California High School First To Deploy SecureCampus Solution
SST, Inc. and the Newark Memorial High School (NMHS), an urban San Francisco Bay Area public high school serving more than 2,000 students, announced they are working together to equip NMHS with SST’s SecureCampus gunfire detection, location and alert solution. Newark Memorial High School is one of the first public high schools in the nation and the first school on the West Coast to deploy a gunfire detection, location and alert solution. The system was installed last month and is fully operational, with detection alerts to begin in the Fall.
Newark Memorial High School is a comprehensive high school in Newark, California, serving students in Newark, Fremont and Union City, from all ethnic and linguistic backgrounds. With an 18-acre campus and multiple school buildings, it is located near San Jose and San Francisco in the City of Newark, which is home to more than 40,000 residents.
SST SecureCampus is a technology solution designed for K-12 schools and college campuses that provides gunfire detection, precise location and number of shooters, to first responders and school personnel – enabling faster response to an incident and lockdown protocols to improve student/staff safety. The solution also provides protection both inside campus buildings and outdoors to help mitigate unpredictable active shooter attacks.
Additionally, SecureCampus delivers critical information such as number of shots fired, a detailed map of the campus and building floor plan (room number and floor) with the shooting location clearly identified, along with real time updates to 9-1-1, the responding officers' patrol cars and their cell phones.
“Newark Unified School District is taking a comprehensive and preventative stance in ensuring safety for high school students and faculty,” said Ralph Clark, CEO of SST. “Analyses show that the average active-shooter incident lasts 12 minutes and the first calls don’t come into 9-1-1 for a full 3-5 minutes. SST SecureCampus technology provides an additional layer of security by immediately alerting the police and on-campus first responders with critical information to improve response time and help save lives.”
Technology Leadership In and Out of the Classroom
“We are committed to being part of the wave of the future for protecting kids in our schools and we see SST SecureCampus as the most advanced way to achieve this,” said Dr. David Marken, superintendent of Newark School District. “We are proud to be one of the first high schools in the U.S. to implement this important technology and hope to be a strong example and share best practices with other schools and districts.”
“Our school has been ahead of the curve on teaching and incorporating technology into classroom learning. Now we can use technology to make our campus an even safer institution for our faculty, students and parents,” said Phil Morales, NMHS principal. “With SST SecureCampus, we will provide another level of safety for our campus and the community. Although we hope we will never need to use it, like a fire alarm, it is critical to have the system in place to save lives if a situation arises.”
Community Partnership
“Effective crime prevention requires strong partnerships with the community and the schools,” said Newark Police Commander, Michael Carroll. “Our department is fully behind the use of innovative technology that can help make it safer for students and the community at large. The steps NMHS is taking with SecureCampus will help our officers, and other first responders, be prepared for immediate action with valuable information that can save lives.”