University of Alabama Employs 21st Century Technology To Keep Students Safe

As reported by ABC 33/40 News, the University of Alabama is installing technology on campus that could help prevent an active shooter tragedy.

As summer comes to a close and students start returning to Tuscaloosa, campus police are preparing to launch the ShotSpotter system throughout campus.

The ShotSpotter is an early warning detection system that allows law enforcement to quickly and easily identify the exact location of any shots fired on campus. There are a series of 69 highly sensitive sensors spread throughout the university. Should there ever be an active shooter scenario on campus, these sensors would save police precious time by pointing them to the location of the shooter.

Addressing the need for the ShotSpotter system, Campus Police Chief John Hook said,

“We’re approaching this in a preventative and rather proactive way. If you can decrease or reduce that time, I mean seconds count in this profession. We have to be sure we are first on scene and that we know about it before anybody else.”

SpotSpotter costs $189,000 to install, but this is a small price to pay for increased safety on campus.

With the recent trend of active shooter tragedies, most people are aware of the need to increase police response times. Many shootings occur in a very short span of time, and every second saved could mean life or death.

While the spotter system can never replace the our brave men and women in law enforcement, it can be an invaluable tool they use to save innocent lives.