Nassau County Looks To New Technology For Panic Button System

MERRICK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- It's a brave new world when it comes to school security, with ever-changing technology making it hard for schools to keep up.

As CBS2's Carolyn Gusoff reported for TV 10/55 Friday night, districts on Long Island are getting some help from the government to go high-tech.

A former police officer is stationed at the door of a Merrick school -- armed with technology. Scanners check visitors' driver licenses and sexual predator registries, while cameras and mounted panic buttons connect to a monitoring station.

But soon, schools in Nassau County will hook up to a new generation of security.

"This is just one more that step school districts throughout the county are taking to make it safer for our children," said Merrick School District Supt. Dr. Dominick Palma.

Merrick schools are the first to demo a new app that directly links school staff with 911 via smartphones, while at the same time, feeding first responders floor plans and camera views. Teachers can tap in the n loop in administrators.

"Calling the central office may not be the first thing on their mind, or may not be something they can do, so getting this automatic notification would be important to us," Palma said.

Nassau County officials hope to roll out the app by year's end. But that comes two years after they first announced they would outfit schools with five wireless panic buttons each – in the wake of school shooting tragedies.

"Getting real time information that's accurate -- you can't put a price tag on that," Nassau County Deputy Commissioner Thomas Krumpter said on Oct. 22, 2013.

But those panic buttons never materialized, stalled with connectivity and contract problems. Still, the technology moved ahead, and newer panic buttons have wi-fi and Bluetooth.

And new apps put one button help in the hands of every staff member with a smartphone.

"Two years ago, you had a different cellphone, and since there was a delay, we used that time to research new technology," said Nassau County Executive for Public Safety Chuck Ribano.

And schools didn't wait. Many installed their own panic buttons.

Local school officials said they hope the county's technology will fill gaps in security.

"Many of our schools have very thick walls -- built a long time ago," said David Feller, president of the Nassau County Council of School Superintendents. "If we have devices that rely solely on cell service, how do we know they will work when they need to work?

The new apps do work with wi-fi. The new service will be available to public and private schools in Nassau, much like 911, as a free service.

More than $3 million in funding for the original panic buttons came from a grant.