School security - Security beat

One factor aggravating concerns about workplace violence in corporate America is the easy availability of firearms. In many states, citizens, including employees, have the right to carry firearms onto a company’s property even though firearms are prohibited in the workplace. In effect, an employee prone to violence may have a firearm as near as their vehicle in the company parking lot. Currently, 23 states in the U.S. have so-called “parking lot storage” laws, which enable em...

Open architecture in physical access control is built around Mercury Security’s access control panels, the de facto standard embraced by more than two dozen access control original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). Mercury and several of its OEMs teamed up March 3-4 to present MercTech4, a conference in Miami aimed at updating security consultants about the latest developments related to the Mercury platform. MercTech4 highlighted a new generation of access control products, which are incre...

We can add another technology category to those aspects of the physical security market on the verge of being changed by cloud technology. The new category is the printing and encoding of ID cards. HID Global is adapting the benefits of cloud computing to the ID card printing market with the introduction of HID Fargo Connect, a cloud-based personalization and issuance system for ID cards. The new cloud approach, which will be introduced at the ASIS 2017 show in Dallas, converts standalone card...

A gunshot localization solution can turn a video camera system into a real-time safety system in the event of an active shooter. Called ShotPoint, the system is completely automated. Working with a video management system (VMS), it can enable a video image of an active shooter to be provided in seconds based on the location of a gunshot. “For responders, the police department doesn’t have to manage cameras, but has the instant availability of a camera feed,” says Kathleen Grigg...

I have been unpacking from last week’s ASIS show in Orlando. It was a good show, except if you compare it to last spring’s ISC West in Las Vegas, which was especially well attended and generated a lot of excitement in the market. ASIS was definitely smaller, lower key and less crowded. And there were no big product announcements. But there was still plenty of technology on display. In particular, I saw the show reflecting several ongoing trends in the market. Impact Of M&As Me...

Amid all the discussion of security integration and end-to-end solutions on the first day of IFSEC 2016 was an undercurrent of uncertainty. The international trade show opened at ExCel London just days before the historic "Brexit" vote, when Britons will decide whether to remain a part of the European union or to exit the politico-economic fusion of 28 member states. With the Brexit referendum this week, the polls are neck-and-neck, so the vote could go either way, hence the uncertainty. If "le...

In a school security lockdown, teachers typically display red or green cards on the doors or in the windows of their classrooms. The manual procedure uses red cards to alert to a crisis condition; green cards designate that everything is safe inside the classroom or office. Color-Coded Crisis Management System Physical security company Sielox has adapted the idea of using a color scheme to characterize an emergency situation into its electronic security system. CLASS [Crisis Lockdown Alert Sta...

Education is always a hot vertical market, so Panasonic’s acquisition of Video Insight is not a surprise considering the video management system (VMS) supplier’s popularity among school professionals. Panasonic cameras have been installed in a lot of schools, too, and the Japanese conglomerate has several other product categories that also play in the school market, such as interactive white boards, audio systems, etc. The surprising aspect of the acquisition, announced this week, i...

A lawsuit filed by the parents of children killed in the Sandy Hook school shooting in 2012 highlights how the best-thought-out security plans can fall apart because of details and/or last-minute changes. Before the tragedy unfolded, Sandy Hook Elementary had established protocols in place to cope in the event of an active shooter incident. However, some of the protocols broke down on the day of the shooting, and it’s possible that additional young lives were lost as a result. A lawsuit f...

You can depend on the National Rifle Association (NRA) to enter the conversation after almost any high-profile violent incident, and such was the case recently after a 22-year-old college student went on a deadly rampage outside the main campus of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Thirteen were injured and six young adults lost their lives, including the perpetrator. After the tragedy, “NRA News Commentator” Dom Raso took issue with what he called “inaccuracy of the...

Another week, another school shooting. Or so it seems recently with all the incidents in the U.S. news media. Just this week there was another one in Troutdale, Ore. In fact, the organization Everytown for Gun Safety says there have been roughly 74 school shootings since the well-remembered tragedy in Newtown, Conn., about 18 months ago. Counting just the weeks school has been in session since then, the number is more than a shooting a week. The organization lists the shootings on their web sit...

“These are children. There is no reason to scan a kid. Just because the government can do this is no reason the government should be doing this.” The impassioned argument, quoted by The Florida Current, comes from a Florida state legislator who introduced a bill aimed at stopping public school systems from collecting biometric data on children. The ominous-sounding practice actually has a practical side – use of a fingerprint or palm scan can enable a school system to get thou...