Crime & Safety

Chester Tests New School Lockdown Measures

Dickerson School has first test of new incident communication system with Share With 911.

The Chester Consolidated School District began their pilot program last week of an innovative new program designed to help facilitate communication during a lockdown event.

With Share With 911, staff can share real-time, live information with first responders during a critical event by using their computers, tablets and smart phones. The Share With 911 Broadcast Center enables authorized school personnel and law enforcement officers to broadcast information electronically, instantly informing all teachers, administrators, staff members, 911 and Law Enforcement personnel of the situation and what action to take.

Authorized users can do this from their desktop PC, a laptop, a tablet or on a smartphone. Broadcasts are immediately sent via text message and email to all registered users, eliminating face-to-face contact or phone calls that can waste valuable time.

Find out what's happening in Mendham-Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Local police officers also are notified instantly, instead of waiting for the 911 call to come in and be dispatched via radio. Now, a police officer who happens to be around the corner from the school when an alert is received can immediately respond and take action.

“This means that first responders can get to where they need to go faster, to help mitigate a threat, or to get help to those who need it,” said Chester Superintendent Dr. Christina VanWoert. “Using smart phones or computers, teachers can check in and let district administrators and police personnel know where all their students are and the status of their situation.”

Find out what's happening in Mendham-Chesterwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

According to VanWoert, if for whatever reason a child is not accounted for, there is the option to issue an “all call” for this student in a safe and secure manner using technology.

And VanWoert said the communication flows both ways.

“First responders can also immediately update teachers in real time as to the status and severity of a situation, issuing them critical directions and information as to how to proceed,” VanWoert said. “We are very pleased to, once again, be playing a leading role in advancing security throughout the county and in putting student and staff safety first.”

Chester Township Chief of Police Wayne Martini, who was present for the drill, said he was pleased with the program and how it was implemented.

“It went really well. The implementation of the technology, it puts you ahead of the game in regards to safety,” Martini said. “It is my opinion that all schools should be doing this.” 

Chester is not the kind of district to take a back seat in pushing progress, and Business Administrator Mary Jane Canose said that this test was just the start.

"One of the most important issues during a crisis is communication and it's also one of the most difficult to manage.  Share With 911 is a simple but brilliant system to address this issue,” Canose said. “What most impressed us in the drill was being able to know immediately the status of everyone in the building.  We are proud to be the first district in Morris County to make this program available to our staff."

Another test of the system is scheduled for next month at the Black River Middle School.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.