At a virtual launch event, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) officially announced the “Health and Safety Commitments Program,” the public transportation industry’s overarching pledge to passengers that public transit systems are taking all the necessary measures to operate safely as the nation recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
As businesses and schools seek to bring people back to brick and mortar establishments, it’s going to be important to make customers, students and teachers feel comfortable, in addition to simply following guidelines. Customers are going to have to feel that it’s worth going out, versus shopping on-line. For retailers, that comfort might in part be derived from visible occupancy monitoring efforts and automated voice-down messages when people aren’t wearing masks or keeping their distance.
In late February 2020, news broke in the United States that the once faraway threat of a “novel coronavirus” had spread to U.S. soil. As COVID-19 case numbers in major cities grew, stay-at-home orders were put in place, businesses closed, restaurants shifted to take-out only, and retailers adopted curbside service. All of this took place to slow the spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, however, hospitals remained open — accepting new patients at the direction of the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and working diligently to adhere to new safety guidelines. During virus, or any pandemic outbreaks, we are acutely reminded of our essential frontline healthcare workers, the critical need to enhance their overall safety, security, and to be as efficient as possible when communicating vital information.
The coronavirus pandemic has triggered an unprecedented chain reaction of border closures around the world. This truly is an extraordinary situation, and many countries have also grappled with lack of information, resources and coordination between relevant agents and authorities. These operational issues have raised questions globally about whether border controls are effective in containing such outbreaks, how prepared border agencies were for the emergency and what this will mean for border management in a post-pandemic world.
The Indiana Secured School Board has approved more than $19 million in matching state grant funds. The $19.4 million in awards allows the Board to fully fund all eligible, top-priority projects identified by 418 schools in their applications to the Secured School Safety Grant program (SSSG). In addition, the Board fully funded all school threat assessment projects, as well as eligible projects geared toward implementing health and wellness support services for parents and students.
NCS4 is planning its 2020 National Sports Safety and Security Conference for October 12-14, 2020. The virtual event is themed around "The Way Forward" and will include a number of panels and discussions around COVID-19, venue and event management and returning to play and operations safely.
There's a new tip line in Wisconsin for anyone who wants to report a school safety concern or threat. Funded by a $2 million federal grant, the Speak Up, Speak Out Resource Center was created by the Wisconsin Department of Justice and is available 24/7.
The Security Industry Association and the Electronic Security Association have launched the Foundation for Advancing Security Talent (FAST), a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization designed to promote careers in the physical security technology and life safety industry. Created through a partnership of ESA and SIA – the industry’s leading associations – FAST will connect passionate, innovative professionals with new opportunities in electronic security and life safety.
Gun-violence research experts at UC Davis Health say that despite a significant drop in firearm injuries in recent years in California, there has been a substantial increase in the state’s overall death rate among those wounded by firearms.
The Coast Guard Foundation, a non-profit organization, activated its disaster relief grant program to assist Coast Guard members impacted by the devastation of Hurricane Laura. Since 2005, the Foundation has distributed $2 million to support Coast Guard members impacted in Texas, Florida and Puerto Rico following the 2017 hurricane season, and those affected by the wildfires in California.
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