Safe School App for SROs Launched
School-safety issues are not a new phenomenon.
As early as 1921, school-safety patrols were implemented in Minnesota. This effort was to help make walks to and from school safer for children because there were more vehicles on the roads and kids weren’t used to the safety risk cars presented (www.mnopedia.org/thing/origins-school-safety-patrol-1921). In modern times, school safety has evolved into the thought of hardening our schools to protect our children from assailants with handguns and automatic assault rifles.
In response to today’s school violence and threats, the Justice Technology Information Center has launched a free app for school resource officers (SROs). According to its website, this Security and Safety Assessment App takes SROs through a step-by-step process where they review building and school grounds to identify and address trouble spots. The app works by having SROs and school administrators walk around the school campus and answer a series of simple questions on either their iOS or Android device.
If you are an SRO and wish to obtain this app, send the following information to schoolsafe@justnet.org from your official agency email account.
Type School Safe – JTIC’s Security and Safety Assessment App for Schools, then provide:
Your name,
Your title,
The name of your school system,
The name of your law enforcement agency (for SROs),
Your agency mailing and email address,
Which version (iOS, Android, or desktop and how many of each). The desktop version is a editable PDF file.
Other information that can assist you as an SRO in protecting your school facilities can be found at the Kentucky Center for School Safety.
Remember, our children really are our future. Let’s do our part in keeping them safe.
