School security on Long Island: New safety measures include AI-powered gun detection, wearable panic buttons

Lights flashed, alarms buzzed and an announcement blared through an electronic classroom display: “At this time we will be moving into a lockdown,” the voice warned.

The alert was part of a recent demonstration of a new security system installed at Plainedge High School in North Massapequa, where every district classroom now has sleek wall-mounted devices that will eventually livestream video and audio feeds to police during an emergency such as a mass shooting. The panels, officials said, will allow first responders to see into classrooms to determine the location of a shooter or any injured victims.

School officials across Long Island have grappled for years with how best to protect students and staffers in the event of an attack. Concern over school safety was reignited late last month when a shooting during a Catholic school Mass in Minneapolis left two children dead and nearly two dozen others wounded.

In the past, school security might have meant hiring armed guards or installing metal detectors. But recently, several Island districts have also introduced technological upgrades ranging from a weapon detection system powered by artificial intelligence to wearable panic buttons.

Brian Selltiz, co-founder of Digital Provisions in Ronkonkoma, said he works with about 60 school districts on the Island and many have recently added wearable panic buttons, mass alert systems and other tools to their security arsenal.

“The school staff and the vendors on Long Island that work in the space are extremely diligent in providing a layered approach that does everything ... available or within reason to protect the students,” he said.

New security technology in schools

Nationwide, 134 people have been fatally shot or wounded on school properties so far this year, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database founded by David Riedman. Last year, there were 276 such victims. None were on Long Island.

In an effort to keep students and staff safe, Plainedge teachers now carry wearable panic buttons on their badges and mounted versions of the technology have been installed throughout district buildings. The district also has added secure vestibule areas and plans to hire armed security.

The Three Village school district, meanwhile, now has 600 cameras with ZeroEyes weapons detection, according to district spokeswoman Denise Nash. When a firearm is detected, a monitoring team is alerted and authorities are notified, bypassing normal 911 dispatch, according to the company website.

The Westbury and Cold Spring Harbor districts earlier this year also equipped all staff with wearable panic buttons that automatically alert police of an emergency with precise location information, triggering an automatic lockdown. Similar devices were credited with minimizing the loss of life in a school shooting in Georgia last year that resulted in the deaths of two teachers and two students.

Tahira DuPree Chase, superintendent for the Westbury school district, said that since January, the district has rolled out a number of security measures, including the wearable devices, new cameras and more security personnel. Officials also created secure vestibule areas to control access into the building and added alarms that set off when doors are not closed or improperly used.

Cold Spring Harbor schools Superintendent Joseph Monastero said in addition to the panic buttons, security cameras and fencing also were added throughout the district.

Costs for the security measures range from around $100,000 in the Three Village district to $6.3 million for Westbury, according to school officials. The local Board of Cooperative Educational Services covered some costs, they said.

Preventive measures 

But local and national security experts said that while evolving technology can be helpful, a comprehensive safety strategy must also involve preventive measures. Frequent drills and training can help staff and students learn how to use security systems and respond quickly. Mental health resources can create a supportive and inclusive environment.

Learning how to spot threats and having a safe way to report them can also go a long way toward securing schools, experts said.

“A lot of these school incidents are linked to a mental health issue," Chase said. "Prioritizing mental health awareness in schools and making sure that everyone knows what to do if they think someone is in crisis, and giving people a safe space to report if they need to — those things are important."

She noted Westbury students can submit tips through an anonymous system.

Elyse Thulin, a research professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention, said that while there is no single profile of a mass shooter, in about three quarters of cases, the assailant left red flags behind.

“Probably 75% of perpetrators of mass harm display this thing called leakage, where they in some way disclose their plans or their intents. And often, what we're seeing is that this is occurring in online spaces, but there are also in-person indicators that can potentially be observed,” Thulin said. “If people understand what those warning signs are and feel comfortable, feel empowered and feel like we take it seriously, they're likely to potentially report those.”

Thulin said concerning behaviors include bullying, aggression, name calling and withdrawal, in addition to suspicions of a planned attack.

Mo Canady, executive director of the Alabama-based National Association of School Resource Officers, said with so much new technology available, a company’s policies and procedures are as critical as the systems themselves.

“The technology can be great, but if you don't have that policy, procedure and training around it, then it can really become problematic,” Canady said.

He also stressed the human side of security.

“Every school should have a multidisciplinary school safety team that absolutely should include law enforcement, but it should also include school counselors, mental health specialists and school administrators,” Canady said.

That team of staff, he said, could gather intelligence and go a long way toward preventing violence.

Kenneth Trump, president of the Cleveland-based National School Safety and Security Services, said in a time where vendors are aggressively marketing new products, schools should still be focused on emergency protocols, supervising students and teaching staff to make quick decisions under stress.

"There's this heavy influence on looking at the target hardening, but the first and best line of defense is really a well trained, highly alert staff and student body," said Trump, who is not related to the nation's president.

"That means having planning for crisis situations. That means providing students the social and emotional, mental health supports they need to prevent them from getting to a tragedy in the first place,” he added.

Monastero, the Cold Springs Harbor superintendent, said ensuring a school's security depends on everyone working together.

“If something doesn't seem right, you need to say something," he said. "We take care of the most precious packages ... and we want to make sure we keep them as safe as possible."