East New York school first in city to get 'panic buttons' for active shooter scenarios
They say the technology can launch an emergency response in less than 10 seconds.
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City officials announced Monday that Spring Creek Community School in East New York will be the first school in New York City to get panic buttons that will directly connect the school to emergency services in active shooter scenarios.
It comes as part of a pilot program across the city. They say the technology can launch an emergency response in less than 10 seconds.
Each school in the pilot program will get multiple buttons with wireless lanyards that activate a system that not only notifies emergency services, but also gives those responders information about the school. In turn, people in the school will get audio and visual signals that help is on the way.
The Office of Technology and Innovation says they began research in 2023 for a school-based panic button with direct access to 911 response in an active shooter scenario, but no product existed. The agency worked with an external vendor to build a new alert system that meets the needs of the city.
Student Jamique Enpty says that with the cellphone ban, it's an added comfort for communication.
“It's a lot harder to get contact or the people that we would want to talk to if something was happening. We can't contact them due to of us not having our phones, so I feel like we should definitely have it," said Enpty.
The pilot is expected to roll out to 51 schools located in 25 school buildings, with five schools in each borough.
Over the last decade, there have been more than 1,900 school shooting incidents in the United States, according to the K-12 School Shooting Database.
