Campus Safety Voices

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During a school emergency, it is vital that campus leaders can quickly disseminate critical information to students, staff, and visitors to mitigate potential impact. Utilizing multiple communication channels is also critical, and should include digital signage.

Using digital signage software, important messages can be displayed both on television screens and personal devices. And while broadcasting important messages during an incident is critical, often left out of the discussion of campus messaging is the role it plays in preventing emergencies.

In this interview, Eric Henry, senior vice president of business architecture at Carousel Signage, a campus messaging software company, discusses:

The most common challenges school campuses face regarding emergency messaging (0:38)
How campus messaging can be used to improve student wellness and prevent school emergencies (2:17)
How Carousel Signage helps simplify emergency messaging for schools (7:33)
•His predictions for what's next in emergency messaging (10:48)

NOTE: Carousel Signage will be exhibiting at the upcoming Campus Safety Conference, happening July 21-23 in Austin. Visit https://campussafetyconference.com/ for more information.

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In July 2023, Connecticut's 12 previously independent community colleges merged to create Connecticut State Community College (CSCC), making it the fifth-largest community college in the country.

Six months prior to the official merger, Christopher Chute was hired as CSCC's chief of police, tasked with establishing uniform policies, procedures, and preparedness across the various campuses. While the challenges of merging a dozen campuses are plentiful, Chute, a 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, was ready to face those challenges head on.

In this interview, Chute shares:

A general overview of the merger (0:35)
The many challenges he faced in the first few months on the job (10:40)
What he is most proud of when reflecting on the last two years (15:04)

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During routine police patrols, officers regularly navigate assigned areas in their vehicles, monitoring for suspicious activity, enforcing traffic laws, and responding to calls for service. While these are necessary functions of a police department, just as important is the need for officers to ingrain themselves in the fabric of a community. This is particularly true for law enforcement officers who work on educational campuses.

In this interview, Dr. Jennifer Griffin, Chief of Police and Vice President of Public Safety at Temple University and a 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, shares her strategies for increasing officer visibility while also improving safety and security (0:43).

Griffin also shares

How Temple collaborates with the Philadelphia Police Department (4:39)
Her inspiration for establishing the Student Safety Advisory Committee (12:23)
How her team has created opportunities for students to learn more about policing (15:25)

NOTE: The 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year winners will be announced at this summer’s national Campus Safety Conference, happening July 21-23 in Austin. Visit https://campussafetyconference.com/ for more information.
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Graduation season is upon us, and while it's a time for celebration, it is also a time that leaves campuses vulnerable to security threats.

Over the years, more and more schools, particularly colleges and universities, have turned to weapons detection systems to enhance their graduation safety and security plans.

In this interview, Peter Evans, CEO of Xtract One Technologies, a weapons detection company, discusses:

The challenges of securing graduation ceremonies (0:28 and 5:54)
How to quell fears surrounding weapons detection (3:59)
Weapons detection policies and procedures must-haves for graduation ceremonies (8:17)
The ancillary benefits of deploying weapons detection systems on campus (9:59)
A recent install at Bowie State University and the school's main goals (15:16)
Xtract One's recent awarding of the Department of Homeland Security's SAFETY Act designation (18:07)

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Low attrition rates are always a goal for police and public safety departments, but various factors have made that particularly difficult in recent years. A 2023 study found police resignations increased 47% from 2019 to 2022. Retirements also rose by 19% during the same period, and new officer hiring dropped by 5%.

Despite these statistics, St. Louis University's Public Safety Department has its lowest attrition rate in years. During this interview, Associate Vice President and Chief Melinda Heikkinen, a 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, discusses the methods she uses to keep attrition low (5:13), as well as:

How she improved the school's safety app (0:39 and 3:17)
How the department ensures safety protocols are sensitive to the needs of all students, particularly those from marginalized communities (1:51)

NOTE: The 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year winners will be announced at this summer’s national Campus Safety Conference, happening July 21-23 in Austin. Visit https://campussafetyconference.com/ for more information.

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In recent years, many college campuses have transitioned from unarmed campus security or police departments to armed or hybrid ones. While this massive undertaking requires much research and planning, Felix Martinez, director of public safety at St. Mary's College of Maryland, says transparency was always a top priority when his campus was considering the switch.

In this discussion, Martinez discusses how he remained transparent throughout the transition and emphasized time and time again that weapons are merely one of many tools and an absolute last resort for de-escalating a situation (7:23).

Martinez also shared:

How he has helped improve officer morale (2:34)
How he views community policing (3:41)
How he obtained a $375,000 grant for security cameras (12:15)

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When Tiffany Justice joined Goucher College as the director of campus safety, the department was using contract security. Justice successfully advocated for switching the department to in-house security, allowing her to hand-pick a team that genuinely believes in the department's mission and values.

During this interview, Justice shares:

Her motivations behind transitioning to in-house security (3:59)
Challenges she faced during the transition (5:31)
The benefits of to in-house security (6:58)
Advice for college campuses that might be considering a similar endeavor (9:05)
Her motivation behind rewriting the department's mission statement and what the new statement emphasizes (0:33)

*NOTE: The 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year winners will be announced at this summer’s national Campus Safety Conference, happening July 21-23 in Austin. Visit https://campussafetyconference.com/ for more information.

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Various studies have shown the positive impact therapy animals have on the mental health of college students, and one source estimates 60% of U.S. colleges and universities have a pet therapy program in place.

One of the biggest hesitations among campus safety leaders in considering animal therapy programs is the assumption that it is costly.

Ramona Washington, chief of the University of North Texas (UNT) Police Department and a 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year Finalist, shares her experience with procuring a therapy dog, including associated costs and its benefits for both students and staff (8:43-16:46).

During this interview, Washington also discusses:

The establishment of a threat assessment sergeant position within the department (0:31)
Incidents that have showed the importance of this position (5:33)

NOTE: The 2025 Campus Safety Director of the Year winners will be announced at this summer’s national Campus Safety Conference, happening July 21-23 in Austin. Visit https://campussafetyconference.com/ for more information.

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Since the 2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy, seven states have established versions of Alyssa's Law, mandating all public elementary and secondary school buildings be equipped with silent panic alarms that directly notify law enforcement of an incident. Similar legislation is also pending in 13 other states.

In this interview, Lauren Kravetz, VP of Government Affairs at Intrado Life & Safety, discusses why she believes a federal version of Alyssa's Law could have a transformative impact school safety nationwide (1:11). Kravetz also discusses:

Two federal versions of Alyssa's Law currently being considered (4:48)
Strategies schools and agencies have garnered to ensure unified integration between schools, law enforcement, and emergency first responders (12:28)
Which federal agencies should be involved in establishing guidelines for a federal Alyssa's Law (15:18)
Her predictions on the timeline for the passing of a federal Alyssa's Law (17:14)

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U.S. motorists can't recall 68% of key information following a crash and 44% failed to identify the car at fault for a traffic incident, according to recent study. Another study found 70% of drivers want a build-in dashboard camera on their next new vehicle. Whatever the reason, footage from dash cams has been used countless times in motor vehicle crash investigations.

Several years ago, Liberty Public School District 53 in Liberty, Mo., used footage from school bus surveillance cameras to apprehend a hit-and-run driver who rear-ended a school bus (15:47).

"I was in the bus on the video [live stream] before anything happened. We actually could see the car, get a description, and the driver got the license," Jeff Baird, the district's former transportation manager who now works for Transportant, told Campus Safety. "Within 17 minutes, the police had the car apprehended based on the direction he turned and that's unheard of. I could also look in at the five cameras and see that no kids were hurt."

In this interview, Baird also shares:

How the district used footage for a student wellness investigation (18:10)
Other school bus safety solution capabilities that enhance student safety (13:58)
What he thinks are some must-haves for school bus safety technology solutions (19:00)
Why school bus drivers must be included in school safety discussions (1:35)
An incident at Liberty that highlights the importance of school bus driver training (3:25)
The importance of sharing student medical concerns with school bus drivers (11:33)
Challenges he faced as transportation manager (5:04)
What he wishes he knew in his role as transportation manager that would have helped him do his job even better (21:13)

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Many schools have behavioral threat assessment and management systems in place that monitor student behavior for warning signs of potential violence. The primary goal of these technologies is to evaluate the difference between making a threat and posing a threat to a school community, and then building a plan that supports the safety of the entire community.

A major issue, however, is the lack of information sharing between parties that could potentially help with providing student supports. Many schools have attributed prevented acts of violence or self-harm to a campus culture that urges and prioritizes sharing vital information with multiple stakeholders.
Campus Safety spoke with Rohan Galloway-Dawkins, Chief Product Officer at Versaterm, about:

The benefits of digitizing and centralizing knowledge to help authorized staff identify warning signs among students (1:22)
Who he recommends be a part of monitoring student data (4:36)
Strategies for developing action plans to intervene once a concerning behavior is identified (7:33)
Why there is no one-size-fits-all plan for supporting students who exhibit warning signs of potential violence (8:50)
Funding available for schools looking to implement case management technology (10:45)

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While there are ongoing discussions within the K-12 world about banning cell phones in the classroom, there are many scenarios where quick access to a cellular device could improve student and staff safety.

However, K-12 schools and college campuses historically have poor cellular coverage as many educational buildings were erected well before cell phones were invented.

Poor cellular connectivity also hinders the effective integration of educational technology in classrooms, something that will only become more prevalent as artificial intelligence capabilities continue to grow.

In this interview with Campus Safety, Stephen Kowal, Chief Commercial Officer of Nextivity, a telecommunications company, discusses:

His views on cell phones bans or restrictions in schools (0:34 and 11:03)
The potential dangers of banning cell phones in schools (3:47)
Three different types of connectivity and how they impact schools (5:18)
Why some schools may not be prioritizing connectivity in new builds (8:16)
Channels of funding schools can access for improved connectivity (9:42)
Additional advice for schools that may be having issues with connectivity (13:19)

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On college campuses, sexual assaults account for 43% of total on-campus crimes. Marginalized groups are at an even higher risk for sexual violence, including people of color and LGBTQ+ students.

To address these concerns, Sewanee: The University of the South, established the C.P.R. in Action Initiative, a comprehensive program that integrates Compliance, Prevention, and Resources to address sexual violence and improve the overall safety and well-being of all students.

C.P.R. in Action received the 2024 Clery Center Campus Safety Impact Award which recognizes a program or initiative that enhances safety on a college campus through innovation, collaboration, and equity.

