Campus Safety Requires Using Every Resource Available

• By Wayne Black, Kirk Evans
• 05/12/26

Across the U.S., school and campus leaders are facing a security landscape that has changed dramatically over the past decade. Incidents on school property have increased in recent years, with several consecutive years setting record totals. According to analysis of data by CNN, dozens of shootings now occur on school grounds annually across K-12 and higher education environments.

These incidents can vary widely in circumstances and severity, but they share an important lesson: Campus safety cannot rely on emergency response. Institutions must focus on identifying risks earlier and designing environments that reduce the likelihood of a threat breaching the perimeter of the campus. This begins with fundamental measures such as access control, defined entry points, and limiting opportunities for unauthorized individuals to enter buildings or approach students unnoticed.

That shift requires leaders to think about safety as a campus-wide system involving leadership decisions, facility design, operational practices, and collaboration across departments.

Leadership and the Responsibility to Protect

One of the most common challenges in campus safety planning is something psychologists refer to as normalcy bias. It’s the assumption that because something has not happened before, it is unlikely to happen in the future.

In education environments, that assumption is understandable. Schools and universities are designed to foster openness, community engagement and accessibility. Leaders understandably want their campuses to feel welcoming rather than guarded.

But history has shown that serious incidents can occur in institutions of every size and geography. When they do, the consequences extend far beyond the immediate emergency response. Communities are disrupted, and staff and students carry lasting emotional effects. In some cases, facilities themselves must be reconfigured or replaced.

For K-12 institutions in particular, the responsibility is clear. Schools operate “in loco parentis” or in place of parents, meaning they assume responsibility for the well-being of students during the school day. Colleges and universities carry a similar duty of care for students, faculty and visitors within their campus environments.

Safety, therefore, cannot be viewed as a secondary operational concern. It is a core leadership responsibility.

Effective prevention begins with honest evaluation. Campus leaders should regularly ask difficult questions about preparedness, like: Are building access points clearly defined and consistently managed? Do staff and faculty understand how to report concerning behavior? Are facilities designed to allow administrations and security personnel to identify potential threats early?

In many high-profile incidents, investigations later reveal that warning signs were present beforehand, signs like troubling online activity, escalating behavioral concerns, or threats shared with peers. The challenge is rarely the complete absence of signals. More often, the failure to recognize them as actionable or move them quickly through a clear process of evaluation.

Designing Campuses with Safety in Mind

Facility design and operational planning play a central role in effective campus security. The way a campus is laid out, how buildings are accessed, where people gather, and how spaces are monitored can significantly influence how quickly risks are identified and addressed.

A comprehensive security strategy begins with a layered campus design. This includes clearly defined entry points; visitor management procedures; and the ability to monitor key areas such as parking lots, walkways, athletic facilities, and building entrances.

The school does not need to be heavily fortified. However, we want to create visibility and controlled access that allow administrators and security teams to recognize and respond to potential threats before they reach densely populated areas such as classrooms, lecture halls, or residence facilities. 

This approach also requires coordination between multiple campus stakeholders. Facilities teams, security professionals, administrators and local public safety agencies must work together when evaluating how spaces are designed and managed.

At a recent school safety symposium in Philadelphia, one case study highlighted how critical that collaboration can be. In the example discussed, a student displaying concerning behavior was evaluated strictly as a mental health issue without involving law enforcement in the initial assessment. The student was sent home, and the following day the situation ended in tragedy. The takeaway for campus leaders was clear: When assessing potential risks, institutions must be willing to use every available resource to evaluate the situation. 

Integrating Technology into Campus Operations

Technology is playing an increasingly important role in campus safety strategies. Many institutions are exploring tools such as gunshot detection systems, weapon detection analytics, and advanced video monitoring platforms capable of identifying unusual activity.

These technologies can provide earlier awareness of potential threats, particularly when integrated into broader campus security operations. Video analytics, for example, may help identify suspicious behavior patterns or unauthorized access to restricted areas, while automated alerts can allow campus personnel to respond quickly when unusual activity occurs.

However, technology alone cannot create a safe campus.

Even the most advanced systems are only as effective as the policies and people supporting them. Access control systems fail if doors are routinely left open for convenience. Cameras provide little value if monitoring responsibilities are unclear or spread too thin among staff with competing duties.

Effective security planning requires integration, aligning infrastructure, policies and personnel into a coordinated system.

Accountability and Leadership

Ultimately, campus safety is a leadership issue.

Every superintendent, university president, and campus administrator should be able to answer a simple but important question: If a serious incident were to occur tomorrow, are we confident that our facilities, procedures, and partnerships are aligned to prevent it?

Answering that question honestly often reveals opportunities for improvement.

Parents send their children to school expecting they will return safely home. Students arrive on college campuses believing they are entering environments designed for learning, community, and growth.

Meeting those expectations requires thoughtful planning, strong collaboration, and the willingness to use every available resource to identify and address potential risks. Safety is not achieved through a single technology or policy. It is built through leadership, preparation, and a commitment to act before a crisis unfolds.