Utica Schools debut metal detectors
UTICA, N.Y. -- Because you can't put a price tag on a child's safety -- "It was approximately $4 million, but we were able to get a reimbursement on that so we're paying approximately $400,000," says Utica School Superintendent Bruce Karam. "The cost is gonna be nominal, especially when you compare it to the possibility of saving somebody's life."
Students returning to Utica Schools this fall will pass through a metal detector before fully entering the building. The weapons detection systems are in all 10 elementary, both middle schools and Proctor High School. Every building entrance has one.
"This is the same system that Disney's using right now," says UCSD Assistant Safety and Security Coordinator, Jeff Jalonack. "We did a trial run for a week. They brought in all different kinds of materials and we ran it all through. They showed us what it'll find and won't find, and why...it's looking for certain shapes that it considers a threat and it also looks for certain material it considers a threat."
And if a threat is detected, the tablet will outline exactly where on a person it is, and authorities can search that specific area. Getting proctor high's nearly 3000 students through these every day sounds time consuming, but security staff says it's really not.
"You can continuously keep walking through, nonstop," says Jalonack.
The first day of school is Sept. 6.
