In North Carolina, High Point University is in its tenth year of a transition into a private, boutique university, and the security department is not exempt from the changes impacting the school. When Jeff Karpovich, CPP, CHPA, joined High Point University as its chief of Security, there were just 12 employees in the division and 62 surveillance cameras. Now, seven years later, he is responsible for 120 employees across three departments, managing 82 uniformed security officers for the school and working with approximately 900 surveillance cameras.
It’s about time that our nation begins to focus more solidly on the security and safety of our schools. We’ve enjoyed a relatively safe existence in our schools for decades and decades. We have had some very high-profile tragedies in our schools recently, from weather to shooters to fires, but for the most part, our schools remain the safest place to be for our kids. But they are not forever going to be that way. It's time for our nation to address school safety in a more proactive way. We are noticing trends and events that are preventable in this day and age.”