After due diligence on several technologies to best help safeguard Texas school communities, the Texas Association of School Resources Officers (TASRO) has endorsed SchoolGuard for use in Texas schools. SchoolGuard was chosen for its simple and effective emergency alert notification system backed by the only established network of police nationwide, Hero911.
Why does Texas need SchoolGuard and Hero911
Jeff Foley knows first hand about the necessity of SchoolGuard for Texas schools. In addition to being President and TCOLE (Texas Commission of Law Enforcement) Training Coordinator for TASRO, Foley works daily in a large high school with 2600 students. He has served as a School Resource Officer with Hewitt Police Department Midway I.S.D. since 2014. His 17 years of experience with the police department make him aware of the urgent need for SchoolGuard in Texas schools.
Foley speaks openly about the known benefits of the Guard911 family of services, especially the fact that using SchoolGuard makes the Hero911 network of law enforcement officers always ready to respond to an emergency in a Texas school.
Foley says, “I really like that we can instantly get out alerts to police officers in the area, even when they are off duty” using the Hero911 app and network. “Off duty police officers are always ready. I hate that we have to be that way, but in our world now, we simply have to be ready.”
SchoolGuard is a game changer for Texas schools
Foley states that there may be schools in Texas who are currently using some kind of panic button app, but they likely do not have access to the network of law enforcement officers that will be always ready if they use the SchoolGuard app. This network is what sets SchoolGuard apart from all other apps.
As a law enforcement officer himself, Foley is confident about how much benefit this will add. In fact, he says it could easily double the number of officers that respond immediately to a school emergency. He saw this happen recently in an accidental school lockdown in his community in which a few parents in the parking lot were law enforcement officers. They saw the lockdown occur and were able to help immediately. Foley imagines the added benefits if the Hero911 app were also being used with SchoolGuard in that school.
“If a police officer is driving down the street and gets an alert on his phone, he’s going to come and help. That’s an added asset that we can have to protect our schools, our kids, and our employees.”
SchoolGuard is already safeguarding several Texas schools, but all Texas schools could be protected. With this partnership, TASRO encourages all ISDs to take immediate and proactive measures by implementing SchoolGuard.
Contact Guard911 to protect your school now.