Seven Top Tips to Keep Schools and Colleges Secure by Katherine Rundell
offers a checklist that all educational institutions can use to prevent crime. Modern technology makes this easier so be sure your school or campus is doing all that it can.
Our high schools and college campuses are primarily places where our young people go to learn, so we need to keep them safe and secure so that students do not have to worry about their safety. There has been a worrying rise in attacks on our college campuses and schools lately and there are many things that can be done to prevent these from happening. Here are our top seven tips for getting stronger security on campus.
1. Install a CCTV system
We recommend that you install lots of CCTV cameras in all corners of your campus as a vital security feature. You can check these regularly and they can capture any suspicious activity across the school site. They can also act as a deterrent for any potential intruders.
You should distribute fully functioning cameras liberally across your campus, especially in areas like stairwells, courtyards, and parking lots, where crimes are more prone to take place. Be sure to have cameras for each entrance. Ideally, you will also have a team of highly trained security guards to monitor the video and patrol campus.
2. Restrict Access to Campus
Be sure to restrict or limit access to your campus, or to certain parts of the campus, like lecture halls. This means that only people that you have authorized to enter, like certain faculty members, administration teams, and students, will be able to have access.
You can issue ID badges with a key fob or another security measure to ensure that this is adhered to. Your security team can make sure that nobody is allowed onto the premises without the proper ID or clearance. You should consider a sign-in system for the main entry point of your site to give you more control to screen who enters.
Around the perimeter, you should ensure the school is properly fenced with a high-quality secure fence. This will prevent intruders from entering and ensure all individuals entering are funneled through the entrances giving you a closer look at who is coming in. This also prevents young students from leaving the site without a teacher or parent present. All staff and students should have ID cards issued to them when they begin their time at the site. These can include a photograph to ensure that all school members are accounted for and you know exactly who is on-site.
3. Regular Patrols
If you are aware that certain areas of campus have a higher risk for crime, try to send your campus security to patrol these areas on a more frequent basis. Increasing the number of security staff, you have available in the evenings to check these areas is also a good idea.
Ideally, you will have security staff on campus 24/7 and have a security protocol in place, like using ID badges for entry. This will avoid unauthorized people from getting access to campus. It also ensures that any criminal acts that take place on campus can be dealt with and kept under control straight away.
4. Silent Alarms and Panic Buttons
You should place these throughout the site and tell all staff and students about their location. This means that the authorities can be advised quickly if an incident arises and allows the victim to ask for help without having to get out their cell phone during an emergency.
5. Create an Anonymous Tip Line
If any students become concerned about someone’s actions or have learned information that might lead to a crime, they can use an anonymous tip line to inform campus security without worrying about being penalized themselves.
6. Security Checks for All Staff
Most Western countries require all staff members to pass a security check before they can work with children. Make it a regular part of your practice to do full background checks on all new staff members for student safety.
7. Well Lit Campuses
It has been proven with research that criminals are more likely to act in darkness because there are fewer witnesses and reduced visibility. We know that darkness is an important driving factor in the rise in incidents of crime.
You can counteract this by installing, maintaining, and repairing street lights on campus to make sure that the site remains well lit at all times. This will increase visibility for everyone and campus security to be able to keep an eye on everyone.
Katherine Rundell is a strategist marketer for both Studydemic and Simple Grad, where she has already created a number of high-profile marketing campaigns. She writes content and edits submissions at My Writing Way. She can be reached at katherine.t.rundell@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatherineRunde2
