Gun detectors, drones part of School District of Philadelphia safety plan

Gun detectors, a new active shooter drill and drones are among the strategies the School District of Philadelphia plans to implement this year in an attempt to keep students safe.

High-profile shootings in recent years – including the killing of a student following a football practice at Roxborough High School and the murder of a 15-year-old near North Philadelphia’s Tanner Duckrey School – have brought increased attention to public safety outside schools.

With classes beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5, school administrators, Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw and Mayor Jim Kenney on Wednesday afternoon outlined the city’s security strategy for the academic year.

“The critical point here is that if we want our students to learn, thrive and succeed, then we must ensure they are safe and physically and emotionally healthy,” Board of Education President Reginald Streater said at a City Hall news conference.

Since the beginning of the calendar year, 134 young people under the age of 18 have been shot — 15 fatally — in Philadelphia, according to the City Controller’s gun violence dashboard. Those numbers are lower than at this point in 2022 and 2021.

“Until we get our arms around this commonwealth’s issues relative to the availability of guns, we’re still going to be running uphill,” Kenney said. “Everybody seems to have a gun.”

Kevin Bethel, the school district’s safety chief, said his team has recovered more guns in recent years from younger students, particularly those in middle school. In total, the district has confiscated 18 firearms over the past two years, he said.

In response, school leaders intend to install gun detection systems in the dozen or so public middle schools. Bethel compared the screening devices to those now being used at Citizens Bank Park.

“The child does not have to take their bag off,” he added. “They don’t have to put it on a conveyor belt. They don’t have to do anything other than walk through these two stanchions.”

Metal detectors are already set up at district-operated high schools.

Philadelphia’s public schools are retraining staff to use new protocols for active shooter training, shifting from a model known as Run. Hide. Fight. to ALICE (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter and Evacuate).

ALICE trains teachers and other employees to respond based on their particular situation, rather than issuing standardized instructions, according to Mayor Jim Kenney’s administration.

School officials are also interested in expanding the use of drones equipped with cameras, Bethel said. The devices could help surveil sporting events and corridors where students walk to and from school, he added.

“I can purchase a very effective drone, put it up in the middle of 67th and Elmwood and see almost five blocks away going both directions,” Bethel told reporters.

Over three years, the district plans to spend $47 million to replace fixed cameras at more than 150 buildings, moving them from analogue to digital systems, Bethel said. The project also includes a new video management system that will be linked with the city’s existing surveillance cameras.

A $600,000 grant will allow the district to hire Philadelphia police officers to patrol outside schools as needed and at large athletic competitions, Bethel said.

Adult monitors, pulled from community groups and nonprofits, were stationed around 13 schools in the mornings and at dismissal last year as part of the district’s Safe Path initiative. Nine new schools will join the program beginning next month, Bethel said.

In addition, the Philadelphia Police Department is redeploying officers from recreation centers to schools, focusing on 27 safety zones that include about 40 schools. The areas were first identified in 2021 using crime data.

“Students and parents will see an increase in visible officers around these safety zones,” Outlaw said.

Alongside the security measures, city officials highlighted a wide variety of after-school activities geared toward keeping students in a safe, positive environment.

More than 7,000 young people have already signed up for Out-of-School Time programs offered at about 136 sites throughout the city, said Vanessa Garrett Harley, Deputy Mayor. More information about OST is available at phila.gov/ost/program-locator.

The city’s Department of Parks and Recreation offers homework help, snacks and recreation time at 100 centers around the city, officials said. Programming is for students ages 6 to 12 and runs until 6 p.m.

All Free Library of Philadelphia branches will also be providing drop-in after-school programs that focus on literacy and aiding students with homework.