AUSTIN, Texas — When a name goes out about an armed menace on a college campus, each second counts. However in lots of Texas districts, one officer is likely to be chargeable for protecting two and even three colleges. An Austin-based firm says it might need a device to assist purchase these essential seconds — and possibly even save lives.
Campus Guardian Angel, a Texas startup, is pitching camera- and speaker-equipped drones as a college security resolution — particularly for districts struggling to fulfill the state mandate requiring an armed officer on each campus, Houston Public Media reports.
Throughout an indication on April 14 at College Park Elementary in Highland Park Unbiased Faculty District (ISD), the corporate flew three of its drones by way of the halls. They’re remote-piloted, reply inside seconds and are designed to find and distract a shooter till officers arrive.
Mark Rowden, Highland Park ISD’s police chief, requested the demo and stated the drones might assist officers make extra knowledgeable tactical selections in actual time.
“[It] offers us situational consciousness, as far as what we’ve received and what we’re going to come across, that, in what we do, is totally crucial,” Rowden stated, as reported by Houston Public Media.
Since House Bill 3 took impact in 2023, requiring an armed officer on each Texas college campus, greater than half of the state’s districts have filed for “good trigger” exemptions. They cite difficulties discovering certified officers and funding full-time roles.
That’s the place Campus Guardian Angel says it might assist. Its drones value $15,000 for a set of six, plus $4 per pupil — cheaper than hiring a number of full-time officers with advantages.
Justin Marston, the corporate’s co-founder, informed state lawmakers the aim is to shut the hole between when a menace is recognized and when legislation enforcement can interact.
“If a shooter walks into a college that we’re defending,” he stated, “our objectives are to reply in 5 seconds, confront the shooter in 15 seconds, then degrade or incapacitate the shooter in 60 seconds.”
Every drone is saved on campus in a charging field and launched remotely by educated operators as soon as a college official triggers an alert, Houston Public Media studies. The drones carry a number of non-lethal deterrents, together with a loud “flash crack” distraction gadget, pepper spray, and — if wanted — kinetic power.
“In case you get hit at 60 to 70 miles an hour by a drone, it’s much less deadly, however it is going to trigger vital damage,” Marston stated. “We might ship a number of waves of these till the individual is incapacitated or legislation enforcement arrives.”
The system has already been examined in Boerne ISD, the place Safety Chief Rick Goodrich stated the drones might be a power multiplier — particularly in districts the place protection is stretched skinny, in line with Houston Public Media.
“As a result of they’re stationed on the incident web site, there’s no ramp-up time. They instantly deploy and may present real-time intelligence on what is occurring on the disaster web site, whereas first responders are en route. And that’s a recreation changer,” Goodrich told DroneLife.
A brand new invoice, Home Invoice 462, might improve funding for campus security and make “remote-human-operated aerial units” an accepted device for assembly state necessities, in line with Houston Public Media. It hasn’t but acquired a committee listening to.
Sen. Royce West of Dallas stated the CGA presentation had “caught the eye of everybody on this room.” When requested if he’d demo the drones elsewhere, Marston replied, “We’ll do it in any college you need us to.”
