The tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut, U.S. have highlighted the need for heightened security measures in schools to protect students, teachers and staff from random acts of violence. The Bais Yaakov School for Girls (BYLA), a high school in Los Angeles, upgraded the school’s security system in 2009 with the installment of FST21’s in-motion identification system. Adam Cohen, Facilities Manager for BYLA, who initiated, implemented and supervised the school’s security system since 2003, decided to enhance the school’s access control, necessitating registration and verification of individuals and vehicles through facial recognition, behavioral analysis, voice recognition and ALPR.
The tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings in Connecticut, U.S. have highlighted the need for heightened security measures in schools to protect students, teachers and staff from random acts of violence. The Bais Yaakov School for Girls (BYLA), a high school in Los Angeles, upgraded the school's security system in 2009 with the installment of FST21's in-motion identification system. Adam Cohen, Facilities Manager for BYLA, who initiated, implemented and supervised the school's security system since 2003, decided to enhance the school's access control, necessitating registration and verification of individuals and vehicles through facial recognition, behavioral analysis, voice recognition and ALPR.
The system was adopted in 2009 to replace fingerprint readers that were installed on seven doors in 2006 by California system integrator OMD. “What prompted the upgrade was that we wanted something better than fingerprints alone,” Cohen said. “The students didn't like using the fingerprint readers; they complained [the readers were] slow and unreliable.” Some students' fingerprints could not even be registered, Cohen added. In contrast, students and staff have found the FST21 system to be more efficient, Cohen remarked. More than 400 students and staff at BYLA use the system that controls and monitors seven secured doors, including the front entrance, three back entrances and three doors between each floor of the building. All are exterior doors. An additional internal door to an office of the staff members was added a few months ago.
Lights and canopies were added where needed for facial-recognition purposes. “We learned a lot about cameras, lighting and all the environmental conditions that affect how the system works,” Cohen said. Customized access was also integrated into the system, in which the staff have different access hours and rights from students. “At BYLA's request, we created specific parameters that include restrictions for each group in the database,” added Daniel Peled, VP of Sales and Marketing, FST21. “We also created the doorman application designed for the receptionist to see all cameras on the same screen.”