Thirty-four percent of students say they are aware of an individual who poses a risk to their school, according to Awareity’s 2014 Student Safety Report.
Sergeant Brian Chesmore of the Santa Ana Unified School District Police Department gave Solutions by Sector webinar attendees an overview of the department, including information on School Resource Officers, the Traffic Division, the Investigations Division, the District Safety Officers, the district’s Gang Reduction Intervention Partnership (GRIP), the Terrorism Liaison Officer Program, the Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) Program and the Explorer Post 490 program.
Increased security measures and state-of-the-art security systems have become a common theme in today’s education industry. As threats become more apparent, security directors are turning to technology to help prevent or mitigate an event. New facilities are being equipped with cutting edge technology to ensure the safety of students and staff.
As school shootings continue to plague American communities, both large and small, school administrators and security experts need to look at the issue of minimizing risk from multiple angles. One of the most important issues is how to help or enable local law enforcement to respond as quickly as possible. This is the purpose of duress alarm systems, more commonly known as panic alarms.
You have been with your current organization for more than 10 years leading the corporate security function, having conceived and built the program, hired staff around the world and integrated the department to being a trusted advisor to senior management. Since this is your second career, you are now reaching a point that you would like to retire and pursue other passions and personal interests. After sitting down and discussing this with your boss, you realize that he or she and the management team are concerned about the lack of a succession plan for your replacement. Their position is: While your second level staff is very good operationally, they are not under serious consideration for your role, and HR will be looking outside the company for your replacement.
Afew years ago we published an article on security related certifications that were being marketed as a means to advance your career. At that time there were a relatively small number of certifications that we were seeing listed on resumes. Today, we are still routinely asked which certifications are needed for career advancement or which ones are being requested by hiring managers. Frankly, unless the role has a specific requirement that connects to one of the more technical certifications, for the most part, the hiring authorities are not demanding them.
And Duke’s security team assures it. “Thinking about the higher education and healthcare facilities at Duke, it is amazing what occurs on a given day. Students learn something that will change their life. Another person’s life will be saved at the hospital. A researcher will make a discovery that changes quality of life for others. There may be a wedding in the chapel. There is a high likelihood Duke will compete for or win a national sports championship. And we have celebrity speakers and lecturers visiting frequently. This is a very rewarding, exciting and dynamic environment,” Chief Dailey explains.