Dr. Sylvia Gray, Sewanee’s Senior Director of Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX, and Dr. Rachel Fredericks, Sewanee’s Director of Inclusive Excellence, spoke with Campus Safety about the program, including:

How data was used to inform the establishment of C.P.R. in Action (2:57)
Who was involved in creating the C.P.R. in Action Initiative (5:26)
The impact the initiative has made since it was established in 2021 (8:16)
Direct feedback received from students and faculty about the initiative (12:01)
Advice for campuses looking to mitigate sexual violence on campus (15:24)

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More than 80% of college students are struggling emotionally at least somewhat, with more than 25% reporting they are struggling significantly, according to one recent report. Addressing these mental health challenges can be particularly difficult for smaller colleges with fewer financial resources.

Eight years ago, the Endeavor Foundation, a nonprofit, convened a group of presidents from 12 extremely small liberal arts colleges -- think 750 students or less -- to share their struggles and ideas. This February, the foundation announced $3 million in grant funding for colleges within the collaborative to develop and implement pilot projects that address student wellness.

In this interview, Ali Tartaglia, associate dean and director of integrative wellness at Bennington College, a participating campus, and Isabel Roche, executive director for special programs in higher education at the Endeavor Foundation, discuss the benefits of the collaboration as well as how Bennington is using the funding to implement the Applied Suicidal Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) Program.

During this discussion, Tartaglia and Roche also share:

What makes ASIST a comprehensive program (17:39)
More about the grants provided by the Endeavor Foundation (12:45)
Advice from colleges looking to obtain grant money for improving mental health (19:33)
Action items for campuses to improve student mental health (23:16)

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Campus Safety spoke with University of Florida Police Department (UFPD) Chief and Assistant Vice President Linda Stump-Kurnick about her agency’s experience with accreditation. It is accredited by four separate accreditation bodies: CALEA, IACLEA, the Commission for Florida Law Enforcement Accreditation (CFA), and the Florida Telecommunications Accreditation Commission (FLA-TAC). Chief Stump-Kurnick has also served as a CALEA assessor for the past 10 years and traveled to other agencies to conduct assessments, completing 48 assessments to date.

Her department’s numerous accreditations is just one reason why she was named the 2024 Campus Safety Higher Education and Healthcare Director of the Year.

In our interview, Stump-Kurnick discusses not only the boost in professionalism and liability avoidance benefits of accreditation, but also how it helps her cross-train UFPD staff who then can mentor others in the department.

She then put on her CALEA assessor hat to offer some sage advice to other college campuses thinking about getting accredited.

In this interview, Chief Stump-Kurnick describes:
How she got involved in the accreditation process. 2:02
How accreditation helps her cross-train her staff: 6:30
Maintaining all of her department’s accreditations: 10:30
Suggestions to other college campus police departments considering accreditation: 11:43
The qualities she looks for in an agency when she is assessing them for accreditation: 13:15

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Cardiac arrest doesn’t just happen to adults who are middle aged or elderly. America was reminded of this fact on January 2, 2023, when 24-year-old Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field from a heart attack he experienced during his team’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Fortunately, Hamlin was resuscitated with CPR and an automated external defibrillator (AED).

Hamlin’s health scare -- which millions witnessed because the game was nationally televised – made a lot more Americans aware of the risk of cardiac arrest in young people and how CPR and AEDs can save lives. It also prompted University of Vermont (UVM) administrators to take notice of the risk of cardiac arrest on campus, whether the victim is a young student or perhaps a staff member or visitor who is older.

UMV Director of Emergency Management John Marcus and his team of student interns had already been developing a solution: Cat ECare. Hamlin’s medical emergency prompted the full roll-out of the program.

Cat ECare emergency stations, which are distributed around campus, include AEDs. However, Marcus and his team made the stations even more useful by adding bleeding control kits and Narcan. Additionally, embedded within the program are ongoing training opportunities for UVM students, faculty, and staff. Training covers CPR, how to use AEDs, bleeding control, and how to use Narcan. UVM now has 100 Cat ECare emergency stations located all around campus.
The Cat ECare program was just one reason why Marcus was named a finalist in this year's Director of the Year program.

In Campus Safety’s interview with Marcus, he describes:

The origins of Cat ECare and what Cat ECare means: 1:13
How he involved student interns and other campus partners to help develop the program: 3:04
How he and his team expanded the program: 3:52
Getting support and funding for Cat ECare: 7:17
Results of the program: 16:01
Maintaining equipment, supplies and support for Cat ECare: 18:52

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In 2023, there were 11,311 security services businesses in the United States, according to IBIS. Campus leaders tasked with making security purchase decisions have to choose what solutions they want to prioritize and then decide who they want to buy them from. How can the options be narrowed down?

Rich Payne, safety director at Academy District 20 (ASD20) in Colorado and a 2024 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, has used lessons learned from major school incidents, including first-hand experience, to both enhance internal best practices and navigate the complex world of choosing security vendors, particularly as it relates to perimeter security (2:45).

In this interview, Payne shares:

His overall philosophy on school safety (1:13)
Advice for choosing video surveillance vendors (2:45)
The importance of training with local law enforcement (7:51)
Advice for choosing window film vendors (9:54)

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Twenty-two years ago, Kelli Lotito was hired as a physical education teacher at Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado. Lotito worked her way up the ranks, becoming the athletic director before transitioning into the role of dean of students for 15 years.

Lotito just finished her fourth year as the school’s safety and security director, and has used her past job experiences to garner buy-in from various school stakeholders with whom she has formed strong relationships over her illustrious career.

"It's important, as everybody watching this knows, to have buy-in from your constituents. Teachers and administrators are not always the only people that are on your campus," said Lotito.

During this interview, Lotito shares:

Why and how she has made connections with athletic trainers, nurses, students, and parents (1:31)
The role school security specialists play in student safety (5:51)
How the district partners with local law enforcement agencies (12:26)

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A year and a half ago, student community relations officers (SACROs) were added to Brentwood Union Free School District’s school safety team. These non-traditional school safety employees were added when Byron McCray, the district’s director of school safety and chief emergency management officer and a 2024 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, noticed limited interactions between students and the district’s traditional school safety officers.

“Our school safety team, they’re responsible for seeing students when they arrive, when they leave, and during the course of the day when they’re patrolling the district. However, I found that a lot of our school safety team wasn’t trained to deal with a crisis if a student was going through a crisis,” said McCray. “So I had to create a team that was able to deal with different types of issues that our students are facing.”

Their job roles are changing daily, requiring constant adaptation for each unique situation.

During this interview, McCray shares:

A general overview of what SACROs do (3:42)
Different student-oriented programs led by SACROs (6:15)
How SACROs partner with local faith-based organizations to provide additional support to students (9:09)
How SACROs work with other area businesses to mitigate the school-to-prison pipeline (9:38)
How he trains all school safety officers to approach student discipline and several accompanying anecdotes (12:36)

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Like many other communities, stakeholders from the Boulder Valley School District (BVSD) began questioning the role of school resources officers following the murder of George Floyd. To evaluate whether SROs were right for their district, BVSD hired an external facilitator with expertise in equity and community engagement who developed the BVSD Equity Council.

More than 900 community members applied to sit on the council, and district leaders spoke to stakeholders such as the District Attorney's Office, police, and the public defenders' office. Ultimately, the Board of Education voted to remove SROs.

As an alternative, Brendan Sullivan, BVSD's director of safety, security, and emergency management, created the School Safety Advocate role. In this interview, Sullivan shares:

How he determined the roles and responsibilities of SSAs (02:53)
Training the advocates receive (07:48)
How SSAs interface with both law enforcement and school principals (08:52How BVSD students feel about SSAs (13:29)
How BVSD parents feel about SSAs (16:53)

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The U.S. is currently experiencing a labor shortage, and nowhere is that being experienced more than in law enforcement. In 2022, officer turnover and resignations were up 47% compared to 2019. Additionally, retirements were up 19%, according to a survey from the Police Executive Research Forum.

College campus public safety has also been greatly impacted by the current tight labor market. Florida SouthWestern University’s police department had an employee turnover rate of more than 20% in 2019 when its current chief of police, Jerry Connolly, took over the agency’s helm.

He inherited a department that “fostered a less than desirable culture that consisted of no accountability, non-compliant personnel, a lack of modernized infrastructure with robust policies that properly govern the police department,” says Connolly. “And they didn't have any competitive incentives that were comparable to similar policing agencies.”

The chief quickly got to work, authoring more than 150 policies to modernize the department’s infrastructure. These and other changes resulted in a massive reduction in turnover from more than 20% five years ago to 2%-5% today. His work in reducing employee turnover is just one reason why Connolly was named one of this year’s Campus Safety Higher Education Director of the Year finalists.
In this interview, Connolly provides tips on how to reduce employee turnover. Some of the changes he recommends are small but have the potential to make a big impact.

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It’s no secret that a key ingredient to having an effective campus public safety department is ensuring officers are paid a competitive wage. However, since the pandemic, keeping officer salaries competitive has become a significant challenge with the inflation rate skyrocketing to 7% in 2021 and 6.5% the following year. Although inflation dropped quite a bit in 2023 and this year, it’s still higher than before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was the challenge facing Keene State College Director of Campus Safety Chris Buckley when he started his position at the school in July 2020. At that time, the starting pay rate for officers ranged from $14.69 to $17 per hour.

In this interview Buckley, who is also a 2024 Campus Safety Director of the Year Finalist, describes how he was able to effectively advocate for an increase to $20 per hour for new officers and $24 per hour for sergeants.

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Communication failures have played a significant role in many school tragedies. While we can't fully prevent human and technological errors, there are ways to improve emergency response without breaking the bank.

Donald Webster, Chief of Campus Safety at Kalamazoo Public Schools and a 2024 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, turned to several available grants to help improve communication technology throughout the district.

In this interview, Webster shares how he used funds from the Michigan State Police Competitive School Safety Grant and the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office Grant to improve communication technology.

Webster also discusses the importance of "relationship-based security" and how it has made his district safer.

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Lockdown drills have become a standard part of school security across the United States. Although it is important to feel prepared to respond to a school emergency, these drills often elicit anxiety, fear, and sometimes trauma among students and staff.

Ian Lopez, director of safety and security for the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado and a 2024 K-12 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, has worked diligently to ensure lockdown procedures minimally impact student and staff mental health -- so much so that other districts have turned to him for advice.

