Colorado school turns to drones for active-shooter defense
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A Sterling Ranch charter opening next month could become Colorado's first school to install drones intended to confront active shooters.
Why it matters: John Adams Academy is joining a growing national experiment in high-tech school defense with a system called Campus Guardian Angel, which says it can buy police critical time in the early moments of an attack.
Yes, but: Douglas County security funding remains in limbo, and the Austin-based company says its drones have never been deployed during an actual school shooting.
Driving the news: County commissioners this week tabled a vote on $200,000 in post-STEM school safety funding for John Adams so they could continue discussions about providing the school with a resource officer.
- The school plans to have armed staff and other security measures on campus.
State of play: Regardless of the funding decision, John Adams expects to install the drone system in August.
What they're saying: "We might be the first school in Colorado looking at [drone technology] but we certainly won't be the last," headmaster Sarah Kiesewetter told Denver 7.
How it works: The roughly pizza-sized drones emit high-pitched chirping noises, shoot nonlethal pepper balls and ram suspects at speeds that reach nearly 60 mph.
- Pilots in Austin would use drone cameras and school maps to find a shooter and send live video to police.
Caveat: The company's website says its drones can't fly through closed doors, but they're equipped with lances that can break windows that aren't coated with ballistic film.
- Campus Guardian Angel is working on a "drone door" that would open when drones approach.
Zoom out: Florida and Georgia are using grants to pilot Campus Guardian Angel drones in roughly eight schools. One Florida high school plans to have 39 drones this coming school year.
- The states' two legislatures included about $550,000 each in their budgets for the drone system.
In the room: Kiesewetter wouldn't specify how much the drones would cost John Adams Academy, but the school says it can afford the drones without county support.
- During a Regis Jesuit High School demo last year, Campus Guardian Angel estimated its system would cost about $8,000 per month.