5 Considerations When Implementing Weapons Screening

Regardless of all of the hype that fantastic marketers and salespeople do, the decision to implement a weapon screening program is not something to be taken lightly. There are plenty of legal, personnel, technology, site logistics, and funding issues to consider:

1.  Do you currently have a weapon screening policy? Are you already doing a random weapon screening program? Do you screen at athletics? There are plenty of ways that we can be held liable in this day and age, and we need to make sure that an improper search and seizure is not one of them. If, or I should say when a weapon gets through one of these systems and harm is done. Are you fully supported by FL Law and School Board Policy in your practices and training to defend your actions?
2. Once, you have determined policy and procedures. How will you train your people? Who will be determined to operate the screening device and secondarily search students if needed? How many people will you need per screening station? Will this be a teacher duty station? If so, who staffs the duty stations they are assigned to before you implemented weapon screening? Do you have an armed SRO or Security guard per station?
3. What device or company will you use for screening? There are about five different companies in the weapon screening arena, and most have popped up in the last 3-10 years. How long has the company you are vetting been in business? What type of history do they have with developing weapon screening technology? Do they follow the Federal Standards for weapon screening, or do they make up their own standard (this is important when considering liability issues)? Does the device meet your needs for portability? Are there reoccurring costs?
4. If you are screening every student every day, what entrance(s) will you use? How many entrances do you currently have? How many students will enter through that entrance for let-in? Will all other exterior doors be staffed by a faculty/staff member or are they monitored by technology so people cannot let someone in by-passing the screening line?
5. Will you procure this off of an existing contract vehicle? Do you have the funding available, or will you need a referendum or a grant? Will your General Operating Fund be able to manage the reoccurring costs of some of these systems? Will you need to hire additional workforce?

I hope these questions will provide some starting points for thought when considering weapon screening as a technology to add to your holistic security management plan. I have conducted weapon screening for hundreds of schools and have plenty of lessons that I have learned the hard way. If you need any assistance in guiding your districts risk tolerance for weapon screening or are seeking funding for security needs, it would be my pleasure to assist.

About the Author:

Kevin Wren has been in school security and emergency management for over 20 years as a School Resource Officer, and Director of Security, Risk, and Emergency Management. He has been able to obtain over fifteen million in grant funding for the school districts that he works for. Additionally, Kevin is a former Campus Safety Magazine Director of the Year, Steering Committee Director for Partner Alliance for Safer Schools, an Advisor for Safe and Sound Schools, and an ASIS Subject Matter Expert. He holds a Master of Arts in Emergency and Disaster Management and currently serves as the School Safety Advocate for A3 Communications.

For more information, please contact Kaylee Lee at (404) 934-2066 or kaylee@A3communications.com