School security has always been an important issue, but the topic gained prominence in the last few years as several cases of school gun violence have drawn national attention.
Schools have always been considered by most people as one of the safest environments for young children. That thinking becomes suspect as events of gun violence have recently taken place on every level from grade school to high school and at universities of higher learning. Young persons of every age now seem more vulnerable to death or injury from gun violence than ever before.
The hardware industry is now being pressed to develop workable solutions for making schools more secure. To this end, Napco Security Technologies, Inc. approached Locksmith Ledger with a plan. Napco has developed a school survey program called the School Access-Control Vulnerability Index™ (SAVI). SAVI was designed as a standardized system not only for Napco but for every company or individual involved in offering security within our schools.
SAVI is available in printed form or online. The checklist contains sections for exterior building protection, interior building protection, and interior locking. Each question on the SAVI form is worth a certain percentage. As example, bullet-proof glass in the front perimeter door is worth 5 percent. If the front entrance door is equipped with an electronic lockdown locking system, that is worth 10 percent.
When all 17 questions are answered, the percentages are automatically-tallied to determine the SAVI Index Rating score. A perfect score would be 100 percent.
Anything less than 100 percent provides the school building managers with a shopping list of needed upgrades. Your locksmith company may not service and install some of the items on the SAVI list, i.e., ballistic bullet-proof glass, alarms or visitor management system, and/or guard services may be out of your expertise. But they are on the brand-agnostic SAVI list and are suggestible items for achieving the highest security level. Napco and its divisions, including Alarm Lock, Marks USA and Continental, are also offering training for security companies who want to administer the SAVI evaluation to educators and school bodies, to broaden their scope.
Napco Security Technologies selected Locksmith Ledger as a spokesman to introduce SAVI to the security industry but they are not stopping there. In the next few weeks, Napco will be contacting insurance companies, integrators, alarm installers and school associations to enlist their aid in supporting the SAVI standardized system for school security.
School security should be an idea of interest to everyone. Napco’s objectively-treated SAVI system provides a standardized blueprint of ideas. It is now up to the locksmith community to use this tool in the fight to protect our schools and students.
For more information, visit www.napcosecurity.com or 800-645-9445. Visit www.securityinfowatch.com to watch a video about the SAVI program.
