As a school staff member, you expect your students to be in a safe environment while they’re at school. You shouldn’t have to worry about whether or not they will be hurt while they’re on school property. Plus, when students and teachers don’t feel safe, it disrupts the flow of learning. Sadly, we’ve seen a rise in school attacks, and schools are no longer seen as an automatically safe place for children to learn. According to The Washington Post, more than 311,000 students have experienced gun violence at 331 schools since the Columbine attack in 1999. Whether outside attacks, bullying, or cyberattacks, creating a security protocol is essential to protecting students, teachers, and visitors.
At Pikes Peak Security, we have the training and resources to provide thorough school security. As a security company serving the Denver and Colorado Springs communities, it’s our top priority to ensure people feel protected, no matter where they are. Our school security guard services create a safe place for students, staff, and visitors.
Cyber Security Threats To Schools
There are several possible security threats to schools that you may not realize. These threats range from cyberattacks to bomb threats. In addition, potential school security breaches include active shooters, bullying, cyberbullying, vandalism, and violent threats. To help schools protect themselves against these threats, the Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency has created guides to help improve school safety.
One of the sectors of security that schools have to think about is cybersecurity. In today’s day and age, more students are participating in remote learning, which results in an increased risk of cyberattacks. When using online education platforms, protecting students’ and teachers’ private information is vital.
It’s crucial to hire a professional security team with experience in IT so they can identify possible threats and integrate appropriate security measures. In addition, you can help protect your students and teachers by using multi-factor authentication and creating an internet safety policy. Most importantly, you want to ensure your students and staff have the necessary education about online security and user safety.
Benefits of Security Guards In Schools
Whether you’re the principal of a high school or on the board of a Colorado Springs public school, it’s your responsibility to make sure that when someone is on your campus, they can depend on your safety and security measures. Some of the benefits of hiring a security guard company for your school include:
- Reduce Violence
- You can choose to have an unarmed or armed patrol on your campus. In the event of a school shooting, your armed security staff could end up saving lives and also have a better chance of disarming the assailant.
- Minimize Bullying
- Sadly, children often experience bullying while at school. Hiring the security services of a professional security guard company means you’ll have someone present to observe students, break up fights, and report to upper management about aggressive children.
- Instant Emergency Assistance
- In an emergency, a trained security guard can offer critical medical attention so that you don’t have to wait for law enforcement or medic teams to arrive.
- Handle Weapons On School Property
- If a weapon makes its way onto your campus, you want to ensure you have a trained professional equipped to handle that type of situation. For example, a security officer would have the experience and education to try and get the weapon away from the assailant and disarm them.
School Safety Drills
Frequent safety drills will ensure students and staff are as prepared as possible in an emergency. Students, staff, and even parents need to know what to do in a school security emergency. Creating specific safety drills and practicing those drills will ensure everyone stays prepared.
While it is disheartening to know we need to expose our students and children to the threats that could occur in a place where they should feel most safe, prioritizing school security will help to avoid tragedy. Implementing up-to-date safety protocols and teaching students, staff, and parents what to do in an emergency will help prepare everyone. It’s always a good idea to consult your school district’s security staff and ask them what drills your students and staff should practice.
Should Schools Have Armed or Unarmed Guards?
Armed security guards at schools can be a controversial topic, and the safety and comfort of your students and families should always be a top concern when making this type of decision. Many parents and students are understandably uncomfortable with the presence of firearms on a school campus.
Pikes Peak Security, however, believes that armed school resource officers are better equipped to protect your students and staff than their unarmed counterparts. Here are a few reasons that we support armed guards in schools:
1. Armed guards complete more extensive training than their unarmed counterparts.
Armed guards are subject to additional yearly training and licensing requirements, meaning that they are more equipped to handle almost any type of emergency. Armed guards are elite security professionals at the top of their field. No matter how you feel about firearms, we can all agree that we want the best security professionals protecting our children.
2. Armed guards can use physical force when necessary.
Security guards that do not have an armed guard or protection guard license through the State of Colorado cannot use physical force to secure your school. If there’s a threat of active violence, you’ll want to have a guard on campus that can take immediate action rather than waiting for law enforcement to arrive.
3. Armed guards provide a stronger deterrent.
Armed guards are inherently more intimidating. Sometimes just the presence of an armed guard might be enough to make someone think twice about attempting to harm your students or staff.
Ultimately, you have to decide what’s best for your school, but if you’d like to discuss your options with a trained security professional, we’re always happy to help.
Improve Your School’s Safety With Pikes Peak Security
If you help manage a school in any way, then it’s your responsibility to protect the students, staff, and visitors. At Pikes Peak Security, our trained security personnel can provide premier security and ensure everyone feels safe while on school property. So whether you need armed protection at school entrances or want security guards to patrol the campus during school hours and watch out for bullying, we can help you! If you’re interested in learning more about the necessity of school security or would like to hire our team for your school security needs, contact us today!
