Fort Lauderdale high school will test active-shooter drones
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Boyd H. Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes is one of three Florida schools selected to test drones designed to confront active shooters, the Washington Post reports.
Why it matters: Mithril Defense's Campus Guardian Angel drones are part of a multibillion-dollar campus security industry that has grown in response to mass shootings at schools.
- According to the Learning Policy Institute, U.S. schools spend more than $4 billion annually on "physical hardening measures," including metal detectors, surveillance cameras and weapons detection systems.
Context: Justin Marston, founder and CEO of Austin, Texas-based Mithril, told the Post that the drone project was inspired by the 2022 Uvalde school shooting, where law enforcement waited more than an hour to enter the classroom.
Flashback: Last November, the state Department of Education announced that the Broward, Leon and Volusia County school districts would participate in the $557,000 Campus Guardian Angel Program.
- "The integration of the Guardian Angel Program will strengthen our ability to respond swiftly and decisively in the event of a threat," Broward Schools superintendent Howard Hepburn said at the time.
- Deltona High School in Volusia was the first school to test the system last school year.
What they're saying: Hepburn tells Axios that the district chose Boyd Anderson to test the program due to its complex layout so they could "work out all the kinks" before scaling it districtwide.
How it works: The nonlethal drones, which will be stored in boxes around the schools, can be activated by teachers via either an app or classroom panic buttons.
- Company pilots then fly the drones remotely. The drones can reach an active shooter within 15 seconds and ram into them at speeds up to 60 mph.
- The drones are equipped with sirens, strobe lights and pepper gel.
- "Once I get the drones on you, you just can't escape them," Bill King, a former Navy SEAL and Mithril Defense co-founder, told the Post.
Zoom out: Five schools in Georgia and one in Colorado are also testing the drones.
- The drones have never been deployed during an actual school shooting.
Yes but: A Broward Schools spokesperson tells Axios that Boyd Anderson's pilot program is still in the planning stages.
- "The district has not evaluated, endorsed nor authorized any specific drone capabilities, including the deployment of pepper spray," the spokesperson says.
The other side: Gun-safety advocates and shooting survivors have criticized states for investing in active-shooter response technologies instead of prevention measures.
- "Sending drones into high schools is an admission of our collective failure to protect kids," gun-control advocacy group Everytown for Gun Safety posted on Instagram. "Students deserve proactive solutions to keep them safe, not experimental technology that turns their schools into battlezones."