The first Baltimore County high school will start using the Omnilert detection system by the end of this week, with all others following suit by the end of the school year.
April Lewis, executive director of the county’s Office of School Safety, announced the rollout Monday in a county senate delegation meeting.
Omnilert will pair with over six thousand existing security cameras to identify unconcealed guns on the interior and exterior of county school buildings.
“Once the camera picks it up, then alerts would go to the administrators,” Lewis said, along with school resource officers and the Baltimore County Police Department.
“Seconds matter in the event that something of that nature happened and there was that kind of threat,” she said.
Three guns have been found in county schools so far this year, Lewis said.
The district considered adding metal detectors to school buildings, but found them too expensive and difficult to staff after a pilot run in three schools last spring.
“And we don't want to subject students to additional risk as they're lined up,” Lewis added.
Contracts for metal detectors cost around $132,000 for each entrance at each school, Lewis said.
“That was one of the reasons that we started looking at, ‘Okay, so what else can we do?’” she said. “‘We can't do this for every school. What can we do for every school?’”
The Baltimore County school board unanimously approved the $2.7 million contract with Omnilert Gun Detection on August 8.
Lewis also highlighted the work of 182 student safety assistants, a position created in the county last year.
“Sometimes the school resource officer in a uniform can be a little off-putting to some of our students,” Lewis said. “Some of them prefer a person who's dressed in a polo shirt as opposed to the formal uniform.”
These safety assistants build connections with students to de-escalate conflict, offering support and guidance in connection with school resource officers.
Lewis also said the district will consider metal detectors in the future, if financial costs change.
