Prevention Podcast, Season 2, Episode 2: Introducing the School Observer Program

[caption id="attachment_34981" align="alignleft" width="150"] DAN VERTON, Director of Content & Branding[/caption]

In this episode of the Prevention Podcast, we introduce the first national Safe School Training Program, School Observer, backed by the first-of-its-kind National Safe School Information Sharing & Analysis Center (NSS-ISAC). The School Observer Program is the creation of an innovative partnership between Kenjya-Trusant Group, a leading provider of Federal homeland security and intelligence training programs, and LiveSafe, the leading mobile platform for community-sourced risk intelligence.

There is no denying the pressing need to enhance security at our nation's K-12 schools. But efforts to date have focused too heavily on point solutions for hardening school facilities - an approach that most school systems can't afford, often leads to the development and purchase of homegrown or consumer-grade systems, and one that fails to address the larger requirement of integrated training, prevention tools and information sharing. The School Observer Program addresses these critical gaps by:

• Replicating a proven anti-terrorism training methodology established by the Department of Homeland Security that has successfully disrupted and prevented acts of terrorism and violence.
• Establishes a national-level Safe School ISAC powered by proprietary analytical capabilities and the leading mobile risk intelligence platform (currently in use at 160+ colleges/universities/schools).
• Combines best-in-class training with an enterprise-class technology platform that enables the training to come to life for teachers, students and staff.
• Leverages the expertise and experience of a world-class team of advisors from federal, local and campus law enforcement, homeland security and the intelligence community.

The School Observer Program traces its roots to two highly-successful anti-terrorism awareness and training programs introduced in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks by LiveSafe Senior Advisor and the nation's first Secretary of Homeland Security Gov. Tom Ridge, who issued the following statement in support of School Observer and the NSS-ISAC: "I have worked with LiveSafe over the past several years and I now appreciate more than ever the role and power of prevention. The capacity this capability creates for our nation's schools is transformational." - Gov. Tom Ridge, First Secretary of Homeland Security