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21Sep

The continuing debate on guns in schools…

General No Comments

“Should Teachers Be Allowed to Pack a Gun?”
Christian Science Monitor (09/18/07) ; Knickerbocker, Brad

An Oregon high school teacher will challenge the state court in September over a firearm ban on school campuses. The teacher, “Jane Doe,” is a licensed firearm carrier and plans to argue in court that keeping a concealed weapon in the classroom is a necessary freedom. Gun-rights advocates and some state legislators in Michigan, Ohio, and Virginia–among others–believe bans on weapons in schools could hamper efforts to protect teachers and students alike, and several state legislatures are working on legislation to lift those bans. In Jane Doe’s case, a restraining order against a violent ex-husband, warranted the need for the ban on firearms to be lifted to ensure the teacher’s protection. Though Oregon’s law forbids individual school districts from enforcing gun laws respective to their schools, lawmakers doubt Doe’s petition will be granted. Thirty-seven states within the National Conference of State Legislatures prohibit guns in schools, and most law-enforcement groups and administrators agree with gun bans, as did the state panel researching the Virginia Tech shootings earlier this year. “If numerous people had been rushing around with handgunsâ€¦the possibility of accidental or mistaken shootings would have increased significantly,” the panel stated. Currently, Utah is the only state allowing students and faculty at colleges and universities to carry concealed weapons.
(go to web site)
14Sep

Securing your School the right way

Access Control, Alarms, Digital Video, General No Comments

“Unauthorized Access”
Security Technology & Design (08/07) Vol. 17, No. 8, P. 40 ; Scott, Kathy

During the recent redesign of a Catholic high school in Dubuque, Iowa, into a split high school and middle school, officials sought to avoid the potential for unauthorized access that haunted the community in 1993 when a man hiding in an elementary-school girls’ restroom assaulted a young child. A vital element of the new school’s security plan was to manage access control and ensure that visitors could be identified, and the school hired Dubuque security integrator Comelec Services to handle its security plan. Comelec Services provided longtime police-force member Mike Rettenmeier as account manager, in which role he evaluated the school and business securities challenges on the police’s behalf. Rettenmeier’s plan was a tiered one, separating immediate needs from secondary needs that could be phased in more slowly. Ideas that were put into place included proximity card readers at entrances, locked doors all throughout the building (other than the entry doors, for an hour prior to the start of school), and training of staff and students on standard procedures to follow. The proximity cards, which work with the Continental Instruments CardAccess System and CA3000 Multi-User software, have unique codes to identify each person using them. The school installed motion-activated Panasonic dome CCTV cameras, with a Capture digital video recorder amassing footage that is stored for one month, along with the Gemini Alarm Panel P9600 burglary intrusion system from NAPCO. Among the principles of visitor control for schools are establishing one clearly marked main entrance, creating a procedure for signing visitors in and out and escorting them, securing delivery doors and custodial entrances, maintaining and repairing the doors, using magnetic locks for doors, and ensuring that staff, students, and parents know the security rules and why it is important to follow them.
(go to web site)
11Sep

Employees Breaching Office Security

General No Comments

“Employees Breaching Office Security”
News.com.au (09/04/07) ; Greenberg, Andy

A greater number of office workers are transmitting confidential information over unsecured networks, according to a recent study commissioned by Cisco Systems and the National Cyber Security Alliance. The study found that over 60 percent of employees in the United States use mobile devices without encryption or password protection to log on to their company’s server, and more than 33 percent use a neighbor’s unsecured wireless network, sloppy practices which could expose important data. Though third-party Webmail services like Yahoo and Gmail offer convenience and availability, Executive Director of Stanford’s Center for Internet and Society Jennifer Granick warns that any confidential or potentially incriminating information will be stored on the third-party’s server, which anyone may access by subpoena. By their own admission, office workers in the U.S. and U.K. using corporate laptops are more than twice as likely as desktop users to transmit important data via instant messaging, and more likely to send private information through Webmail.
(go to web site)
05Sep

Preventing the Next Campus Shooting

Access Control, CCTV, Digital Video, General No Comments

“Preventing the Next Campus Shooting”
Security Management (08/07) Vol. 51, No. 8, P. 54 ; Harwood, Matt

The April 16 Virginia Tech massacre prompted college and university campuses across the nation to examine their security and preparedness procedures, especially in the area of emergency communications. Universities are advised to create a system that identifies troubled or potentially violent students before they act upon their impulses. Although there are no national standards to serve as a roadmap for creating such a system, both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Secret Service offer methods and guidelines for assessing behavioral threats. Universities must navigate the various privacy laws that can hinder information sharing efforts regarding troubled students or their removal from campus. The 1999 Columbine High School massacre dramatically changed the way authorities respond to active school shootings, forcing officers to switch from a patient approach of surrounding the school and negotiating with the gunman to a proactive approach predicated on entering the building quickly and eliminating the shooter or shooters. The switch in tactics was necessary because gunmen, like those who carried out the Columbine and Virginia Tech killings, have the same mindset as suicide bombers, meaning time is of the essence. The response to a school shooting should begin well before an event occurs by coordinating roles and relationships among all parties and agencies expected to take part in the response. Security experts highly recommend colleges and universities participate with the U.S. government’s National Incident Management System and comply with its Incident Command System.
(go to web site)

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