Security is a sunk cost until it isn’t. And while it can be difficult for schools and nonprofit organizations to examine vulnerabilities before a loss, near miss, or incident, examining vulnerabilities after an incident defeats the purpose of preparation designed to protect life and property.
Schools and nonprofits present a unique challenge when it comes to designing security plans. They must remain accessible to the people they serve while protecting students, employees, volunteers, visitors, and so on. Most of these organizations also operate under real financial constraints, which makes it especially important to understand how safety and security improvements should be prioritized and funded.
What Should a Safety and Security Assessment Entail?
A useful safety and security assessment examines how a facility operates, not merely what equipment it has. Depending on the particular school or nonprofit, this assessment may include:
- Site layout and building access.
- Doors, locks, lighting, alarms, and surveillance cameras.
- Visitor management credentialing systems and procedures.
- Emergency management plans and internal policies.
- Staff responsibility, training, and communications.
- Coordination with police, fire, EMS, and community partners.
As discussed in our article on the First SOF Truth and security technology, people are more important than hardware. Cameras and access-control systems can be valuable, but their effectiveness depends heavily on where they are used, how they are managed, and whether people know what to do with the information those systems provide.
Pennsylvania School Safety and Security Assessments
The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency provides formal School Safety and Security Assessment Criteria.
The criteria cover areas such as, but not limited to:
- Physical security.
- Policy and training.
- Student assistance.
- Behavioral health support.
They also organize security equipment, practices, services, and programs into three levels, beginning with Level 1 baseline measures.
This framework is useful because it accounts for context. For example, a school in the Pittsburgh region may have concerns related to an older multi-building campus, while a school in greater Philadelphia may need to consider dense surroundings, public transportation, or shared facilities. Schools elsewhere in Pennsylvania, such as Erie or Harrisburg, will have different resources, layouts, response capabilities, and needs.
PCCD permits schools to conduct self-assessments but recommends assistance from an external assessor or qualified professional. Registered school safety assessors must use the approved criteria and provide feedback that helps schools advance their safety initiatives and prioritize projects.
The Practical Outcome of an Assessment
A good assessment should give leadership a clear order of work that is practical and tailored to the organization’s specific needs. Sometimes that means new surveillance equipment. Sometimes it means correcting a policy, clarifying responsibilities, or training the people already in place. And sometimes that means a strategic framework that encompasses everything from the emergency management plan to Standard Response Protocol (SRP)-aligned training and drills.
Importantly, these assessments also support state and federal safety and security grant funding opportunities, which play a major role in a school or nonprofit organization’s ability advance their safety and security programs.
Convoy Group is registered with PCCD and conducts safety and security assessments for schools and nonprofits throughout Pennsylvania, including Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. Organizations seeking a clearer picture of their vulnerabilities can contact our team to discuss an appropriate starting point.