Lee County Schools Begin Using New Security System

Fox 4 WTFX-TV NEWS Video Transcript

Shari Armstrong, Fox 4 WTFX-TV NEWS 00:00:
Inside of Cape Coral High School, you’ll find your usual signs of classroom life. But with one new addition, and while this looks like a normal badge, we are told these could actually help to save lives.

Dean Olds, CENTEGIX (00:05):
This tells the administrator immediately that they need help.

Shari Armstrong, Fox 4 WTFX-TV NEWS (00:07):
The Lee County School District is now using the CENTEGIX CrisisAlert system, demonstrating just how it works today. With a few clicks of a button and Bluetooth technology, a notification is sent to a school administrator of the exact location of the ping. And with a few more clicks, an emergency alert notifies the entire school and law enforcement of a severe on-campus emergency. You know, this using technology to keep kids and staff safe in schools is not a new concept, but as law enforcement, school administrators, and those behind this system tell me, the key here, is time.

Cape Coral police chief Anthony Sizemore says the system’s ability to contact law enforcement, with a location, helps first responders to arrive on scene even sooner

Anthony Sizemore, Cape Coral Police Chief (00:47):
To have the ability to know exactly where on the campus, cuts down on time, which increases the chance for a peaceful or successful resolution to whatever that incident may be.

Shari Armstrong, Fox 4 WTFX-TV NEWS (00:57):
This technology aligns with Alyssa’s law, named after Parkland shooting victim Alyssa Alhadeff, and requires school districts to use panic alarm systems. But as Dean Olds of CENTEGIX, the company behind the crisis alert system, tells me, giving the devices to on-campus and district-wide staff could help in incidents even outside of a major on-campus event.

Dean Olds, CENTEGIX (01:18):
So if they have people such as a facilities person, they get electrocuted, they’re onsite, they’re at the transportation center. They also can press that button and get help immediately.

Shari Armstrong, Fox 4 WTFX-TV NEWS (01:33):
And if you’re wondering about the technology behind the system, I want you to know that it runs on batteries. So if there is no Wi-Fi or there’s a lack of a cellular connection, the company tells us this program still works. Now, according to the district, this system will be in all Lee County schools starting this year.