In this interview, Lopez shares:

Techniques for mitigating fear and trauma during lockdown drills (4:55)
How the district ties in its alarm system during emergency drills (12:04)
How he spearheaded the creation of the district's dispatch center while reducing operational costs (1:11)
How threats and anonymous tips are handled by the dispatch center (3:04)

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Each year, Orange County Public Schools conducts training, dubbed Preparedness Days, to train school leaders on emergency management and safety issues. However, this annual event started much smaller, the way many safety initiatives do.

Several years ago, the Florida school district was gifted tourniquets and Stop the Bleed kits from one of its hospital partners, Orlando Health. Over three days in the summer, Orlando Health helped train district principals on how to use the new supplies. The training quickly evolved into something more, uniting principals and district emergency management staff for a multi-day conference.

In this interview, Lou Alexis, OCPS' Director of Emergency Management and a 2024 K-12 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, shares how Preparedness Days are run, in addition to:

Other ways administrators and emergency management staff interact throughout the school year (5:34)
How the district determines the content of Preparedness Days (8:59)
How the district involves students in school safety (10:54)

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Southern hospitality may be alive and well in much of North Carolina, but safety precedes manners at Buncombe County Public Schools.

For Joseph Hough, district assistant superintendent of auxiliary services and school safety and a 2024 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, access control has always been a priority. Over the years, he has implemented several inexpensive -- and even some free -- access control programs or systems that revolve around student and staff training.

Hough shares two inexpensive trainings he has introduced to both students and teachers as well as:

Insights into the district's massive front office reconfiguration project (1:14)
The challenges that came with installing double vestibules in 30 schools (05:15)
How the project was funded and how the district decided which schools to start with (06:44)
Impacts seen since the start of the project (11:07)
How his military background helps him do his job (20:27)

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Nineteen years ago, Aaron Skrbin, now director of safety and security at the Allegheny Intermediate Unit, was unwittingly thrust into the role of school safety.

During his second meeting as assistant principal at a Pennsylvania school district, the superintendent noted he had a first responder background before handing him a dusty binder containing the district's emergency operations plans written following September 11.

"You're in charge of this now," the superintendent said.

Since then, Skrbin has used his first responder background to establish relationships between school leaders, first responders, and other community leaders.

In this interview, Skrbin also dives into:

The biggest challenges and hurdles faced in his current role (4:04)
His proudest accomplishments as a safety and security director (9:34)
The importance of transparency in school safety (14:49)

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Much of today’s focus regarding K-12 school safety and security is on emergency response. Various stakeholders, including district leaders, parents, and school boards, want to know if a school is prepared to respond to an incident, particularly those involving violence.

However, prevention should be at the forefront of the rhetoric and school safety plans, and behavioral threat assessments play a pivotal role.

During the pandemic, the United States saw a significant uptick in homicides, shootings, and aggravated assaults. While FBI crime data shows overall violent crime returned to pre-pandemic levels in 2022, the Justice Department’s National Crime Victimization Survey found violent victimization rate for people between the ages of 12 and 17 doubled, representing the age group that saw the biggest increase in violent victimization. The survey also found fatal and non-fatal gun violence increased by more than 10% for those under the age of 18.

Campus Safety spoke with Lew Robinson, a retired U.S. Secret Service who specialized in behavioral threats assessments, and Kirk Cerny, COO of Secure Passage, a public safety company, about what is causing an increase in violent crime among young people and leading practices and resources for addressing the issue.

Additional topics covered include:

A scenario that highlights the importance of identifying concerning or prohibitive behaviors and initiating the intervention process (4:44)
Three ways schools can mitigate threats of harm (8:33)
Common errors schools make regarding behavioral threat assessments (11:49)
What makes Secure Passage's SBTA unique (20:13)
Hopeful thoughts for the future of school safety and student wellness (25:08)
How schools can access fiscal and human resources to improve behavioral threat assessment capabilities (31:32)

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On March 5, 2024, the U.S. Department of Education issued Liberty University a $14 million fine over its violation of the Clery Act for its handling of sexual assault allegations. Liberty also violated the Clery Act in 2010, and the latest review found the school failed to initiate and sustain remedial action from those findings.

The penalty is the largest Clery fine in history, dwarfing the Department's second-largest $4.5 million fine levied against Michigan State University in 2019 over its systemic failure to address longstanding sexual abuse allegations made against former sports doctor Larry Nassar. Before that, the largest fine was $2.4 million against Penn State in 2016 for its mishandling of abuse claims against former assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky.

The increase from 2019 to 2024 begs the question: Why have Clery violation fines grown exponentially in recent years?

In this interview, Kyle Norton, director of regulatory compliance at the Healy+ Group, and Jenn Scott, a regulatory compliance consultant, share:

Why Clery Act fines have gotten so big (00:52)
Common Clery Act violations (02:34)
Why higher reported crimes aren't necessarily a bad thing (05:31)
What Clery-compliant schools are doing right (09:07)
Advice on how campuses can keep up with the many requirements of the Clery Act (11:41)
What to expect from their upcoming 2024 Campus Safety Conference presentation, "$37 Thousand or $37 Million? The New Cost of Violating the Clery Act" (13:54)

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Being proactive with a unified approach to school security and safety is critical to preventing and responding to incidents. However, historically most school districts have taken the exact opposite approach. Traditionally, they’ve waited to address their pressing safety and security vulnerabilities until after a major incident has occurred, according to Michael Garcia, HID Global’s safe schools national end user director.

“Force protection, defense in depth, qualitative third party, independent verification and validation -- the necessary things for a risk assessment -- were never on the school budget,” says Garcia. “So, they could never be planned for, they were always reactively financed.”

What followed would usually be a piecemeal approach to school security upgrades. Cameras would be installed at one time, intrusion sensors would be installed at another, locks would be installed on classroom doors the following year, and so on. Although the installation of this equipment was a significant improvement over what was protecting the campus before, the systems that were implemented often wouldn’t communicate or integrate with each other.

Another challenge with the traditional way of handling school security, especially as it applied to access control, was that very often first responders would have difficulty accessing the scene of an emergency because they didn’t have the right keys or access control credentials.

To be fair, it’s understandable why the reactive approach to school safety had traditionally been school districts’ modus operandi. K-12 campus protection is a relatively new field, and the recent changes to it seem to have come at lightning speed. What’s more, the vast majority of school board members don’t volunteer for their positions to become security experts. The same goes for administrators and educators, who have been trained to focus on academics, not active shooter response.

However, Garcia says all of this must change. Mental health, behavioral interventions, mitigation efforts, risk assessors, people, processes, and security technologies must all work together as an “orchestra” with one conductor. Doing so will help prevent school security incidents from happening in the first place, mitigate them when they do occur, and ensure first responders will be able to quickly and appropriately respond.

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Inclusivity is the practice of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for those who might otherwise be marginalized. An inclusive school safety plan accounts for everyone’s individual needs and abilities — including students and staff — when and if a school is faced with an emergency.

We spoke with Dr. Roderick Sams, a former educator and administrator of 20+ years, about ways schools and districts can create a more inclusive safety plan by:

Removing language barriers (0:01)
Improving accessibility (04:36)
Ensuring emergency alerts are multisensory (08:56)

Sams also spoke about the importance of an overall inclusive campus culture that listens to student and staff voices and accepts and accommodates differences, which has proven to reduce violence (16:15).

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In the three months following the start of the Israel-Hamas war, anti-Semitic incidents in the U.S. increased by 360% compared to the same period one year prior. Anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian incidents increased by 178%.

Some of these incidents occurred on K-12 and college campuses. In Georgia, a middle school teacher was fired for allegedly threatening physical harm to a 13-year-old girl. In Indiana, a woman was arrested for intentionally crashing her vehicle into a school because she thought it was an "Israel school." On Feb. 19, anti-Semitic incidents on U.S. college campuses since the start of the war passed 1,000.

Educational campuses have also made recent headlines for protests and administrators' handling of them. Pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups have sued their schools, claiming they haven't protected them from hate crimes or have violated their First Amendment rights by having the groups suspended.

All of these hate crimes and clashes raise many questions, including:

What have K-12 and college leaders done right and what have they done wrong in how they respond to these incidents?
How can they better mitigate and respond to them in the future?

To answer these questions, Campus Safety spoke with Jason Russell, former Secret Service agent and founder and president of Secure Environment Consultants.

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Rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation on college campuses are at an all-time high. More than 60% meet the criteria for at least one mental health problem -- a nearly 50% increase since 2013.

College students are also seeking support at an unprecedented rate, openly discussing their struggles with professionals to formulate a game plan for improving their well-being and overall educational experience. Although student affairs offices are overwhelmed with the influx, many are working to find creative ways to properly support students seeking resources -- including the University of California San Diego's Student Affairs Case Management Services (SACM).

SACM is the winner of the Clery Center's Campus Safety Impact Award, an inaugural award that recognizes higher education programs or initiatives that demonstrate innovation, collaboration, and equity in improving campus safety.

Hear from SACM's director, Andrew Hua, about how the group has been able to quintuple its case management team in just three years, as well as the challenges that came with it and how they continue to evolve to meet students' needs.

Hua also discusses:

How the team has addressed spikes in student caseloads (06:04)
How the team has created a path for students to become part of the staff (14:45Tips for garnering support from leadership for student well-being initiatives (16:43)
SACM's signature training program, which has trained over 1,200 faculty, staff, and student leaders to recognize signs of distress (22:10)
Notable statistics, including student testimonials, that highlight SACM's impact (24:26)
Tips for schools overwhelmed with student needs' caseloads (27:36)

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On March 15, 2022, 16-year-old Shawn Dwight Tolbert was fatally shot following an altercation between two groups of teens in the parking lot at Eisenhower High School in Yakima, Washington.

As with all campus incidents, the district did a full after-action review of the shooting and the school's response. It was determined a security monitor gave incorrect information regarding the location of the incident, sending police, EMS, district security, and school administration to the south parking lot when the incident occurred in the east parking lot. This caused delays in providing medical services and in apprehending the shooter.

In this interview, Stacey Locke, Deputy Superintendent of the Yakima School District, discusses the school's error in its response (00:27) and how the district has since fixed its emergency response plans to prevent similar mistakes from occurring in future incidents (08:00).

