Safe Passage: A new school security approach in Chicago

Author: Geoff Kohl - (about) Date: Mar 24 2011 - 11:06am
When people talk school security, you usually hear of building access control systems for lockdowns, implementing visitor management processes, and even adding cameras to record common areas in the school (playgrounds, entrances, hallways, lunch areas, etc.). But if Chicago is right, one of the best things that can be done to protect students doesn't even occur on the school grounds.

Here's what NPR wrote, in its report about a novel program to boost student safety:

"One of the most dangerous times of day for teenagers is after school, and that's especially true in the gang-infested neighborhoods of Chicago, where police and school officials are using federal stimulus funds to try to better protect kids on their way to and from school through a program called Safe Passage."

Not only do they boost security at school exits, but they even do airborne and vehicle surveillance of common homeward routes for students. It's a novel approach, and one from which I think many school districts could benefit.

Read the full NPR story about Safe Passage and listen to the audio segment from their Morning Edition program.

As a side note, NPR has been doing stories all this week about youth violence, and here are two other recommendations for good reads on school security: "Creating Calm in Chicago's Schools" and "Getting to Chicago's Boys Before Gangs Do."

-Geoff

Nanotechnology to replace security holograms?

Author: Geoff Kohl - (about) Date: Jan 24 2011 - 11:35am
One Canadian company seems to think nanotech can replace a whole host of security printing methods. In an article by the Abbotsford Mission Times newspaper, Nanotech Security Corporation discusses how nanotechnology can replace watermarks, special inks, security threads and even holographic/hologram printing on bank notes, credit cards and more. The difference is that unlike certain security printing methods (methods that are also used on high-security ID cards for some businesses), the nanotechnology used by the company actually puts microscopic holes that can trap and refract light. The technology, according to the article, works much like the nanotechnology at work in the wings of the "Blue Morpho" butterfly (pictured at right), which was the apparent inspiration for the technology. According to the company, it's a specialized process that would be almost impossible to duplicate -- hence the security applications.

Read the original article about this cutting-edge security application for nanotechnology.

-Geoff