Campus Safety Voices Campus Safety Magazine

In a March 2022 survey, paraprofessionals, school counselors, instructional aides, and school resource officers (SROs) reported the highest rates of student physical violence (22%), while 18% of school psychologists and social workers, 15% of administrators, and 14% of teachers reported at least one violent incident by a student during the pandemic.

In this interview, Dr. Marisa Randazzo, executive director of threat management at Ontic, shares her thoughts on the most effective ways to address violence in schools as well as how current students -- the next generation of thought leaders -- will have the ability to change the overall culture of workplace safety. 

Dr. Randazzo also discussed:
What school employees can do to de-escalate concerning behavior (10:25)Free de-escalation resources for violence prevention in schools (12:19)What technologies and tools are available to support school employees in combatting violence (12:39)Must-haves in school violence prevention policies and procedures (15:16)CAMPUS SAFETY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
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On Dec. 1, 2013, Kari Hunt was stabbed 29 times by her husband in a Texas motel room while their three children were present. Kari’s nine-year-old daughter dialed 911 four times from the motel room phone but the calls never went through because the motel’s phone system required users to press “9” before dialing outside lines. Kari ultimately died that night, and coroners estimate she lived for 25-30 minutes after the attack. 

On Feb. 16, 2018, Kari's Law was signed into legislation, ensuring anyone can reach a 911 call center directly without an access code. Six weeks later, RAY BAUM's Act went into law, requiring enterprises to fashion their phone systems so each 911 call includes a dispatchable location.

Mark Fletcher, the key author and proponent of Kari's Law and vice president of public safety solutions for 911inform, spoke with Campus Safety about the laws' requirements and the high costs of non-compliance.

Fletcher also shares:
More on the process of getting Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act through the legislature with the Hunt family (01:35)Three instances where Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’s Act helped save lives (10:53)Who tracks whether an establishment is compliant and who within a school campus is typically involved in ensuring phone systems are compliant (13:52)CAMPUS SAFETY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
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Dr. James Corbin, who is student safety and security coordinator for Hamilton County Schools in Tennessee, was tasked with developing a safety department for his district. Not only did he do so from scratch, but he also grew his department to more than 60 employees in only three years. Additionally, almost all of his employees have stayed with the department… a remarkable feat considering the current tight labor market.

Corbin’s success in developing his district’s safety department is just one of the reasons why he’s been named one of this year’s Campus Safety K-12 Director of the Year finalists. 

Here’s Campus Safety Editor in Chief Robin Hattersley's interview with James Corbin as well as the timestamps of what was specifically covered in the interview: 
Corbin’s first steps in developing the Hamilton County Schools safety department, and how he determined what was needed, who was needed, and how many officers/staff members were needed: 1:31What issues district stakeholders and the community specifically wanted the department to address and how he bridged the gap between the traditional law enforcement world and school safety world: 3:50How he was able to recruit and retain so many employees in such a tight labor market: 5:18What kind of training department armed officers receive: 6:34Advice to other districts who want to develop or expand their safety departments: 9:24This presentation is brought to you by CampusSafetyMagazine.com (https://www.campussafetymagazine.com/)

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To combat the nationwide police shortage, Eric James, chief of police for the University of Nevada, Reno Police Department-Northern Command and a 2023 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalist, secured funding to add at least one community service officer position to each campus (2:11).

These student officers almost exclusively spend their time on foot patrol and handle cold calls for service, leaving more time for peace officers to handle priority calls for service. Adding CSO jobs also creates a pipeline for hiring peace officers.

In this interview, James discusses this initiative, as well as:
Benefits garnered from teaching a CrossFit class at the University Fitness Center (5:06)The process of acquiring a facility dog and the many ways she has helped the campus community (8:11)CAMPUS SAFETY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
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A fall 2019 survey of approximately 167,000 students at two- or four-year colleges found 39% had experienced food insecurity in the last 30 days, according to an annual survey conducted by Temple University’s Hope Center for College, Community and Justice.

On college campuses throughout the country, there are various departments and organizations working diligently to improve food access. At the University of Rhode Island, the police department is one of them.

In this interview, Michael Jagoda, URI's Director of Public Safety and Chief of Police, shares how hosting nearly two dozen food-focused community outreach events has helped campus police establish open lines of communication with students while also addressing the hardships of food insecurity.

Jagoda also discusses: 
Outreach programs the department leads within the greater community (9:45)Unexpected benefits from the community outreach events (19:20)How his response to the Sandy Hook tragedy as a member of the Connecticut State Police has influenced his dedication to thorough active shooter preparedness (15:52)CAMPUS SAFETY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS:
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For years now, school districts have debated if school resource officers (SROs) make K-12 campuses safer or more dangerous, with some making the difficult decision to remove their police officers. The Lynwood (California) Unified School District (USD) was one such district, doing away with its SRO program before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Doing so meant Lynwood USD needed to figure out other ways to protect its schools. The first step was to create a safety taskforce that was comprised of school board members, principals, parents, directors of student services, IT, other community members, city officials, and local law enforcement. (Next year, the task force will expand to include students.)
“In this committee, we’re addressing the incidents that we see in or around the school sites,” Garcia said. “We discuss the incidents and then bring to the table what we think will be beneficial for the whole district.”
This process resulted in Lynwood USD identifying several technologies and programs that would proactively address its school safety and security challenges without the involvement of SROs. An intercom access control system, anonymous reporting system, weapons detection that uses artificial intelligence, student internet monitoring, and visitor management were all installed. Garcia and his team also implemented active shooter training at all sites, collaborated with the city of Lynwood to implement Safe School Zones, and more.
The result of these improvements was a 70% decline in incidents at Lynwood USD. 
This and many other reasons are why Garcia has been named one of this year’s K-12 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalists.
Below are the questions and interview time stamps so you can watch/listen to the specific details of Garcia’s achievements and lessons learned: 
Why Lynwood USD needed a new intercom access control system, anonymous reporting system, weapons detection technology, student internet monitoring system, and visitor management system and the problems these technologies addressed. 1:58 How Garcia was able to convince other district stakeholders (the school board, community, etc.) that these upgrades were needed. 5:45 How Garcia’s department and district paid for the upgrades. 7:48 The results of Lynwood USD’s implementation/installation of these systems. 8:49 Advice Garcia gives to other districts looking to upgrade their security and safety. 10:21 Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campussafety... 
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