While 2023 has only just passed its halfway mark, there have been more than 300 mass shootings so far in the United States alone. Many of those have taken place on school campuses.
In a recent news story, Security World reports that Shooter Detection Systems (SDS) has joined the ZeroNow alliance — a group that is geared to ensure a safe environment on school campuses — on school shooter detection systems. The security news site details that the developers behind Shooter Detection Systems stand as some of the earliest leaders in gunshot detection systems, reaching back to their work for the U.S. military back in the early 1990s. Harnessing that expertise, they are hoping to take what they innovated in that space and apply it to school safety.
This news can have wide ramifications for improved campus physical security.
Back in 2014, Shooter Detection Systems was created to bring gunshot detection technology to the commercial market. Their sophisticated systems are based on gunshot detection sensors that pinpoint gunfire and provide immediate emergency notifications to security officials, administrators on site, and law enforcement.
This tech has been used throughout the country and abroad in schools and workplaces. By joining ZeroNow, this tech company is hoping to achieve that coalition’s goal of “zero harm” in schools.
In a quote for the article, CEO and Co-Founder of ZeroNow, Are Bagdasarian said the goal is to create the “national baseline” for safer schools. By partnering with this company and collaborating with developers who worked to keep members of the military safe, ZeroNow hopes to set a standard for schools and campuses across the country.
“Access to experts in a wide range of safety technologies is essential to achieving this goal. Its decades of experience developing gunshot detection systems designed to work in tandem with other security technologies makes SDS an invaluable addition to ZeroNow,” Bagdasarian added.
From the tech developer side, Shooter Detection Systems Managing Director Rich Onofrio said this is the perfect pairing of innovation and policy.
“Students and school staff deserve the highest performing gunshot detection system available. The team at SDS is committed to making schools safer,” he said.
Given the complex modern reality that centers for learning aren’t automatically the safest place for students and staff, it’s important that administrators and security professionals think outside the box. Collaboration across sectors may be the way forward to ensure schools and campuses emphasize safety first.