GSX School Safety Session Urges Multi-Use Tech Adoption

At GSX 2025 on Monday, a presentation in the School Security Zone explored how law enforcement and school officials can use technology to strengthen cooperation across overlapping jurisdictions. Caity Peak, collaborative policing strategist at Flock Safety, drew on her law enforcement background to highlight the challenges schools face in balancing their core educational mission with growing safety concerns.

Peak noted that while more than 90% of universities with sizable student populations have dedicated police forces, schools remain embedded in their surrounding communities. Urban and semi-urban districts in particular must contend with crime that originates off campus but can quickly spill onto school property. This dynamic creates a constant need for coordination between school resource officers, campus safety staff and local police, she said.

Moving beyond “what-if” security purchases

During her talk, Peak reflected on the tendency of schools and agencies to purchase technology with a narrow focus on worst-case scenarios, such as tornadoes or active shooters. While such contingencies cannot be ignored, she argued, they can make it harder to justify investments when administrators must also manage budgets, staffing and instruction.

She suggested that technology decisions should be guided by a dual purpose: improving security while also delivering tangible benefits in day-to-day operations. “Safety is important, but it’s not the only thing that you do,” Peak told attendees, emphasizing the need for tools that reduce everyday burdens as well as high-risk threats.

A Georgia district’s “virtual gate”

One of the case studies presented involved a Georgia school district that deployed license-plate readers across more than 100 campuses. The district originally formed a safety committee after the tragedy in Uvalde and opted to bolster security by creating what Peak described as a “virtual gate” around schools.

According to the district’s experience, the system provided multiple benefits. It allowed quick identification of a vehicle involved in a firearm brandishing at a school drop-off, monitored traffic flows to optimize pickup and dismissal, and addressed recurring issues such as theft of equipment and illegal dumping in school dumpsters.

These outcomes illustrate what Peak called the “multi-use” value of vehicle recognition technology. Beyond its deterrent effect, the data generated by license-plate readers gave administrators new insight into traffic congestion, patterns of vehicle use, and other operational details that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Dismissal as a vulnerable moment

The session also emphasized the unique risks that occur during school dismissal. Peak described the scene as “absolute chaos,” with large numbers of students leaving at once and staff members trying to match them with the correct vehicles. In many cases, teachers are left to make judgment calls in crowded pickup lines filled with similar-looking cars.

That process, she said, creates opportunities for mistakes and for unauthorized pickups, a risk that often involves acquaintances or family members rather than strangers. By placing so much responsibility on educators, schools can inadvertently expose students to danger while also slowing down the dismissal process.

Partnership with Raptor Technologies

To address this gap, Peak announced a new partnership between Flock Safety and Raptor Technologies, integrating vehicle recognition with Raptor’s DismissalSafe platform. The combined system identifies vehicles as they enter dismissal zones, matches them to authorized students, and alerts staff to any vehicles flagged as unauthorized.

Slides shown during the session outlined the workflow: a vehicle confirmed through the integration enters the loop, the system ties it to a specific student, and staff can then release the child with greater confidence. If a flagged vehicle appears, the system notifies school resource officers immediately, creating a faster path to intervention.

Peak positioned the partnership as a way to make dismissal both safer and more efficient. For administrators weighing technology purchases, she suggested, the ability to cut down on car-line delays while reducing custody risks represents a stronger return on investment than focusing solely on emergency scenarios.

Closing gaps between schools and local law enforcement

Beyond specific technologies, the session returned often to the theme of coordination. Peak described how, in her time as a dispatcher and officer, confusion frequently arose over whether an incident on or near a school property fell under the responsibility of the district, the SRO or city police. That uncertainty could slow response times and leave staff uncertain about next steps.

Embedding vehicle recognition into school perimeters, she argued, gives all stakeholders a shared view of potential threats. If a banned student or a known vehicle enters campus, alerts can be sent simultaneously to SROs, administrators and police patrols. That flow of information reduces the burden on educators and helps law enforcement act more quickly.

Peak concluded by situating school safety within the larger ecosystem of city services. Public works, fire departments, police and schools all share overlapping responsibilities, she said, and technology can act as the connective tissue that ensures those responsibilities reinforce rather than conflict with one another.

The takeaway for attendees was not a sales pitch but a challenge: to view security investments as part of a wider partnership between schools and cities. When tools provide immediate operational value along with safety benefits, she said, they are more likely to gain traction with administrators and to foster collaboration across agencies.

“What I am is an evangelist of using public safety technology," Peak said. "Not just because it makes you smarter, but because it makes you quicker, better and more collaborative.”