On Sunday, April 21, our Verification Center was abuzz with activity. Operator Mike Young was monitoring the school security system at a public elementary school in Tacoma when the audio sensor was tripped. Mike heard banging and breakage from inside the school and dispatched police. Officers from the the Tacoma Police Department arrived to the scene and arrested two 18 year old males for breaking and entering

Ashley Sutton

Later that day, operator Ashley Sutton received glassbreak audio activations from two rooms at a public middle school in Lakewood, Wash. She dispatched police and stayed on the line with the dispatcher. Officers from Lakewood PD apprehended three teenagers (all students at the school) on the roof who admitted to breaking the windows in order to gain entry to the roof. They also admitted to breaking windows at the school the weekend before.

School safety precautions are of extreme importance to our communities. We have school security specialists who meet with leaders of public and private educational institutions every day to make sure that those facilities are as secure as possible. If you’re concerned about the level of electronic security at a school in your area, please call us and ask to speak to one of our school security specialists. We’d be happy to share some of our security expertise with you.

For some preventative measures your school can take immediately, check out what our Washington schools specialist, Kerry Goodwin, has to say.