One of the disturbing findings from the Nationwide Stakeholder Consultations on Safety of Women and Children has been the frequent incidence of sexual assaults and molestations of children in schools. The Police Foundation & Institute believes that by taking certain basic precautions, the managements of schools would be in a position to guard against and prevent such occurrences within the campuses, school buses etc.

The Police Foundation & Institute has decided to offer a comprehensive, on-site security assessment of schools for evaluating the level of safety, security and emergency preparedness of schools. Such an exercise will also help identify any gaps in the existing security infrastructure, systems and processes being followed by the school, helping the managements to adopt a balanced and rational approach to improving safety & security. The on-site assessment will reflect both the positive school safety measures already in place, as well as the areas for additional school safety / security planning and improvement. The final assessment report will be an important tool for the overall Risk Management of the school.

OBJECTIVES

 An on-site assessment of the unique security and safety related features of the school, will have the following objectives:

• To provide a standardized framework for evaluating risk to determine what security and safety counter-measures are appropriate.
• To validate projected threats on the ground, to evaluate existing response mechanism in place and improve response time to deal with any emergencies.
• To provide a risk management tool for reducing the threats to security of the school, including threats of violence, risks, and potential damage to lives or disruptions in school operations.
• To provide a sense of assurance to the parents, and other stakeholders about the school’s commitment to safety and security of students as its top priority.
• To help manage the resources of the school effectively.

Who will carry out the assessment?

• The assessment would be carried out by an Assessment Team of experienced police professionals, security experts and school representatives, in consultation with the School Principal.
• The Team may also hold discussions with the local police officials and obtain their guidance from the point of view of crime prevention and threat appreciation.

The security survey will involve interactions with the Principal and faculty, security staff, review of the school’s security policies and protocols, review of CCTV system, physical perimeter security and access control infrastructure, special security zones, transportation security, emergency management system and communication protocols.
A fee will be charged, for meeting the expenditure in engaging security professionals and other incidental expenditure. If your school would like to participate in this scheme, please get in touch with : [email protected].