Locke also shared:

The school's many successes in its response (11:11)
How she encourages her district employees to create a culture of safety through a layered approach (13:16)
How purchasing wearable incident response badges for staff following the incident has helped in other emergencies (16:56)
Recommendations for schools or districts considering adopting similar location-enabled technology (20:57)

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On Nov. 30, 2021, a student at Michigan's Oxford High School shot and killed four classmates and wounded six other people. Several weeks ago, independent investigators released a 572-page report outlining both successes and failures in the school's response before, during, and after the incident.

In this interview with Campus Safety, Jill Lemond, who was Oxford Community School's assistant superintendent of student services at the time of the tragedy and later became the assistant superintendent of safety and school operations, shares lessons learned from the incident (06:19) and changes the district has made since (08:51).

She also shares:

Overall advice for school gun violence deterrence (00:01)
Recovery advice for schools that may experience a similar incident in the future (10:15)
What parents can do to prevent school violence (15:13)
What students can do to prevent school violence (19:14)

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Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) refers to the integration of architectural design and environmental factors to reduce criminal activity. Many strategies can be used to deter crime but perhaps the three most common, effective, and practical ones are natural surveillance and visibility (00:01), lighting (04:53), and wayfinding (09:22).

Paul Timm, currently Allegion's Director of Education Safety at Allegion and formerly Facility Engineering Associates' (FEA) Vice President of Physical Security Services, discusses the fundamentals of these three CPTED principles and how they can and should be applied on school campuses.

Timm also shares CPTED successes and failures he's encountered as both a security professional conducting school site assessments and a parent, as well as:

Where schools that are looking to improve CPTED should start (14:56)
Best practices for CPTED during after-school events, particularly at night (16:23)
Advice on accessing grant funding to improve CPTED (19:02)

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In a March 2022 survey, paraprofessionals, school counselors, instructional aides, and school resource officers (SROs) reported the highest rates of student physical violence (22%), while 18% of school psychologists and social workers, 15% of administrators, and 14% of teachers reported at least one violent incident by a student during the pandemic.

In this interview, Dr. Marisa Randazzo, executive director of threat management at Ontic, shares her thoughts on the most effective ways to address violence in schools as well as how current students -- the next generation of thought leaders -- will have the ability to change the overall culture of workplace safety.

Dr. Randazzo also discussed:

What school employees can do to de-escalate concerning behavior (10:25)
Free de-escalation resources for violence prevention in schools (12:19)
What technologies and tools are available to support school employees in combatting violence (12:39)
Must-haves in school violence prevention policies and procedures (15:16)

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On Dec. 1, 2013, Kari Hunt was stabbed 29 times by her husband in a Texas motel room while their three children were present. Kari’s nine-year-old daughter dialed 911 four times from the motel room phone but the calls never went through because the motel’s phone system required users to press “9” before dialing outside lines. Kari ultimately died that night, and coroners estimate she lived for 25-30 minutes after the attack.

On Feb. 16, 2018, Kari's Law was signed into legislation, ensuring anyone can reach a 911 call center directly without an access code. Six weeks later, RAY BAUM's Act went into law, requiring enterprises to fashion their phone systems so each 911 call includes a dispatchable location.

Mark Fletcher, the key author and proponent of Kari's Law and vice president of public safety solutions for 911inform, spoke with Campus Safety about the laws' requirements and the high costs of non-compliance.

Fletcher also shares:

More on the process of getting Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act through the legislature with the Hunt family (01:35)
Three instances where Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act helped save lives (10:53)
Who tracks whether an establishment is compliant and who within a school campus is typically involved in ensuring phone systems are compliant (13:52)

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Dr. James Corbin, who is student safety and security coordinator for Hamilton County Schools in Tennessee, was tasked with developing a safety department for his district. Not only did he do so from scratch, but he also grew his department to more than 60 employees in only three years. Additionally, almost all of his employees have stayed with the department… a remarkable feat considering the current tight labor market.

Corbin’s success in developing his district’s safety department is just one of the reasons why he’s been named one of this year’s Campus Safety K-12 Director of the Year finalists.

Here’s Campus Safety Editor in Chief Robin Hattersley's interview with James Corbin as well as the timestamps of what was specifically covered in the interview:

Corbin’s first steps in developing the Hamilton County Schools safety department, and how he determined what was needed, who was needed, and how many officers/staff members were needed: 1:31
What issues district stakeholders and the community specifically wanted the department to address and how he bridged the gap between the traditional law enforcement world and school safety world: 3:50
How he was able to recruit and retain so many employees in such a tight labor market: 5:18
What kind of training department armed officers receive: 6:34
Advice to other districts who want to develop or expand their safety departments: 9:24

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To combat the nationwide police shortage, Eric James, chief of police for the University of Nevada, Reno Police Department-Northern Command and a 2023 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, secured funding to add at least one community service officer position to each campus (2:11).

These student officers almost exclusively spend their time on foot patrol and handle cold calls for service, leaving more time for peace officers to handle priority calls for service. Adding CSO jobs also creates a pipeline for hiring peace officers.

In this interview, James discusses this initiative, as well as:

Benefits garnered from teaching a CrossFit class at the University Fitness Center (5:06)
The process of acquiring a facility dog and the many ways she has helped the campus community (8:11)

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A fall 2019 survey of approximately 167,000 students at two- or four-year colleges found 39% had experienced food insecurity in the last 30 days, according to an annual survey conducted by Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice.

On college campuses throughout the country, there are various departments and organizations working diligently to improve food access. At the University of Rhode Island, the police department is one of them.

In this interview, Michael Jagoda, URI's Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police, shares how hosting nearly two dozen food-focused community outreach events has helped campus police establish open lines of communication with students while also addressing the hardships of food insecurity.

Jagoda also discusses:

Outreach programs the department leads within the greater community (9:45)
Unexpected benefits from the community outreach events (19:20)
How his response to the Sandy Hook tragedy as a member of the Connecticut State Police has influenced his dedication to thorough active shooter preparedness (15:52)

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For years now, school districts have debated if school resource officers (SROs) make K-12 campuses safer or more dangerous, with some making the difficult decision to remove their police officers. The Lynwood (California) Unified School District (USD) was one such district, doing away with its SRO program before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Doing so meant Lynwood USD needed to figure out other ways to protect its schools. The first step was to create a safety taskforce that was comprised of school board members, principals, parents, directors of student services, IT, other community members, city officials, and local law enforcement. (Next year, the task force will expand to include students.)

“In this committee, we’re addressing the incidents that we see in or around the school sites,” Garcia said. “We discuss the incidents and then bring to the table what we think will be beneficial for the whole district.”

This process resulted in Lynwood USD identifying several technologies and programs that would proactively address its school safety and security challenges without the involvement of SROs. An intercom access control system, anonymous reporting system, weapons detection that uses artificial intelligence, student internet monitoring, and visitor management were all installed. Garcia and his team also implemented active shooter training at all sites, collaborated with the city of Lynwood to implement Safe School Zones, and more.

The result of these improvements was a 70% decline in incidents at Lynwood USD.

This and many other reasons are why Garcia has been named one of this year’s K-12 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalists.

Below are the questions and interview time stamps so you can watch/listen to the specific details of Garcia’s achievements and lessons learned:

Why Lynwood USD needed a new intercom access control system, anonymous reporting system, weapons detection technology, student internet monitoring system, and visitor management system and the problems these technologies addressed. 1:58
How Garcia was able to convince other district stakeholders (the school board, community, etc.) that these upgrades were needed. 5:45
How Garcia’s department and district paid for the upgrades. 7:48
The results of Lynwood USD’s implementation/installation of these systems. 8:49
Advice Garcia gives to other districts looking to upgrade their security and safety. 10:21

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In 2022, Howard University received eight bomb threats based on racial motivations. As chief of police and executive director of the school’s Department of Public Safety, Marcus Lyles was tasked with responding to these threats as well as addressing concerns and fears expressed by the Howard community.

In this interview, Lyles shares how the threats impacted Howard students and staff, as well as how his team responded to the threats and offered reassurance to the campus community regarding their safety (2:20).

Lyles also discusses:

How his team kept parents informed of the university's response to the bomb threats (9:24)
Recommendations for schools that may experience similar threats in the future (12:10)

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After three people were tragically killed and five others were wounded in a February shooting at Michigan State University, conversations started swirling about how to best protect an open campus. While there are leading practices for improving safety on an open campus, each campus has its own unique challenges and therefore its own unique solutions.

Vanguard University, located in Costa Mesa, Calif., is an example of an open campus with security solutions tailored to its specific environment.

In this interview, Kenton Ferrin, Vanguard's director of campus safety and a 2023 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, speaks to ways his campus has made security changes after evaluating its top risks, as well as:

How his team developed safe rooms throughout campus where students or employees can quickly secure themselves during an emergency (5:55)
The advantage of hiring retired police officers and tips for campuses considering doing so (11:50)
Unique ways the campus safety team has been able to connect with the student population (15:25)

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Outdoor public address systems are critical components of any school’s emergency notification system. Emergency messages must reach everyone on campus, including those students, faculty, and staff members who are outside on the football field, baseball diamond, picnic areas, playgrounds, and other outdoor areas. Unfortunately, PA speakers often aren’t installed in remote outdoor locations on campus. If they are installed, the announcements might not be loud enough or intelligible. The same issues often happen indoors.

Such was the challenge at the UMS-Wright Preparatory School located in Mobile, Alabama. UMS-Wright Director of Campus Safety Garrett Humphrey and his team updated the PA system to not only address the old system’s coverage issues but to also make the school’s teachers less reliant on their cell phones for push notifications. He and his team went through a lengthy and thorough process to upgrade UMS-Wright’s PA system, including conducting an inventory and testing what they already had, determining the exact areas that had coverage problems.

Here are the timestamps of what was specifically covered in the interview:

The specific challenges UMS-Wright experienced with its PA system: 2:20
How Humphrey addressed this issue; what was installed; how he determined what was needed; and the overall process: 5:32
How the solution that was chosen achieved cost savings: 9:05
Humphrey’s advice to other school safety and security professionals about public address systems and notifying students, faculty, and staff who are outdoors during an emergency: 11:25
What Humphrey would do differently if he had to do it all over again: 13:58

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Partnerships have long proven successful in improving safety within a community. Historically, these partnerships have been between various first responder groups. As the social divide within our country continues to widen, partnerships between first responders and social workers have proven extremely successful.

This rings true for the University of Maryland Baltimore Police Department (UMBPD) since it began a partnership with the university’s School of Social Work (UMSSW) to help the Baltimore community at large.

