LA Unified Police Pack iPads for School Safety Assessments

Los Angeles Unified School District has begun the long haul of assessing the safety of its 1,200 campuses with the help of specially trained "school site evaluators," iPads and a mobile school assessment tool. The Los Angeles School Police Department is using a program from Haystax Technology to identify crime and safety vulnerabilities.

The Haystax School Safety Center app guides school evaluators through questions about building infrastructure, physical security, safety policies and emergency planning procedures. The service allows evaluators to attach emergency plans, blueprints, photos, comments and other files, which can then be shared with external public safety agencies that use the tool to be better prepared when responding to campus incidents.

Each assessment takes about a day, and much of it is run on the iPad.

"We can't eliminate all vulnerabilities, but we can eliminate a significant number through our in-depth school site evaluations," said Sergeant Steve Mayoral, the officer in charge of the evaluation unit. That unit is part of a police department with 350 police officers, 126 school safety officers and 34 support staff members.

Last October Florida launched a similar initiative. There the work was funded by the state department of education as follow-on to legislation mandating that schools contract with a security consulting firm to run security risk assessments.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • school building protected by a glowing blue shield with circuit patterns, blocking red-orange cyber threat icons

    Establishing a Proactive Defense Against Evolving Cyber Threats

    Here are six good starting points for K-12 districts that want to improve their cybersecurity mitigation strategies and take a more proactive approach to mitigating risk.

  • Stylized illustration showing cybersecurity elements like shields, padlocks, and secure cloud icons on a neutral, minimalist digital background

    Microsoft Announces Host of Security Advancements

    Microsoft has announced major cybersecurity advancements across its product portfolio and practices. The work is part of its Secure Future Initiative (SFI), a multiyear cybersecurity transformation the company calls the largest engineering project in company history.

  • A geometric pattern of open Chromebook computers with bold outlines, subtle shading, and soft gradients, spaced evenly with vibrant green and blue accents on a neutral background.

    Challenges and Opportunities Ahead for the 'Great Chromebook Refresh'

    During the pandemic, the education community scrambled to provide students with laptops to promote online learning equity and mitigate learning loss. Today, those devices are approaching the end of their useful lives — and a "great Chromebook refresh" has been predicted as schools seek to replace them with newer models.  

  • young child sitting at a table, using a tablet with an AI-generated interface

    Research: 1 in 3 Kids Use AI for Learning

    In a survey of parents with children aged 8 or younger, nearly a third of respondents (29%) said their child has used AI for school-related learning, according to a new report from Common Sense Media.