SAVANNAH, GA The Savannah College of Art and Design is upping its security to keep students safe. The new technology will help in case of a school shooting. SCAD just installed ShotSpotter, the same technology the city of Savannah recently purchased.

“The technology detects gunfire and helps police pinpoint the threat in seconds,” said SCAD Security Dir. John Buckovich.

The SCAD campus may be spread out over the city, but in the Command Center student safety is monitored around the clock. Besides more than 600 security cameras watching people on campus, the college also has rolled out ShotSpotter technology.

“When gunfire is detected within our campus area whether it’s inside or outside an alert will come on screen,” said Buckovich.

SCAD Security Director John Buckovich said gunfire detection sensors are placed in all of the academic buildings. If a gun goes off, the information is sent directly to Savannah-Chatham Metro police so they can quickly respond.

“It will tell you how many rounds were fired, it will tell you very closely within about 25 meters where the shot occurred, and it will tell you if the individual shooting the rounds is moving,” said Buckovich.

SCAD student Kathryn Larrabee said she already feels safe on campus but this extra precaution can’t hurt.

“It’s kind of hard with an open campus to get that balance of security and letting us learn at the same time so I think this secure campus is really exciting for us students to know that they will be there no matter what,” said Larrabee.

Buckovich said this technology will make a difference in an emergency situation.

“We hope that this never happens on our campus but it’s a proactive way that if it ever were to happen we have a system in place we can respond quickly and effectively,” said Buckovich.

SCAD is the first college in the United States to install this system on campus.

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