In this interview, UMBPD Chief Thomas Leone shares how the partnership works (2:16) and its impressive outcomes for the community (6:13).

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At the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and UT Health Science Center, all incidents are shared with and monitored by the police department. Threats are also shared with other campus leaders to ensure everyone -- at all times -- has a clear picture of the campus threat landscape.

In this interview, Chief William Adcox shares why information sharing is essential to mitigating healthcare violence and why his police department does not have an arrest model (12:47).

Adcox also shares how switching to a Combined Protection Model (1:46) and creating a Shared Purpose Council (6:06) resulted in improved performance and outcomes for both the organizations he serves and the surrounding community.

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Brown County’s Teen Heartsaver Initiative has provided First Aid training and certification to nearly 2,000 high school students, campus employees, and area residents.

The program, which was developed and launched by Brown County Kansas Sheriff John Merchant, has saved many lives. One student who received the training performed the Heimlich maneuver on a choking child she was babysitting. A bus driver who was waiting in line at McDonald’s revived a person who went into cardiac arrest. Another student who was sitting at a restaurant revived a patron who experienced a heart attack. Brown County’s program has many more success stories… too many to mention.

Below are the questions posed to Sheriff Merchant and interview time stamps so you can watch/listen to the specific details of Brown County’s initiative:
1. What exactly is the Teen Lifesaver Initiative? 1:49
2. Why did you think your school district and community needed it? Did anything prompt you to introduce this initiative? 3:00
3. What have been the results of your Teen Lifesaver Initiative so far? 5:40
4. How did you go about implementing this initiative? Any advice to other districts or law enforcement agencies wanting to adopt something similar? What works? What doesn't? 6:59

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Budget limitations are some of the biggest challenges campuses face when it comes to making security improvements. Whether it’s a school, college, hospital, or church, just to name a few, most safety and security leaders are expected to do a lot with little when it comes to protecting their facilities.

In fiscal year 2022-2023, Cesar Gracia, director of public safety and chief of police at East Tennessee State University and a 2023 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, was able to nearly double the campus police department’s budget. How? By changing the department from a traditional police organization to one whose primary focus is community policing.

In this interview, Gracia discusses various initiatives that led to an increased budget, as well as:

How he adapted to policing a college campus after training officers at Walters State Regional Training Academy for 12 years (1:51)
How he informed officers about the switch to community policing and how he approached situations where officers seemed resistant to change (7:42)
Recommendations for other leaders looking to focus more on community policing (11:01)

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Schools across the nation should always be looking for ways to improve security, but often those improvements involve expensive investments in technology and other safety and security measures. So how can K-12 campus protection professionals find the budget for these upgrades?

To find out, I spoke with Mike Newton, who is director of safety and security for the Elizabeth School District in Elizabeth, Colorado. He installed new security cameras and other measures at all of the campuses in his district, resulting in $44,000 savings. That amount of savings is impressive, but particularly so considering Newton works for a small rural school district that has only about 2,200 students on five campuses.

Specifically, this interview covers:
1. What prompted the installation of cameras, signage and door numbers, and what was specifically installed/implemented: 2:12
2. How these upgrades improved safety and security: 7:10
3. How the $44,000 cost savings were achieved: 15:11
4. Advice for other districts wanting to make these types of safety and security improvements while achieving cost savings: 18:24

This presentation is brought to you by CampusSafetyMagazine.com (https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/)

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As manager of public safety and parking services for William Osler Health System, Calvin Millar is charged with developing a hospital workplace violence prevention program.

Drawing from personal experiences in both hospital and non-hospital settings, Millar determined prioritizing customer service was the most effective way to mitigate violence.

Millar elaborates on those experiences, plus:

● How has he been able to measure the success of customer-centric service (9:51)
● How his own mental health nursing background helped in creating the violence prevention plan (11:10)
● Additional training opportunities offered to his security team (13:36)

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Following the murder of George Floyd, police departments across the country conducted internal reviews to ensure leading practices were being followed. While looking inward is extremely important, internal reviews come with bias.

Jason Schiffer, Lehigh University's chief of police and a 2023 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, turned to non-police campus leaders to form a committee to review the department, giving them full access to its policies, procedures, and data from interactions with the community (11:08).

As a result, changes were made to the department's use-of-force policy and its sexual violence policy. In this interview, Schiffer shares more on those changes, as well as:

How and why he completely revamped the department's mission statement with the main focus being student success (1:51)
Positive outcomes that have stemmed from focusing on student success (7:28)
How previously serving as a practicing trial attorney has helped him succeed in his current role (9:01)

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Although the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is behind us, healthcare facilities are still dealing with the residual impacts on human behavior (6:28).

Campus Safety's Amy Rock spoke with Dr. Marissa Randazzo,
executive director of threat management at Ontic, about the current state of violence in healthcare settings (1:05), in addition to:

Tips for de-escalating concerning behavior (9:51)
Free workplace violence mitigation resources (12:38)
Available technologies and tools that support healthcare workers in combatting violence (13:50)
Violence prevention policy must-haves (19:13)
Predictions for the future of hospital workplace violence (21:45)

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Although school, university, and hospital security officers often patrol their campuses on foot, many of them also need patrol vehicles so they can most effectively protect their facilities and the surrounding areas. Unfortunately, patrol vehicles can be very expensive to not only purchase but also maintain.

So how can a campus security department provide its employees with the patrol vehicles they need to do their jobs while keeping costs under control?

To find out, I spoke with Levaughn Smart, who is the Executive Director of Security and Disaster Preparedness for the Palm Springs Unified School District in Palm Springs, California. Levaughn. He is also one of this year’s K-12 Director of the Year finalists and was able to buy a new fleet of patrol vehicles while saving his district more than $200K.

In our interview, Levaughn discusses:

The condition of his patrol fleet before getting the new vehicles and why did they need to be replaced: 1:42
Why he decided to adopt the vehicle model he chose for his department: 4:33
How the performance/maintenance of his new vehicles compare to the department’s previous vehicles: 7:43
The specific ways the new vehicles saved his district more than $200,000: 9:26
Advice to other campus protection executives on patrol vehicle fleet management. 11:00

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One of the most challenging responsibilities of a school security, safety, and emergency management executive is handling the multitude of technology upgrades required for the protection of today’s K-12 campuses. In most districts of any size, there are a lot of moving parts, supply chain issues, contractors, and in-house employees that all must be effectively managed. But, how do you actually do that?

To find out, I spoke with Danielle Stevens who is district safety manager for Lake Zurich CUSD 95, who is also one of this year’s K-12 Director of the Year finalists. In only three years, she and her team completed 90% of a 2019 outside security assessment’s recommendations for school safety and security improvements. The remaining 10% of upgrades are currently being evaluated or are underway.

In our interview, Danielle tells us:

How she prioritized the assessment’s recommendations: 1:45
How she managed the school district employees and contractors who completed the upgrades: 4:41
How she dealt with supply chain issues, including a 20-week delay in receiving the two-way radios the district ordered 7:30
How she is tackling the projects that remain, such as the district’s massive and very expensive video surveillance system upgrade. 8:58

She also provides some sage advice to other school security directors on how to effectively manage system upgrades. (12:45)

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With so many active shooter attacks happening in America, our nation’s institutions of higher education must prepare for the possibility that a mass shooting could happen on their campus.

That’s why Biola University partnered with the Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department (LASD), as well as other local first responders, to conduct a full-scale active shooter exercise. In the exercise, which took place February 28 on Biola’s campus, numerous Biola officers and Los Angeles Sheriff’s Department deputies participated, along with the local fire department, campus staff members, medical personnel, and students to test how the school and local first responders would respond to a mass shooting.

I was there,along with several other media organizations, to witness the event, and some of the video and photos I took during the exercise are at the end of this video. (Note: If you are listening to the podcast version of this right now, you might want to watch the video version on either CampusSafetyMagazine.com or YouTube so you can see the video and photos I took.)

Before the exercise took place, however, I spoke with Biola University Provost and Senior Vice President Matthew Hall. I asked him why senior university administrators like him support full-scale active shooter exercises on their campuses. 1:39 I then asked him how involved he and other administrators
were in setting up the exercise, and why it’s so important for his school to
conduct this type of exercise. 2:47

I then spoke with Biola Associate Vice President and Chief of Campus Safety John Ojeisekhoba Sr. and asked how his nonsworn department’s involvement in active shooter response is different from sworn police officer responses to this type of situation. 4:41 I then asked about the specific duties of his nonsworn
officers during an active shooter situation. 6:05

After the interviews, I show some of the photos and video I took of the exercise, which can be viewed on CampusSafetyMagazine.com or YouTube. Please note that some of the images in the video that follows may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.

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Digital hall pass technology, now used by thousands of schools across the country, has proven to curb vandalism and vaping, among other things. However, like with all technologies that collect personally identifiable information, there are student data privacy concerns to be considered.

To discuss both the pros and cons of this technology, we spoke with Cobun Zweifel-Keegan, a data privacy lawyer and managing director of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP).

Topics of discussion include:

How digital hall pass technology works (1:32)
The main benefits of digital hall passes (3:08)
Student privacy implications that surround these technologies (5:38)
How student privacy was impacted during the pandemic (13:47)
Considerations when choosing a vendor (17:26)

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With the rise of active shooter and active assailant attacks happening in our nation, more schools, institutions of higher education, and healthcare facilities are looking for better ways to keep intruders out, all while maintaining a welcoming environment for students, staff, patients, and guests. One of most effective ways to do this is to fortify the glass windows and glass doors on campus.

The question for protection professionals, however, is how to effectively accomplish this. Glass fortification is a complex issue that must be addressed with the help of a professional with years of experience protecting glass openings.

That’s why Campus Safety Editor-in-Chief Robin Hattersley spoke with Brad Campbell, president and founder of Riot Glass. Riot Glass is a manufacturer of retrofit security glazing systems designed to add a significant level of forced entry and/or ballistic protection to any building.

In this interview Brad discusses:

Why it is so important for glass openings, such as windows and doors, to be fortified: 2:05
What type of assessment process he recommends so campuses adopt the right solution(s) for their facilities: 4:31
The different types of glass protection solutions currently available on the market, and which ones are the most effective at preventing forced entry vs. the types that are best for severe weather, earthquakes, bomb blasts, privacy, and energy savings: 11:45
Because there is a lot of attention on active assailants right now, the specific solutions to address this threat and how a campus can most effectively protect its glass openings from active assailants and other types of intruders: 18:28

At 22:25 of the interview, we watch a video that demonstrates how these various products work in both a test environment, as well as in real-life.

