Sheriff Robert B. Radcliff Announces SchoolGuard® Program
Pickaway County Sheriff Robert B. Radcliff is pleased to announce; in collaboration with the Pickaway Educational Service Center, Teays Valley Local School District, Circleville City Schools, Logan Elm School District, Westfall Local School District, New Hope Christian Academy, and Crossroads Christian Academy; the implementation of the SchoolGuard Smart Phone App for the schools and Hero 911 for law enforcement agencies.
“Since taking office, my administration has worked with all of the county public school districts to add school resource officers, SchoolGuard is an additional layer of safety and protection for our students and school staff that will complement our existing school resource officers and active shooter response programs,” Sheriff Radcliff said. All law enforcement agencies will have the ability to download the Hero 911 app at no cost once their credentials have been validated.
According to Sheriff Radcliff, the SchoolGuard app will speed dial 911 connecting the teacher to emergency services, alert all teachers and staff members of the emergency, alert all other buildings within 5 miles of the emergency, and will alert law enforcement officers (including school resource officers), on or off duty, who are in proximity of the school, simultaneously within seconds. It also presents each user a map that identifies the location where the button was pushed, which will aid in situational awareness for all involved.
“The Pickaway County Board of Commissioners is very proud of the work done by Sheriff Radcliff, his staff, and our local school officials to take school safety in our community to the next level,” said Brian Stewart, Pickaway County Commissioner. “We have been glad to work with Sheriff Radcliff in completing a number of projects to increase public safety in Pickaway County, and it’s a testament to his leadership that Pickaway County will not only be the first county in Ohio to utilize SchoolGuard, but that we will do so with the participation of all our public school districts on day one.”
Sheriff Radcliff and other members of his administration attended a presentation at the National Sheriffs’ Association Annual Educational and Technology Expo by Lt. Colonel Dave Grossman, U.S. Army (Ret.). Grossman is a US Army Ranger, paratrooper, researcher, author, and former West Point Psychology Professor. He spoke about the Hero 911 network of law enforcement officers. Hero 911 works with SchoolGuard to alert law enforcement officers who have the app of incidents they are close to.
“This looks like a great common-sense tool to help with school security. It’s an economical way to instantly communicate with authorities”, said Gary Scherer, State Representative (District 92). “Thank you to Sheriff Radcliff for taking the initiative in this project. Hopefully, with success here in Pickaway County, this system can help other communities across the state.”
After seeing the benefits of the program, Sheriff Radcliff was determined to bring it to Pickaway County. To make it a true partnership, Sheriff Radcliff covered the initial set-up costs for each public-school district out of his budget, requiring only a small monitoring fee for each building from the schools.
“The school districts of Pickaway County are extremely appreciative of Sheriff Radcliff’s proactive deployment of this additional safety measure for our students and staff,” Said Ty Ankrom, Superintendent of the Pickaway County Educational Service Center. “Sheriff Radcliff has demonstrated his genuine concern for school security through past and current services. By introducing us to SchoolGuard and covering almost all the cost for its county-wide implementation, Pickaway County will be a safer place for our children, grandchildren and neighbors to go to school.”
In addition to the emergency features, the SchoolGuard app also provides a platform for intraschool communications between principals and staff and provides a response plan page for each school to publish its plan. Pickaway County is the first in Ohio to implement the program in all public-school districts and local private schools.
“By leveraging technology, law enforcement can develop new tools and capabilities that keep our communities safe,” Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said. “I commend Sheriff Radcliff for his innovative leadership protecting our students.”
For more information on the SchoolGuard program, visit their website at: www.SchoolGuard.com.
