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Lawmakers Seek Silent Alarms For Schools
December 27, 2018
Silent “panic” alarms for emergency situations would be required to link public-school buildings to local law-enforcement agencies under a Senate measure filed last week.
Sen. Lauren Book, D-Plantation, called her proposal (SB 174) “Alyssa’s Law,” after Alyssa Alhadeff, a 14-year-old student who was one of the 17 people killed in the February mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
The proposal, filed for consideration during the legislative session that will start in March, would require each building on public elementary, middle or high school campuses to be equipped with at least one panic alarm for use in non-fire evacuations, lockdowns or active shooter situations.
“The panic alarm must be directly linked to the local law enforcement agencies that are designated as first responders to the school’s campus and must immediately transmit a signal or message to such authorities upon activation,” the proposal said.
A similar effort being pursued in New Jersey is also named after Alhadeff. Her family lived in Woodcliff Lake, N.J., before moving to South Florida in 2014. New Jersey has considered the measure for five years, following the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Conn. Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed the requirement three times, the final time stating he preferred each school district to have the option to install the alarms.
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2 Responses to “Lawmakers Seek Silent Alarms For Schools”
Security measures and such all sound great and may cause people to feel more safe on school grounds and in the buildings.
However, and unfortunately it Always comes back to this — where will the $ $ $ $ money come from to pay for this?
The Legislature is famous for laying out “Unfunded Mandates” meaning no state monies come to districts to pay for changes so in order to be within the statute or laws of Florida the counties have to come up with the many many many thousands of dollars for installation of these “Panic Alarm” devices.
The biggest 2 deterrents are: 1) a student, parent, school, public that will Inform of pending problems Before they happen and 2) to have Armed Law Enforcement Officers in the schools who have Arrest Powers and who are authorized to use whatever force is needed to stop an attack.
Every teacher and half of the students have a cell phone. The 911 emergency number is already available. No need to spend millions of tax payer money for a separate system for the schools and the police department to have to maintain plus have somebody man the system anytime the schools are open.