Lynwood USD Security Installations Lead to 70% Drop in Crime

For years now, school districts have debated if school resource officers (SROs) make K-12 campuses safer or more dangerous, with some making the difficult decision to remove their police officers. The Lynwood (California) Unified School District (USD) was one such district, doing away with its SRO program before the COVID-19 pandemic.Doing so meant Lynwood USD needed to figure out other ways to protect its schools. The first step was to create a safety taskforce that was comprised of school board members, principals, parents, directors of student services, IT, other community members, city officials, and local law enforcement. (Next year, the task force will expand to include students.)“In this committee, we’re addressing the incidents that we see in or around the school sites,” Garcia said. “We discuss the incidents and then bring to the table what we think will be beneficial for the whole district.”This process resulted in Lynwood USD identifying several technologies and programs that would proactively address its school safety and security challenges without the involvement of SROs. An intercom access control system, anonymous reporting system, weapons detection that uses artificial intelligence, student internet monitoring, and visitor management were all installed. Garcia and his team also implemented active shooter training at all sites, collaborated with the city of Lynwood to implement Safe School Zones, and more.The result of these improvements was a 70% decline in incidents at Lynwood USD. This and many other reasons are why Garcia has been named one of this year’s K-12 Campus Safety Director of the Year finalists.Below are the questions and interview time stamps so you can watch/listen to the specific details of Garcia’s achievements and lessons learned: Why Lynwood USD needed a new intercom access control system, anonymous reporting system, weapons detection technology, student internet monitoring system, and visitor management system and the problems these technologies addressed. 1:58 How Garcia was able to convince other district stakeholders (the school board, community, etc.) that these upgrades were needed. 5:45 How Garcia’s department and district paid for the upgrades. 7:48 The results of Lynwood USD’s implementation/installation of these systems. 8:49 Advice Garcia gives to other districts looking to upgrade their security and safety. 10:21 Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/campussafety... Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1836305/ Follow us on Twitter: CAMPUS SAFETY SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS: Facebook: https://facebook.com/CampusSafetyMagazineX: https://x.com/CampusSafetyMagInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/CampusSafetyMagLinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/1836305YouTube: @Campussafetymagazine