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Business executives worried about workplace shootings are quietly setting up fire detection systems in US offices and factories. Most do not tell employees what the sensors are, for fear of alarming them.
The rapid increase in the use of firing sensors follows a wave of shootings at the workplace over the past year. The most recent occurred Friday when a man opened fire on a factory in Aurora, Illinois, following his dismissal, killing five colleagues and wounding five police officers . Deadly incidents in recent months include shootings at YouTube's California headquarters, Fifth Third Bancorp's lobby in Cincinnati, a Maryland newspaper, and a Florida yoga studio.
The gunshots are "so common that people are beginning to accept it," said Brink Fidler, who spent nearly two decades in law enforcement in Nashville, Tennessee, and now heads his own active fire training company, Defend Systems. "The more often that happens … the more you are," we have to do something. "
At Rackspace, a San Antonio cloud computing company, management has deployed 150 fire detection sensors around its gigantic office in a converted mall. "You can not install metal detectors at the doors and make sure guards make fools of people," said Mark Terry, director of global security at Rackspace. "So, what's the next best thing?"
The sensors melt into the walls and ceiling and look like fire safety equipment. "I've already told people that they were air quality sensors and they did not even guess it," said Terry.
Originally developed for the battlefield, many sensors use a combination of acoustic and infrared technologies to "see" the flash of a shot while hearing it. Systems can be wired to alert the police and instantly send text messages, calls, and office notifications to employees, with flashing messages telling workers how to respond in an emergency.
Once the sensors have detected a shot on the ground, the devices can follow an armed man – integrating into camera systems – as he moves through a building, allowing the police in principle to to focus more quickly and neutralize the threat. One of the reasons why many companies do not explain what the devices do is that they are afraid of trying to test them using a firearm, security experts said.
Gun detectors now exist in employee cafeterias, meeting rooms and distribution centers, among others.
Toyota engine
Corp.
installed them in a car factory in Kentucky. Pharmaceutical giant
Allergan
PLC and Corona beer maker
Constellation Brands
Inc.
have put in place fire detection systems in some offices and facilities.
A spokesperson for Allergan said that employee safety was a priority and that the detection system was "part of our multi-layered security platform that allows us to respond quickly to situations." Constellation Brands declined to comment. In the flagship store of Saks Fifth Avenue in New York, the devices are installed over beauty counters and jewelry.
At 55 Water Street, one of Manhattan's largest office buildings, fire detection sensors are scattered throughout the lobby and next to a escalator.
Photo:
Chip Cutter / The Wall Street Journal
At 55 Water Street, one of Manhattan's largest office buildings, home to
S & P Global
Inc.
and Hugo Boss, about a dozen sensors are scattered around the hall and next to a escalator, said Scott Bridgwood, vice president of operations at New Water Street Corp., who manages the building. The cost so far has been less than $ 100,000, and Mr. Bridgwood said he hoped to have the devices on each floor at one point. He sees tremendous benefits in having technology widely deployed and linked to local authorities to speed up response times.
"In an active shooting situation, who calls 911?" Asks Mr. Bridgwood. "I'm waiting for them to come out."
The Charleston Airport, S.C., has placed shooting sensors near the ticketing and baggage claim areas. "I would prefer to be prepared and not use it as I need it," said Paul Campbell Jr., general manager of the Charleston County Aviation Authority.
Sensors cost about $ 1,200 each, and large employers can spend between 10,000 and several hundred thousand dollars on systems. Many other large companies have recently purchased the devices, the Wall Street Journal found.
Some security advisers are wondering whether money spent on fire detectors could be better used for more robust training of active shooters, assessments to identify security breaches in buildings, or physical barriers, such as door and ballistic glass, to deter a shooter.
"I would ask businesses to take a breather," said Jesus M. Villahermosa Jr., who spent three decades in law enforcement in the Tacoma area, in the state of Washington, including within the SWAT team, is now head of Crisis Reality Training. Inc. Villahermosa said that he saw the value of the detectors, but warned, "Do not just believe that one system will solve your problem."
Although building codes prescribe life saving equipment such as fire alarms, there is no such regulation for gun detectors. Interior systems are still new enough that many law enforcement experts do not know them yet, and research on their effectiveness is limited, says Ronal Serpas, a professor at Loyola University in New Orleans. former director of the city police.
Shooter Detection Systems LLC is one of the largest systems vendors and has more than 18,000 devices deployed. CEO Christian Connors said the company has never had any false positives, thanks to years of product refining, which is based on technology developed in the 1990s by the US Environmental Protection Agency. advanced search for defense, also known as Darpa.
Sensors can distinguish between a shot and a whistling car, an exploding firecracker, or a blazing balloon, as they listen to the sound of a mouth explosion, he says.
Those who bought the technology say that it could save lives in an emergency, when time is of the essence. Some privacy experts are wondering how well the sensors are being monitored because they monitor the workplace 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Mr. Connors says his sensors shots have "no possibility of transmitting sound, whether by the sensor. It's impossible. "
Sales at Shooter Detection Systems have increased 400 percent over the past year, with the Fortune 500 companies now representing the largest number of customers in the company, Connors said. He refused to name the clients of the company.
Public records show that the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta has spent more than $ 200,000 in 2018 to install 95 sensors from Shooter Detection Systems on its campus, including installation, cabling and software costs.
More and more schools are interested in technology, but some think that if they install them in a building, they have to install them as a whole, said security experts, a stipulation whose cost could be prohibitive. Connors said his company would soon introduce a set of sensors below $ 10,000 for schools.
Write to Chip Cutter at [email protected]
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