Cloud-Based Emergency Response Platform Enhances School Safety in Missouri

Jeff Kesterson, owner of Nightwatch Security & Telephone, a systems integration firm based in Sedalia, Mo., is partnering with local law enforcement to implement an emergency response platform (ERP) that enhances accessibility and situational awareness for police, sheriff’s departments and state highway patrol agencies at area school campuses.

To address a common challenge for first responders — gaining quick and secure access to schools during emergencies — the Nightwatch team turned to cloud technology for a solution. Using the Connect ONE cloud management platform by Connected Technologies, first responders and school resource officers (SROs) can remotely view real-time activity, unlock doors or initiate lockdowns as needed across protected school properties.

Nightwatch currently provides physical security services for several school systems, including the Sedalia School District (Sedalia 200) — one of the largest in Pettis County, serving more than 4,500 students across PK-12 facilities — as well as Sacred Heart School, La Monte R-IV School in nearby La Monte, Mo., and Green Ridge R-VIII. These schools are equipped with access control, intrusion detection and video surveillance systems, all managed through the Connect ONE platform.

“We asked Connected Technologies to develop a simple way to update, administer and input agency officer’s codes/credentials for the schools through Connect ONE,” said Kesterson. “They came back with the ERP, which unifies all the school’s individual systems into one interface for viewing, management and control without separate site logins. It goes even further and allows remote locking and unlocking capabilities during critical threats,” he said.

Kesterson added that first responders, as well as SROs at each school, maintain access with proximity access control key fobs, but updating the devices to stay current with staffing changes was unwieldy. Now, users can manage the fobs and system permissions in one place for all the schools through the ERP. Sedalia 200 school administration manages more than 700 fobs annually, utilizing the Connect ONE platform daily.

The ERP provides agencies with a separate login with certain designated permissions for first responders who can only see customer site locations shared by Nightwatch. Via the emergency dashboard, first responders can login to view cameras (where implemented), unlock doors and outputs, activate task functions, initiate lockdown and view recent activity.

Multi-agency access enhances response

The Sedalia Police Department has access to schools within the city limits, including all 10 Sedalia 200 schools as well as the district’s administration and maintenance buildings, and Sacred Heart School. The Pettis County Sheriff’s Office has access to those same facilities, along with La Monte R-IV and Green Ridge R-VIII school districts. The Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop A also has access to all of these schools.

The ERP allows Nightwatch to easily set up various zones of jurisdiction, giving first responders access to the schools they are obligated/expected to respond to an emergency. Of the four school districts using the ERP, all except Sacred Heart School provide both door access control and camera viewing/playback to the departments with access.

Commander Joshua Howell, operation’s support bureau, Sedalia Police Department, said the ERP is a huge timesaver, and allows the department to administer key fob credentials, streamlining the process when personnel access requires modification. “Ease of administering credentials was important and adding or removing personnel from the system was clunky before the ERP. Instead of logging into all the school systems separately, we can look at everything in one place,” he said.

Commander Howell added that the platform allows authorities to unlock doors if an emergency responder doesn’t have a proximity device, saving time as opposed to dispatching a patrol officer to the scene.

The Pettis County Sheriff’s Office is also leveraging the ERP for enhanced accessibility and response readiness.

“This has been a great tool for us,” said Sergeant John Cline, SRO unit supervisor, Pettis County Sheriff’s Office. “We’re continuing to build it out and have integrated it into our school safety planning. Being able to remotely manage key fobs and initiate lockdowns — there’s substantial benefit to having that immediate control,” he said.

Strengthening school-law enforcement ties

The Sheriff’s Office has jurisdiction over 650 square miles in the county, including Sedalia and several smaller cities. It manages some 40 key fob credentials issued to patrol officers and SROs assigned to the schools. SROs serve the daily law enforcement needs of the schools, but if they aren’t available to provide access in an emergency, the ERP provides that function in real-time.

“Our schools recognize the importance of having a close relationship with law enforcement,” Sgt. Cline continued. “Being able to get into a building quickly when seconds count has made the relationship that much stronger,” he said.

Nightwatch provided training on the interface to the departments, and Sgt. Cline said it was intuitive and easy to grasp in a one-hour session.

“The Emergency Response Platform allows Connect ONE dealers to partner with local law enforcement by providing the tools they need to defuse an emergency quickly and effectively with powerful information to view and control facility security,” says Dan Simon, co-founder, Connect ONE.  “It’s a great solution to assist in public safety while also ensuring you keep a customer long-term.”