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Incidents of swatting, or reporting false threats to elicit an emergency response, are on the rise, and many are targeting K-12 schools and colleges.

In this interview, Jeffrey Yarbrough, police chief for the Hutto Police Department and former police chief of Round Rock Independent School District, both in Texas, talks about all things swatting, including why its so harmful (1:11), what the emergency response often involves (13:20), and how these incidents are impacting the mental health of students, staff, parents, and surrounding communities (19:07).

Yarbrough also discussed:

How most of these threats are being communicated (5:43)
The correlation between mass shootings and increased swatting threats (10:13)
Lessons he's learned from responding to swatting calls (17:12)
Suggestions for schools on how to identify false threats (21:14)
Measures being put in place to increase charges that can be brought against someone who makes a swatting threat (25:37)

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Hazing is a significant issue in both K-12 schools and higher education. One study estimates 47% of students go to college already having experienced hazing, and 55% of college students involved in clubs, teams, and organizations experience hazing as well.

In this podcast, Holly Vector, Vice President of Education Strategy at Vector Solutions, speaks about the current state of hazing on college campuses, including:

The psychological effects of hazing (6:06)
The pandemic's impact on hazing (7:43)
How colleges can mitigate hazing (15:45)
The role of social media in hazing, including "RushTok" (19:09)
The important role bystanders can play in mitigating hazing (28:08)
What parents can do to help keep their children safe at college (30:54)

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Given recent events in K-12 schools, including an increase in crime, administrators are looking for various ways to help them abate school safety concerns, one of which is security technology.

Brandon Davito, VP of Product Operations at Verkada, discusses what customers are saying are their most significant qualms today and how technology is helping alleviate them, particularly staff shortages.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

The importance of flexibility in willingness to integrate with existing solutions (2:19)
How recent technological advances are improving visitor monitoring (4:03) and video surveillance (9:22)
The current state of biometrics in the school security industry (6:43)
How schools are working to alleviate inside threats (10:29)
How visitor monitoring technology is helping front desk staff do their job better (15:35)
Predictions for the future of access control and video surveillance in schools (18:37)

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One of the best ways to convince healthcare facility leadership of the need for a security, emergency management, or life safety system upgrade or change is to provide examples and data from other similar types of campuses of the success or failure of a particular type of technology, policy, or solution.

However, when it comes to healthcare security, there currently isn’t much data available that can prove or disprove that a solution or strategy works.

That’s why the International Association for Healthcare Security and Safety (IAHSS) has released three new publications that lay the foundation for a more standardized and consistent approach to the collection and categorization of healthcare security incidents.

To help us make sense of all of this, Campus Safety Editor-in-Chief Robin Hattersley interviewed Tony York, who is executive vice president of Paladin Security and PalAmerican Security, as well as past IAHSS president and board member.

In this interview, Tony addresses the following topics:

A detailed explanation of the New Guidelines on Incident Categories and Data Analysis, the IAHSS Healthcare Security Incident Category Framework, and the Healthcare Security Glossary of Terms: 2:29
Why the healthcare security community needs a consistent approach to the collection and categorization of security incidents: 5:17
Why healthcare security executives need the ability to make apples-to-apples comparisons of incident data among different facilities, and how this helps healthcare executives and their organizations as a whole: 6:57
Why already-overworked healthcare security professionals who are concerned that adopting this guidance will be a lot of hard work should put in the extra effort to adopt this guidance: 13:56
Healthcare facility information confidentiality: 14:55
Examples of how a healthcare security executive could down the road use this data to make the case for improved security at his or her organization: 16:40

For more information on the guidance, visit IAHSS.org.

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Did you know a third of college students have bicycles on campus? And did you know that on many college and university campuses, more than half of all reported property crimes are for bike theft?

Craig Dalton, executive director of Bike Index, a nonprofit online bike registry that has helped recover over $19 million worth of stolen bikes, spoke with us about how the organization has partnered with more than 70 colleges and universities to curb bike thefts.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

Challenges colleges/universities face regarding bike thefts and recovery (2:26)
How Bike Index works (10:02)
How Bike Index also works in conjunction with surrounding cities and towns, including police, to prevent bike thefts (26:49)
Best practices for keeping a bike secure on campus (33:13)

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As more hospital, school, and university employees become concerned about their safety at work, many campuses are considering the adoption of panic buttons, which enable campus employees to summon for help when an emergency occurs.

In this interview with Campus Safety, Craig Dever from Inovonics talks about:

The overall benefits and applications of wireless sensors, as well as how these sensors can improve security and safety at schools, hospitals, institutions of higher education and other organizations. 1:45
How systems with wireless sensors, including mobile duress devices, can be integrated with other security systems, such as access control, video surveillance, intrusion, etc.: 4:23
How these systems can be monitored either by onsite personnel or offsite central stations: 5:08
The benefits of using mobile duress devices: 5:29
The challenges associated with traditional panic alarms: 6:15
How Inovonics’ mobile duress buttons address these challenges as well as help first responders during an emergency: 6:59
Real-life applications of mobile duress systems in education and healthcare: 8:50

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Since the 1999 Columbine High School shooting, more than 311,000 U.S. students have experienced gun violence at school.

Teodora Pavkovic, a youth psychologist and parenting coach, offers tips for both school employees and parents on how to speak with kids and teens about school gun violence. Pavkovic also shares how to appropriately adjust those discussions based on a student's age.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

Questions and concerns that arise among kids and teens following a violent incident at a school (3:03)
The importance of having all employees on the same page for how to address questions (22:06)
Free resources to help school employees with speaking to students about violence (24:37)

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After a violent incident at a school, investigators sometimes determine security technology or lacking policies proved somewhat or completely ineffective in preventing or mitigating that incident. This often leaves schools rushing to implement new or improved technology that is disparate and doesn't seamlessly integrate with other technologies.

Jason Friedberg, commercial lead for education at Genetec, Inc., shares how unified access control and video surveillance systems increase campus safety while also saving money.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

What campuses should be looking for in a unified system to help them reduce total cost of ownership while improving effectiveness (1:35)
Minimal standards security and public safety departments should expect from physical and electronic security systems (8:38)
Standards customers are finding the most challenging to comply with (13:15)
How a unified system positively influences the roles of campus police (15:40)
What Genetec is doing to help schools adopt unified security systems and how the company addresses varying budgets (17:40)
Other concerns and challenges customers have voiced regarding campus security and technology (24:08)

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Despite us being 2 ½ years into the pandemic and there being plenty of federal funding available, many schools have not taken action to improve their indoor air quality.

To help us find ways that schools can take advantage of this funding, Campus Safety Editor-in-Chief Robin Hattersley interviewed Karen Cooper, who is director of offer management at Honeywell Building Technologies.

In this interview, Karen discusses:

The funds that are available for schools to update their indoor air quality and when must those funds be used by: 1:13
How schools can utilize the federal funds: 2:30
How school can determine what to prioritize for upgrades: 3:09
What long-term strategies schools can adopt to not only upgrade their indoor air quality but also maintain it for years to come: 4:04

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With all of the security, safety, and climate change challenges facing our nation today, it behooves schools, institutions of higher education, and healthcare facilities, as well as many other types of organizations to review and update their approaches to public safety, emergency management, energy savings, and sustainability. It’s even better if they can address all of these challenges with one solution.

One highly effective way to address these concerns is security glazing installed on windows and other types of glass openings. To find out more about the benefits of security glazing, I interviewed National Glazing Solutions CEO James Beale.

In our interview, James discussed:

Why campuses need to update their approaches to safety and security: 1:35
Results from a survey conducted by Campus Safety and NGS on the current state of safety and security of windows and other glass openings on campuses: 3:12
How security glazing can prevent or mitigate:
- Damage from natural disasters, such as wildfires and hurricanes: 4:53
- Bomb blasts, active shooters, and damage from rioters and civil unrest: 7:41
- Damage from severe weather, seismic events, explosions from local refineries and other industries: 11:52

James also discussed how window glazing can help you achieve energy savings, reducing your campus’ carbon footprint (16:47), reduce maintenance costs (23:12) and much more.

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Hospital violent crime increased by 47% from 2020 to 2021. One way to combat violence in hospitals is through de-escalation training, which has proven to protect employees and save hospitals money due to less nurse turnover.

The Crisis Prevention Institute is one organization that provides this type of training, so we spoke to its President, Susan Driscoll, about recognizing early signs of anxiety among patients or visitors to try and prevent a situation from turning into a crisis.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

How the pandemic has affected hospital workplace violence
The impacts of implementing de-escalation training
The importance of adopting a unified approach to de-escalation among all employees

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In a 2020 CDC survey, 69.2% of adults ages 18-24 reported symptoms of anxiety, depression, or both, and nearly a quarter said they had seriously considered suicide.

To diver deeper into these concerning statistics, we spoke to Corrine Williams, University of Kentucky’s (UK) acting associate vice president of student wellbeing, about the stresses that come with the transition to college, how that has been compounded by the pandemic, and what UK is doing to help.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

Other changes she has noticed in student mental health
How mental health issues have been manifesting among students
Adjustments the university has made and additional programs that have been put in place to address student mental health needs
Challenges and barriers the school has faced in supporting students
Ways the university is helping staff recognize mental health struggles among students

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While still grappling with the effects of the pandemic, in February 2021, the state of Texas was immobilized by historic Winter Storm Uri. Seven months later, Hurricane Nicholas made landfall.

Although the University of Houston was impacted by these storms, the hard work put into continuity of operations planning by Ginger Walker, director of emergency management, kept impacts at a minimum, allowing the campus to quickly resume operations.

In this interview, Walker discusses how Winter Storm Uri impacted campus operations (2:15) as well as how her continuity of operations planning efforts have been recognized by the State Office of Risk Management (35:21).

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

Findings from the Winter Storm Uri after-action report (15:04)
How new policies and procedures put in place following Uri helped during Hurricane Nicholas (26:34)

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Video surveillance serves many purposes, including entrance/exit monitoring and visitor verification. While many agree security cameras play a big role in keeping campuses safe, the available options can be overwhelming.

We spoke with Allen Cain, director of safety and security at Gilbert Public Schools and a 2022 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, about his journey in selecting a new district-wide video surveillance system, including establishing a team to help review vendor applicants who responded to a request for proposal (RFP) (12:00), and deciding which capabilities were a must-have for the new system (12:59).

