012, new efforts are being focused on the issue of school safety and how to keep children and adults safe in school settings. This special issue of TECHBeat includes articles on efforts by researchers and government officials who are discovering ways to use new tools and technology to ensure the safety schools and their surrounding communities. The first article, The Immediate First Responder, discusses how school safety officers (SROs) are the immediate first responders to events that happen on campus. The second article, It Takes a Village, discusses a video produced by the Weapons and Protective Systems Technology Center of Excellence that uses the concept of "it takes a village" to promote the idea of all the stakeholders involved in ensuring the safety of schools and their communities. The third article, Police Outfitted with Mass Casualty Trauma Kits, discusses emergency trauma kits used by the Tucson (AZ) Police Department, while the fourth article discusses how police school substations can be used to enhance safety and communication. The fifth article discusses a new tool used by the Sumter (SC) Police Department to respond to an emergency at any one of their 30-plus schools. The sixth article discusses new training opportunities available from the School Safety Advocacy Council, while the seventh article discusses the use of an anonymous text-to-tip program for use by students and teachers in the more than 20 schools located in Somerset, KY. The eighth article discusses a new Smartphone app that provides alternative ways for students to communicate with police.