Schools looking to purchase virtual panic button

Every St. Mary Parish public school teacher is to have a virtual panic button on his or her computer desktop next school year.
The COPsync 911 program is planned to be under contract with the St. Mary Parish School Board once the school system’s budget receives final approval.
COPsync is a Texas-based company that was formed after an officer friend of the founders was killed during a conventional traffic stop, according to its website.
“A previous report was filed that this violator was a known officer threat. COPsync’s founders, who are officers and were friends of the victim, saw that his life could have been spared if he had access to officer threat information. With that knowledge, and a passion that this would never happen again, COPsync was born,” the website states.
The program has since been expanded to include school safety solutions, among other products.
St. Mary Parish will be the second school system in the state to use the program, the other being West Baton Rouge Parish. During the school board’s budget workshop, the $43,320 program passed unanimously.
Superintendent Donald Aguillard said COPsync will be linked directly to 911 and also will alert the principal of a problem in the building. It is designed specifically for active shooter situations, he said.
Two copies of smartphone app versions of the system will be supplied to each school for administrator use, Aguillard said. An additional copy will be deployed at the district level of the school system, he added.
When the app is activated via desktop computer or cell phone, the program gives 15 seconds to cancel the alert or it sends automatically.
Stephen deBessonet, COPsync 911 Louisiana representative, said via email, “This will allow almost all staff to have the ability to initiate an alert and, if able, to communicate with law enforcement during an alert situation.”
The principal will receive notice that the app has been activated from a classroom and 911 will be simultaneously notified.
“Also, the alert will be sent via text to all assigned law enforcement and to all other staff at the campus and off campus. This immediate mass communication provides for improved response by law enforcement and for improved execution of lock down procedures on campus and off campus,” deBessonet said.
Software initially will be installed at the 911 center on all four consoles receiving calls. Local law enforcement agencies may decide later to possibly install the app on individual police units. In the meantime, 911 center will notify appropriate agencies that a threat has been received, Aguillard said at the budget meeting.
“The goal is to get help faster … maybe minutes faster, maybe just seconds faster … but faster,” deBessonet said.
Parish Director of Homeland Security Duval Arthur, who also sits on the St. Mary E911 Communications District board, said the program is effective because it allows instant notification without having to reach for a cellphone.
“The only thing about calling 911 is you have to take your eyes off of what you’re doing. This system sends a message to 911 that there’s a shooter. The teacher never has to take her eyes off the individual. You don’t want to turn your back on somebody like that. You don’t know what they’re going to do,” Arthur said.
Every teacher will have this program on their computer. There will be a button they can press on that computer just like a panic button, Arthur explained.
“It’s not perfect, but it’s as close to being an automatic alarm system as they have,” Arthur said.
The program is not designed to be used for emergencies other than an active shooter in the school, he said, noting that the response will be quick and overwhelming.
“There are certain things that key a policeman,” Arthur, a former police chief, said. “One is a bank robbery and the other is a school shooter. Those things really gear them to kick it up to another level.”
Morgan City Chief Michael Banks said he knew very little about the system, but said “I think it’s a good thing. God forbid we’ll ever have to use it.
“Anything that we do to protect our children is a wonderful thing. COPsync is no different,” Banks said.