Georgia Piedmont Technical College awarded $1.65 million toward campus safety

CLARKSTON, Ga. — Georgia Piedmont Technical Faculty has been awarded $1.65 million to combine expertise that can assist present a secure studying and dealing atmosphere for college kids and workers. The funds are a part of Georgia’s $83.5 million in COVID-19 aid funds via the Public Security and Group Violence Discount (PSCVRG) Grant Program. A complete of 118 companies/initiatives have been authorized for the funding; Georgia Piedmont is the one faculty within the Technical Faculty System of Georgia listed on the grant.

The three-year spending plan supplied by officers with Georgia Piedmont Technical Faculty present the monies might be used primarily towards the set up of managed exterior door entry factors, campus cameras and surveillance methods, in addition to digital license plate readers. The grant utility cites spikes in violent crimes dedicated throughout faculty campuses nationwide, together with locally close to the primary GPTC campus in Clarkston.

“Whereas we have now prevented disaster, the Georgia Piedmont Police Division acknowledges that further mitigation methods to discourage violence on our campus will create a safer studying and dealing atmosphere for our college students, college, and workers,” mentioned Chris Hughes, GPTC police chief. “We’re working smarter to undertake a method of implementing expertise into our emergency response ways.”

Most of the new safety measures are already in place and might be on-line throughout all buildings on all of Georgia Piedmont campuses within the coming weeks.

“Our high precedence is maintaining our college students and workers secure,” mentioned Dr. Tavarez Holston, president. “Figuring out this expertise is in use helps present an amazing sense of consolation.”

The brand new methods enable campus police to lock or unlock doorways with the faucet of an app on a telephone. Previous to the brand new expertise coming on-line, locking doorways was a course of achieved manually and in an emergency scenario, any delay can put lives and property in danger. With Georgia Piedmont being a commuter campus, automotive break-ins, vandalism and even motorized vehicle thefts are actual threats. Statistics from Flock Security present that 70 p.c of crimes contain a automobile. By way of the usage of these cameras round campus entrance and exit factors, the chances of fixing crimes involving autos and gun violence will increase exponentially.
This new expertise can even enable higher coordination between the GPTC Police Division and partnering regulation enforcement companies.