Student, Staff, Faculty ID Cards

Among the list of strategies promoted by the National Crime Prevention Council (NCPC) is one entitled, Student, Staff and Visitor ID Cards. The council says that “Identification cards for students, faculty, staff and visitors increase the visibility of individuals who do not belong in the school building and make the facility safer for all who use it.”

The strategies goes on to state that an identification card system, particularly when combined with access control procedures, deters individuals with no legitimate business in the school from attempting to enter the building and reduces opportunities for on-campus crimes, violence and drug dealing by unauthorized outsiders.

The council suggests that schools using identification cards issue them to students and staff at the beginning of the school year. Students, faculty and staff should be required to display valid identification cards to enter the building. They also suggest colorcoding the IDs to differentiate between student classes, and between faculty and staff, and that the cards be worn throughout the day by everyone in the school building. In addition, the council recommends that he visitor ID cards be larger than any other, making them noticeable and distinctive from those worn by students and staff.

The strategy states that visitors should be issued temporary identification cards after showing a driver’s license and signing in as they enter the building. Signs should be placed at the main entrances to notify visitors that identification is required to enter the school building. Each school in a district using the identification system needs to have a distinct card to reduce the likelihood that students or staff from other facilities could enter without authorization.

For more information about the National Crime Prevention Council’s strategies, visit www.ncpc.org/topics/school-safety.

This article originally appeared in the issue of .

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