Raider Report

In recent years, the issue of School Safety has come to the forefront in communities across the nation. In Habersham County, Georgia, Sheriff Joey Terrell and School Superintendent Matthew Cooper have put their people to work in ensuring that school safety is made a priority. Their mandate - to ensure that proactive, preventive measures are put in place to maintain safe learning environments for students, administrators, faculty, staff and visitors.

In February of 2018, the news was, once again, filled with horrific images of the aftermath of yet another school shooting that had taken place at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. This event prompted Sergeant Murray Kogod of the Habersham County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer Program and Adam Bagwell, Habersham County School District Safety Director and Assistant Principal at Habersham Central High School, to design and implementnew, enhanced safety initiatives within the school system.

In the Spring of 2018, the first initiative called “See Something, Say Something” was put in place at Habersham Central High School. Through ongoing verbal encouragement and signage throughout the building, students were encouraged to report anything unusual or anything that raised concern. Even though the initiative showed success on numerous fronts, school and law enforcement officials found that many students were still reluctant to say something for fear of being labeled as a “snitch”.

At the same time, Sergeant Kogod and Mr. Bagwell noted the fact that practically every student carries a smartphone. Kids surveyed stated that they would be much more willing to send an anonymous text and/or image to report a concern due to the fact that they can do so undetected by peers and without being seen talking to the SRO or an Administrator. With this in mind, Sergeant Kogod and Mr. Bagwell proposed to Sheriff Terrell and Superintendent Cooper the idea of implementing a ‘See Something, SEND Something” application that students could have on their cell phones. Upon receiving the go-ahead to further explore the concept, Sergeant Kogod reached out to Kevin Angell, CEO and Founder of the See Something, Send Something App. Kevin and his team at Crowdsourced Geofencing Solutions were asked to utilize the See Something, Send Something App platform as a template to build a school district-specific application that would allow students to report suspicious behavior, mental illness issues, bullying and criminal activity, anonymously or self-identified, to the student’s school administrator and the SRO assigned to the student’s specific school.

This collaborative effort has resulted in the . Utilizing geofencing technology, students are able to receive alerts and have access to two-way anonymous chat conversations with the administrators and law enforcement at their specific Habersham County school. The app also allows students to attach pictures and videos to their reported tip.

The app is a secure app that requires an unlock code (generated by the school system) for the student to be authorized to register and use the app.

RAIDER Report. A new technology that gives Habersham County students the ability to communicate concerns and feel safe in their schools.