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

Other changes he recognized his district needed to be regarding school safety (1:37)
How he partnered with the operations department to construct secure entryways (5:09)
Advice he has for campuses looking to undertake a similar video surveillance project (18:26)

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Shortly after becoming Appalachian State's director of public safety and chief of police, Andy Stephenson established the school's highly-respected Police Officer Development Program.

The 2-year program exceeds North Carolina's minimum training standards by hundreds of hours and students graduate as fully sworn police officers. Stephenson goes in-depth on the structure of the program and the various types of training cadets undergo (2:07).

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

How the school is able to fund the program and provide participants with hourly wages (12:19)
Challenges he faced in establishing the program (14:49)
The diversity among program participants (17:02)

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A community servant is someone who cares about the needs of others rather than the desire to have power. For Douglas Roberts, that's why he got into policing.

Roberts, police chief at Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) and a 2022 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, spoke to us about ways he works to ensure the public has confidence in his police department (1:51), urging his officers to engage with students constantly, not only when there is an issue (10:29).

Roberts also discussed the importance of his department maintaining relevance in surrounding communities, especially among local first responders (20:42).

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:
How technology has acted as a force multiplier in building confidence in the campus police department (12:08) * How Roberts' Secret Service background has helped him succeed in his current role (27:19*)

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If you’re in a private organization that has a non-sworn security department, getting your hands on the criminal intelligence that other organizations in your region may have can be challenging. Fortunately, there are fusion centers all around the country that can help all kinds of private organizations get the information they need to keep their campuses safe.

For example, Rick Franks, who is security manager for the Jewish Association on Aging serves as a private sector fusion liaison officer to the Western Pennsylvania and Region 13 Information Process and Criminal Intelligence Center (PaCIC).

In this interview, he addresses the following topics:

What exactly is the Western Pennsylvania and Region 13 information processing and Criminal Intelligence center: 1:53
Why his organization works with its local fusion center: 3:05
His role as the fusion liaison officer for the Jewish Association on Aging: 4:45
The results of his participation in PaCIC: 10:35
Advice for other healthcare facilities wanting to get involved in something like the PaCIC or the equivalent in their areas: 7:31

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After three fellow officers were killed in the span of 30 days, one at the hands of a 17-year-old, St. Petersburg Police Officer Luke Williams knew something needed to be done to both save officers and set youth up for success.

We spoke with Williams, who is now police chief at Pinellas County Schools and a 2022 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, about Men in the Making, a progressive initiative focused on role modeling and life skills to increase minority male success (20:39).

Williams has led many other youth-focused initiatives, including one that supports foster children in the school district (28:11). Listen to hear more about them.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

How Williams has successfully and impactfully conveyed law enforcement's role within the school system to the community served (2:05)
How he partnered with local police chiefs and the Pinellas Sheriff to create a collaborative agreement following the murder of George Floyd (9:43)
Ways he has continuously worked to improve officer morale, tailoring it to each individual's perception of what "morale" entails (14:06)

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One of the biggest challenges facing most hospital security departments is funding… funding for their officers, programs, and security technology upgrades.

Fortunately, grants from the federal, state, and local governments can be excellent sources of funding. Just ask Joey Hunter, who is Director of Security, Safety and Emergency Preparedness for San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital.

He was able to secure more than $400,000 in federal and state grants, as well as save his hospital $500,000 in capital. Those are just some of the reasons Hunter is one of this year’s Campus Safety Healthcare Director of the Year finalists.

In our interview, Hunter tells us:

How he was able to secure his grants: 1:30
How to select a grant writer: 2:10
How to select which grants to pursue: 2:51
Advice for other hospitals applying for grants: 3:30 and 5:35

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As a security executive, you never know when the information and training you’ve received over the years might help you save someone’s life. That’s what happened to Kyle Houraney, Orange County Global Medical Center’s director of public safety and emergency management, when he found out that one of his employees tested positive for COVID.

Houraney had previously received training as an EMT, so he understood that because the employee had asthma, the situation was extremely serious. He frequently checked on the employee at his home, and when he noticed the employee was struggling to breathe, told the employee to go immediately to the emergency room. That advice saved the employee’s life and is just one reason why Houraney is a finalist in this year’s Director of the Year awards program.

In our interview, Houraney describes:
• How the medical emergency unfolded over several days: 1:34
• How his background and training helped him identify the situation as being life-threatening: 4:54
• How his management style enabled him to develop such a close and trusting relationship with his employees: 6:48

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The Charleston County School District's Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) hadn't been updated since 2013, so executive director of security and emergency management Michael Reidenbach collaborated with the first responder community and district leadership to roll out an improved plan.

We spoke to Michael, a Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, about how more than 40 district leaders -- including the superintendent and department heads from nutrition services and information technology, among others -- completed tabletop exercises to help test the new 364-page plan (14:04).

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

Major changes that were implemented during the rollout of the updated EOP (2:01)
Challenges faced when creating the new plan (3:48)
How he implemented the district's first Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) and who was involved (6:49)
Lessons learned through the process of creating the plan (9:34)
How parts of the COOP aided in continuing education during the 3.5 months students were remote in 2020 (10:22)

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Garrett Humphrey, Director of Campus Safety at UMS-Wright Preparatory School (Mobile, Ala.), and a Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, talks about First Aid/CPR/AED training required for all staff (2:14).

Garrett also shares how a student saved another student's life after taking his "Adulting 101" life safety course (5:00).

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

How he saved the school money for the trainings (3:57)
The involvement of theater students in Stop the Bleed scenario training (7:08)
How Garrett partnered with a local physician, allowing him to set up a COVID-19 drive-thru for UMS families (11:39)

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When choosing an emergency response system for the Coatesville Area School District, Chief of Police Frank Galbraith, who is also a Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, made sure it had four very important features.

We spoke to Frank about the features he knew he wanted when selecting a vendor, in addition to tips he has for other districts that might be looking to upgrade an existing system or implement a new one.

OTHER TOPICS IN THIS EPISODE:

How Frank includes local law enforcement in emergency response (6:37)
How he created a district incident command team (10:50)
How he taught himself to write grants, securing nearly $400,000 in funding for the school district (14:15)
Advice he has for other districts applying for federal grant money (18:00)

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Tens of thousands of Afghan refugees have resettled across the U.S. over the past year or so, and many American hospitals, institutions of higher education, and other organizations were tasked with providing medical care, housing, and other services to many of the Afghans fleeing their country.

Since then, millions of Ukrainian refugees have been forced to flee their homeland due to the Russian invasion of their nation, and about 100,000 Ukrainian refugees will soon be coming to America. Once again, many U.S. campuses will be stepping up to care for these refugees.

In light of this development, I reached out to Virtua Health AVP of Environmental Services, Security, and Safety Paul Sarnese so he could tell us about Virtua’s Mount Holly facility’s experience last year in helping more than 1,000 refugees from Afghanistan.

In my interview with Sarnese, who is also one of this year’s Campus Safety Director of the Year finalists, he describes what was all involved in helping Virtua Health’s guests from Afghanistan.

Although each group of refugees coming to the U.S. has their own unique set of circumstances, there are some promising practices covered by Sarnese that most likely apply to organizations assisting any refugee population.

In my interview, Sarnese specifically addresses the following:

· His department’s role. 4:14

· What was all involved in this process. 6:35

· Some of the biggest challenges faced during this process, as well as successes. 9:00

· Considering our nation will soon be welcoming thousands of refugees from Ukraine, advice for other healthcare security professionals tasked with assisting them. 11:22

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Inspired by her own dog's ability to comfort a struggling student, Central State University Police Department Chief Stephanie Hill established the campus' Therapy K-9 Program.

Hill partnered with Brevard County Sheriff's Office Paws and Stripes College, which trains rescue and shelter dogs to become comfort dogs. The cost of the canine, Penny, and training for her and its handler, was covered by the program.

Hill, a Campus Safety Director of the Year Finalist, spoke with us about the program, how she got connected with a sheriff's department 1,000 miles away, and how the university is able to fund the pup's monthly expenses.

Hill also spoke with us about how her department opened and maintained a food and hygiene product pantry on campus, supporting students and staff who may be struggling with food or basic needs insecurity.

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The COVID pandemic has put a massive strain on everyone, but especially nurses, doctors, and other medical staff working at hospitals. Although practically every industry is currently experiencing labor shortages, the problem is particularly challenging in healthcare and has been an issue since the start of the pandemic.

Reid Health System Chief of Police Randy Kolentus, who is also one of this year’s Campus Safety Director of the Year finalists, recognized that the clinicians in his organization were overwhelmed with work and needed help. He and his department stepped in to provide non-medical assistance to the nurses, doctors, and other medical professionals at their organization to help lighten their load and brighten their day.

In my interview, Randy addresses:

The experience of the doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals at Reed Health during the pandemic, and what made it abundantly clear that they needed assistance from security: 1:38
How he and his department identified what officers and other staff members could do to help: 8:44
Who was designated from the security department to provide assistance: 12:22
The overall results of security staff members pitching in to help the healthcare professionals at Reid Health: 15:40
Advice for other hospitals struggling with medical worker shortages and burnout: 17:41

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Putting the customer first and at the center of every decision is always top-of-mind for Anthony Pluretti, executive director of campus safety at Widener University and a 2022 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist.

Pluretti's department's "customers" are the students, and the "goods" they are "selling" are the institution and the department itself. Pluretti's direct customers are his employees.

The department has three guiding principles -- all of which are customer-focused: foundations of a customer-centric team, delivering customer service, and ongoing improvements.

Listen to our chat with Pluretti to hear how he has worked to ensure both students and employees are "happy customers."

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The University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) houses six doctoral-degree-granting colleges and educates 75% of the state’s dentists, 40% of its pharmacists, and 40% of its physicians.

UTHSC Campus Police Chief Anthony Berryhill, a 2022 Campus Safety Higher Education Director of the Year finalist, discusses both the benefits and the complexities of policing a campus that houses renowned research facilities and has students and faculty from around the globe.

Chief Berryhill also touches on how he completely reformed the culture of the UTHSC campus police department through initiatives such as community events and accreditations.

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Campus Safety's 2022 Director of the Year K-12 finalist Christopher Ellisor, Director of Safety and Emergency Services for the Lexington School District One in Lexington, S.C., talks about his district's success with adding a texting option to its anonymous tip line, and his recommendations for a district considering a similar undertaking.

