West Vine Street School to Pilot New Security System

Congressman Joe Courtney, who sits on the House Committee on Education and  Workforce in Washington D.C. stopped into a Stonington elementary school Thursday to inspect the new security system. 

West Vine Street School will pilot a new security system designed by a group of Stonington police, commissioners, the fire department and school representatives. 

The system’s most obvious feature is the “Code Red” button that’s in every classroom. Once the switch is flipped, an alert goes directly to the Stonington Police Department, the fire departments and the Highway Department of a threat. All the doors close and lock and after that there are protocols that involve a 9-1-1 calls and verifications but police are already on their way. 

Also, each of the Stonington schools is under video surveillance and has a live streaming feed into Stonington police dispatch. Once a Code Red is initiated, all cameras in the respective school can be called up and watched on monitors at the police station. 

They also applied a bullet resistant film over the windows on the first floor. 

“We’re hoping this can be a template for others to look at,” said Board of Police Commissioners chairman Scott Bates. 

Everyone’s really excited about the new system because it’s responsive, it’s efficient and it’s new. Stonington Police Captain Jerry Desmond said no one has a system like this and that other schools and security companies have expressed interest in the concept. 

I’m delighted, said Assistant Principal Ruth Rose. “We’re feeling so fortunate to be the pilot school for this and our families are feel very comfortable with it.”