How can we add gunshot detection to our facilities?

You will need to look at your facilities and identify what classrooms, hallways, entrances, and exits need to be covered. Decide how many sensors that you need. Each sensor will detect within a certain range; for example: 2,500 square feet. Indoor sensors will generally be placed in hallways and entrances at an absolute minimum because statistically shootings occur or start in the entrances or hallways. Place sensors in areas that have more people or where people congregate the most, because if a crime is going to be committed it generally will be focused in an area that has a larger populace. Examples would be in a lunch room or in a large open atrium area where a lot of people hang out.

Decide if you’ll be adapting your existing alarm panel or are you will need to put in an additional network system to support the sensors. Some sensors have integrated contact closures that can tie directly into your alarm panel, therefore minimizing the need for an additional new system. You also need to determine how you want the message to go out. Look for sensors that can provide IP message notification over SMS, email, and other notification means.

In considering a gunshot detection system for your facilities, the main focus is going to be the size of your buildings, the number of sensors that you want to put in those facilities in the high-traffic areas, and the message notification style, whether it’s alarm panel integration or and/or if it includes IP message notification.

This article originally appeared in the College Planning & Management May 2018 issue of Spaces4Learning.

About the Author

Allan Overcast is owner/CEO of Shot Tracer Technologies, Inc. (www.shottracer.com). He can be reached at allan@stti.global or 866/636-8867.

Featured

  • a traditional red brick school building with the right side visibly deteriorated and the left side well-maintained, surrounded by neat landscaping

    Making the Grade: Navigating Funding Uncertainty in K-12 Schools

    School districts across the country must prepare for all possible funding scenarios by analyzing school asset and infrastructure conditions, understanding their funding needs, and developing a proactive maintenance strategy to stretch their funding dollars.

  • California High School Debuts $35M Performing Arts Center

    Irvine High School in Irvine, Calif., recently opened its new Performing Arts Center built in partnership with C.W. Driver Companies, according to a news release. The facility cost $35 million and covers about 25,000 square feet.

  • Rice University to Build New Student Life Complex

    Rice University in Houston, Texas, recently announced that a groundbreaking ceremony for the upcoming Moody Center Complex for Student Life (MCCSL) will take place on May 8, 2025, according to a university news release. The 75,000-square-foot facility was designed by architecture firm Olson Kundig with Page serving as executive architect, and it has an estimated completion date of fall 2027.

  • Washington University School of Medicine Completes $165M Expansion Project

    The Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Mo., recently completed a vertical expansion of its Steven & Susan Lipstein BJC Institute of Health (BJCIH), according to a news release. The university partnered with Lawrence Group for the design of the six-floor addition, which cost about $165 million.

Digital Edition