Charleston Co. Schools to try out new technology to screen for weapons

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) – Immediately after the capturing in Uvalde that left 19 elementary school college students and two lecturers lifeless, the Charleston County School District is redoubling its attempts to make absolutely sure all of its services are as safe as attainable.

“Anytime a problem like that happens around the state, we normally consider a glance the details coming out of that scenario and look at people to our unexpected emergency programs to decide if there are any enhancements we can make,” Michael Reidenbach, government director of protection and emergency management, mentioned. “The unlucky factor is that this is not the very first university shooting that we have noticed in our place, and our college security method in Charleston County has been constructed above several, several years after understanding several lessons from faculty tragedies.”

Reidenbach suggests they presently have over 5,500 cameras in the district to preserve an eye on the entrances of colleges, along with a roaming crew that performs random security checks at random facilities. That team checks to make positive physical security measures – like doorway locks – are performing appropriately. They also complete random safety screenings of pupils as well.

Having said that, at a meeting on Monday, school board customers were being rapid to issue out that the district continues to confiscate guns just about every year, and in May well, a gentleman walked into a school uninhibited and assaulted students.

“We had a doorway that experienced a mechanical failure,” Reidenbach reported. “The doorway was locked, and it was closed, but when any individual walked out of the door it, sad to say, did not latch back driving them just after they exited the doorway.”

With a budget of $7.9 million, Reidenbach says they will continue on to add new protection measures. This year, for instance, Reidenbach suggests they included a new idea line that need to support establish threats prior to they begin.

The stability crew evaluated the price and positive aspects of metallic detectors but discovered they are also high priced and require each individual student to be searched when they enter a setting up – a approach that would choose too lengthy to do just about every working day. On the other hand, Reidenbach states they are now experimenting with a new gadget, equivalent to a metallic detector, particularly made to determine weapons.

“When we appear at the metallic detector house there’s been a ton of technological developments,” Reidenbach stated. “So, there are now units out there that are centered on detecting firearms opposed to just metal. You might have been to selected activities where you may possibly have walked by means of and could not have understood what was happening. I have observed them utilised in topic parks, football stadiums, Broadway theatres and spots like that.”

The product is referred to as Opengate, made by CEIA United states of america primarily based in Ohio. It does not demand pupils to remove something from their baggage or bodies, like watches or belts. Reidenbach claims it will be included into their random lookup groups up coming 12 months instead of being positioned at a one faculty completely.

The quantity of firearms confiscated has long gone down in new a long time, on the other hand, the knowledge is inconclusive supplied the disruption of the pandemic and digital mastering. Here is the information for the quantity of incidents involving a gun or explosive in the very last five years.

2017-2018: 10
2018-2019: 9
2019-2020: 5
2020-2021: 6

Tags: Charleston, Schools, screen, technology, weapons