Ellisor also touches on challenges he overcame when implementing the updated system, and how his law enforcement background has helped and continues to help him in his current role.

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When an emergency happens at a school or college campus, the news media -- be they from a local or national TV network, print publication, online publication, or social media -- can be a public safety department’s best friend or biggest foe. It all depends on how the department and campus or district as a whole works with them.

No one knows that better than J. Paul Vance, who served for 43 years with the Connecticut State Police and was responsible for his department’s media relations during the immediate aftermath of the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School mass shooting that resulted in the murders of 20 school children and six adult campus staff members.

In this interview, Paul gives us valuable tips on how campus and district public safety departments can effectively work with the news media so that as much information as possible can be released about a crisis without jeopardizing security or an investigation.

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For many of us, the last two years have been devastating, whether it be financially, mentally, or personally due to loss.

It's undeniable that the pandemic has placed added stress on a lot of people and families. Some are able to push through using learned coping mechanisms or by confiding in loved ones. Others are barely hanging on and don't know where to look for support.

Teachers are among the professions that have been tasked with providing support to students who may not have

How do you know the difference between "typical" expected stress that comes with the many changes we've all had to live through, and actual traumatic, debilitating stress?

For those who are experiencing extreme stress, would you be able to identify someone having a mental health crisis? If yes, would you know what to do to help?

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There’s no question that the COVID-19 pandemic we all have been experiencing over the past couple of years has been traumatic and tragic. More than a million Americans have died and millions more have lost loved ones as a result of this dreaded disease.

That said, there have been some positive developments in school safety and security that have resulted.

To tell us about those “silver linings” is FEA Vice President Paul Timm. In our discussion, Paul talks about the elevated roles of security practitioners, nurses, mental health counselors, security technology, and distance learning during the pandemic. He also covers the new funding that’s now available through CARES and ARPA.

All of these developments will most likely positively impact school security and safety programs for years to come.

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A study of the Chicago Police Department last year found that female law enforcement officers use force 28% less often than their male counterparts. They also make 7% fewer arrests. Although the study didn’t delve into why these differences exist, we do know that unnecessary arrests and unnecessary use of force can damage community relations and lead to lawsuits.

It stands to reason, then, that campus security and public safety departments could greatly benefit from hiring more women. Unfortunately, only about 13% of full-time law enforcement officers in the U.S. are female, despite the fact that women make up 60% of the U.S. workforce. For schools, universities, and hospitals, 44% of their security or campus police departments have 10% or fewer female employees in them, according to Campus Safety’s 2018 Salary and Benefits Survey. More than four out of five say that women make up less than 30% of their employees.

So, how can a K-12 school district, college campus, or healthcare facility recruit and then retain its female officers?

To find out, I interviewed three campus public safety and security veterans: University of Illinois Chief of Police Alice Cary, Los Angeles School Police Department Chief Leslie Ramirez, and SRMC Consultant Marilyn Hollier.

In our interview, Cary, Ramirez, and Hollier cover:

Additional reasons why campus public safety departments should hire more women – 2:30
Why more women aren’t in campus law enforcement and security – 6:23
Some of the strategies they’ve adopted to not only recruit women in their departments, but also ways to make female officers successful in their careers so that they will stay in campus security and policing – 11:09
Creating an environment that is attractive to potential female officers – 19:43
How men can support women in security and law enforcement – 31:50

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For years now, schools have been issuing physical photo identification cards to their students, faculty and staff. However, with so many middle school and high school students now owning mobile phones, there is the opportunity for K-12 campuses to put their student, faculty, and staff digital ID credentials right on their phones.

This enables the campus to leverage the technology that most students, teachers and employees have with them already to improve communications during emergencies, as well as improve response to situations involving things like active shooters, inclement weather, medical emergencies and more.

“Cell phones are widely used around your entire school,” says Emily Fellouzis, who is chief operating officer for Ident-A-Kid. “Students having cell phones can be a nuisance, but we’ve found that school phone policies are evolving during today’s COVID restrictions. We’re also seeing digital IDs being adopted worldwide.

“We’ve found that digital IDs can be used in schools to bridge the gap in communication between administrators and students, especially in cases of emergency.”

So, in this interview, Fellouzis provides some valuable insight on digital IDs in the K-12 campus setting. Specifically, she talks about:

· Why middle schools and high schools need to adopt digital IDs – 1:35

· Other advantages of digital IDs – 2:40

· What features and functions a digital student ID system should have – 5:09

· Tying digital student IDs into a campus or district’s emergency management system – 5:57

· Examples of where and when these systems can be used – 9:07

· The future of digital IDs – 10:10

So, with that, here’s our interview with Emily Fellouzi. Enjoy the show!

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Last fall, three children’s health groups declared a national state of emergency in child and adolescent mental health, and they cited the pandemic as a driving force behind the growing concerns.

Now that most schools are back to in-person learning, or at least a hybrid model, school staff are navigating student mental health concerns as they also continue to deal with the logistical challenges of the pandemic.

Campus Safety spoke to Amy Grosso, the director of behavioral health services for the Round Rock (Texas) Independent School District, about her observations surrounding student and teacher mental health and what her district is doing to address the challenges.

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Human trafficking comes in many shapes and sizes. It doesn't only affect one population and there is more than one type. For many students, college is their first time living away from home, which puts them at increased risk.

We spoke to Maraya Lasinsky, chief advisor for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, about human trafficking on college campuses and available resources for both campus police and students.

For the last two years, Lasinsky has worked on the Blue Campaign, a national public awareness campaign designed to educate the public, law enforcement, and a variety of industry partners on how to recognize the indicators of human trafficking and how to respond. Recently, she began working with campus law enforcement to learn about their concerns and educate them on human trafficking on college campuses.

During our interview, Lasinsky also touched on:

Different types of human trafficking
Who perpetrators often are in relation to victims
What makes college students more vulnerable
Common indicators of human trafficking that campus law enforcement should be on the lookout for
How students can avoid situations that can sometimes lead to human trafficking
And more!

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This school year, thousands of students on both higher education and high school campuses have walked out of their classrooms and into the streets to protest administrators' handling of sexual violence.

Campus Safety spoke to Jessica Mertz, executive director of the Clery Center, about the recent protests, actions college administrators must take to address increasing incidents, and how students can protect themselves and each other, among other things.

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Campus Safety’s2021 Video Surveillance Survey found the percentage of respondents who have purchased body-worn cameras has more than doubled since we last conducted the survey two years ago. Nearly a third of all survey participants (30%) say they’ve purchased this type of equipment in the past two years, compared to only 14% in 2019.

Since more of our readers are adopting the technology or considering doing so, we wanted to chat with someone who understands the technology but is also familiar with the markets we serve. Enter Ryan Brady.

Brady was a teacher for nine years, starting out as a special education teacher in 2002. He diligently worked his way up to assistant principal, serving at three different schools for a total of ten years. At each school, Brady was head of school safety. Brady also has an impressive 27 doctoral hours in statistics and used that knowledge to improve school safety.

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To help schools and colleges navigate the new security, public safety and emergency management landscape, Campus Safety spoke with two technology experts from HID Global: K-12 National End User Manager Michael Garcia and Higher Education End-User Business Manager Timothy Nyblom.

In this interview, Garcia and Nyblom discuss the lessons colleges and schools have learned over the past two years regarding security and safety. They also cover how Apple wallet and mobile access credentials are being implemented at institutions of higher education and how this technology will eventually make its way onto K-12 campuses.

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Hospital workplace violence has been a growing concern for years and has only been exacerbated by the pandemic. From 2019 to 2020, the assault rate at U.S. hospitals increased by 25%.

Campus Safety had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Rhonda Collins, DNP, RN, FAAN, about hospital violence, particularly violence against nurses. Dr. Collins shared her own personal experiences with workplace violence in her nursing career, what she believes has contributed to the increase in incidents, and effective ways hospitals can address this problem head-on.

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Dean Drako of Eagle Eye Networks talks about the applicability of the cloud and artificial intelligence on campus, as well as the need for strong cybersecurity practices.

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Here’s how you can make sense of the latest ID card printer technology and how to evaluate your issuance process.

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Piedmont Healthcare’s public safety officers now use body-worn cameras. Here’s why and how their organization adopted this technology and the results.

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Ballad Health has opted for doing tabletop exercises rather than full-scale emergency exercises. Here’s why they did it and the results of this new approach.

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The College of New Jersey’s police chief explains the benefits of his department’s CLEAR unit.

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Here’s how Missouri State improved its Clery Act warning and mass notification processes. It also reaped other unexpected benefits as a result of the changes that were implemented.

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Here’s how Tennessee State University was able to rally volunteers to help with clean up after an EF3 tornado struck campus.

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Lieutenant Michael Betlzer discusses recommended practices and lessons learned from Saddleback College's implementation of electronic access on 1,500 doors.

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A cybersecurity expert explains how to safely reintroduce devices that have been at home since the start of the pandemic back to school networks.

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The Washington University in St. Louis Police Department has embraced Safe Zone training to better support LGBTQ+ students, staff, administrators and faculty.

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The federal government is offering billions of dollars of funding to improve the long-term safety and health of schools and institutions of higher education.

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Corona-Norco USD’s Steven Ellis describes the steps he and his district took to obtain grant funding and properly manage the projects stemming from those grants.

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Nevada System for Higher Education’s Adam Garcia describes how he merged the public safety and security departments of four campuses.

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Investing in an electronic key management system helps Wake Forest keep track of its keys and improve security.

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UT MD Anderson Cancer Center’s Ray Gerwitz describes the new approaches he, his department and the MD Anderson organization took to address safety and security concerns during the pandemic.

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Here’s how schools and universities can use CARES Act funding to pay for upgrades to their HVAC systems and other technology solutions to make their campuses safer.

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In this podcast, three members of LA County Sheriff’s Department discuss the success of their unique threat assessment team which provides services to nine community colleges in the area.

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UNLV Sgt. Toni Summerlin discusses the pandemic's effects on homeless individuals and how the department's homeless outreach unit has addressed those challenges.

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Each COVID-19 vaccine has unique transportation and storage needs which can be met with the help of temperature monitoring technology.

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For older campuses or schools with limited budgets, there are still HVAC options to consider to help slow the spread of the coronavirus.

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In our very first episode of Campus Safety Voices, a school security expert discusses leading practices for conducting emergency tabletop exercises.

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