Security system to be tested at area high school, Medford airport
From our weekly issue dated August 26, 2009
Gerard Fitzgerald demonstrates the VATICAL software. (Photo by Scott Jorgensen, I.V. News)
On Tuesday, July 21, the Josephine County Board of Commissioners voted 2-1 to approve a conditional $25,000 economic development grant for Public Safety Inventions (PSI), a Grants Pass-based firm hoping to market a product called the Victim and Threat Isolating Communicator and Locator (VATICAL).
The VATICAL system is intended to be used as an enhanced security device for public buildings such as schools and courthouses.
Commissioners Dwight Ellis and Dave Toler voted for the grant. Commissioner Sandi Cassanelli voted against approving the grant.
PSI Marketing Director Gerard Fitzgerald said that the system’s design enables it to detect, assess and manage threats. They include fires, hostage situations and shooting incidents like those at Columbine High School in 1999 and Virginia Tech University in 2007.
VATICAL software recognizes the event through signal patterns, Fitzgerald said, and sends information directly to first-responders such as police and fire personnel in real-time. The system brings up the building’s floor plan for dispatch and responders, down to the exact room of the incident.
Fitzgerald said that often times in those kinds of situations, first-responders themselves create secondary emergency events, which puts them in danger. He added that VATICAL was invented to prevent such a scenario.
“It creates a situation where the chaos is alleviated,” Fitzgerald said.
Josephine County Sheriff Gil Gilbertson said that during a school shooting, for example, the alarm goes to police. They then respond, but the information they get often is less than complete.
“During the time we’re responding, we’re trying to collect more information on how many people are there, where they’re located, what they look like and how they’re dressed,” Gilbertson said. “We’re still gathering intelligence during this whole time period if we can and if it’s available.”
Law enforcement personnel currently have to physically walk through a building to determine the nature of the emergency. That approach can take a long time, Gilbertson said, which could be shortened by a system similar to VATICAL.
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“The idea under this new concept is that the first officers on scene seek out the threat and neutralize that threat,” said the sheriff. “The advantage of VATICAL is that it saves all that time. We can respond and take care of the problem in a much more efficient way.”
VATICAL features a small, self-powered, two-way communication unit. That means that in the event of a hostage situation, police negotiators can speak directly with the gunman. Meanwhile, hostages in another room can receive directions on how to safely exit the building.
The Three Rivers School District (TRSD) Board of Directors voted unanimously on July 13 to allow the use of North Valley High School for testing the VATICAL system during winter break, when no students will be present. Testing also has been approved at Rogue Valley-Medford International Airport.
TRSD Board member Dave Strahan said he thinks that there is “merit” to the VATICAL concept and that it has “potential.” However, Strahan added that the school district is not endorsing the product or installing it in any of its facilities.
“If we were to pursue placing one in a school, we would have a lot of concerned staff members,” he said. “There would have to be more information shared before we would even consider any decision beyond what we have.”
Fitzgerald said he hopes that PSI can be the genesis for keeping and retaining high-tech industry in the area.
“This is about jobs,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re trying to keep jobs here in Josephine County.”
The $25,000 economic development grant approved by Josephine County commissioners was contingent upon PSI receiving a $25,000 grant from Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc. (SOREDI).
PSI has made a presentation before SOREDI, Fitzgerald said, and is waiting to hear if its grant request will be honored by it.
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