Connecticut schools may get security upgrades as a result of the recommendations from Gov. Dannel Malloy’s Sandy Hook Advisory Commission.
The commission, which was formed to find ways to prevent mass shootings, released their interim report on Monday.
“It is our intention to provide a roadmap to making our schools and public facilities safer,” said commission chairman, Mayor Scott Jackson of Hamden. “That is all we’re doing.”
The commission suggests increasing cell phone and wireless internet signals at schools for cameras to provide emergency officials with information.
The report recommends that schools create emergency response plans to decide best practices in an emergency.
“I very much like the idea of an assessment for each school on safety and the safety components within each school,” said Frances Rabinowitz, superintendent of Hamden Public Schools.
Hamden schools already have some of the recommendations in place. The exterior doors are locked at all times and visitors need to be let in by a staff member.
The other main section of the report focuses on gun violence. The commission suggests a more in depth look at the gun issue.
“There is actually, for lack of a better word, a federal ban on research into gun violence and utilizing any of those statistics, the same way we utilize statistics in car crashes to make cars safer,” Jackson said.
Partnering with universities to create a Connecticut-based institute to study gun violence is the commission’s top recommendation, Jackson said.
Although state legislators may begin acting on the report’s recommendations as soon as next month, Jackson said the commission’s job is only about 25 percent complete.
The commission will begin to look at the topic of mental health issues beginning Friday.
