Community College Journal - October/November 2011

“We’d rather not
have to use the
alert system at all.
We’d rather prevent
the event to begin
with.”
—John Nestor, director,
Department of Public Safety,
Columbus State
Community College

follow their moves from the time they
set foot on campus until we could have
an officer get on the scene,” Winkler,
a former member of the Baltimore
Police Department, says. “We use a lot
of technology to help us, and we don’t
hide what we have. We have card reader
locks on all of our doors, and our radio
system is hooked up with Baltimore
City Police so we can get notification to
them immediately.”
BCCC’s security network lets
Winkler broadcast official security
messages over the college’s PA system
from his cell phone, wherever he is on
campus.

Howard Community College (HCC)
in Columbia, Md., uses a similar ENS
system. Like BCC, “all of our classroom
doors are on proximity access cards
where you need a card swipe to get in,”
explains Ken McGlynn, director of secu-
rity. “If we have a lockdown, we push a
button and that will automatically lock
all of the doors.”
The technology helps colleges
prepare for the worst. “If you look at
some of the major shooting cases, like
Columbine and Virginia Tech, they
both included intruders walking in and
shooting,” says McGlynn. The hope is
that automatic door locks might help
contain such an event.

The Right Fit

Columbus State Community College
(CSCC) in Ohio also uses a campuswide
notification system. But John Nestor,
who directs the college’s Department of
Public Safety, says administrators can’t
just choose any technology and expect
it to work on campus. When deciding
on a security system, it’s important
to weigh your options and choose the
right fit.