Nassau County officials are planning to distribute panic alarms to all schools in the county, allowing expedited contact with police more quickly than calling 911.
Each school will receive five of the county-funded wireless devices that will connect directly with the Nassau County Police Department’s Communications Bureau—a plan designed to increase police response times in the event of a school shooting.
The devices establishe a two-way microphone between the school and police that will stay activated and record until terminated by the police.
The plan comes after Suffolk County this year enacted the School Active Violence Emergency hotline that provides direct lines from school buildings that will automatically dial the police department’s 911 center supervisor, who can immediately dispatch officers.
Nassau authorities have also been hosting seminars to teach schools how to deal with active shooters as a precaution against massacres like the one at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
Officials plan to discuss the panic alarms at a press conference Tuesday at Carle Place High School.
