Indian River schools' weapon detection passes test run

SELBYVILLE — In the Indian River School District, there are armed constables at every facility and several school resource officers from local and Delaware State Police ranks.

While that’s one way to prevent firearms from entering school grounds, IR is adding a state-of-the-art weapon detection system employed by many other districts.

“The message is, anybody should feel safe any time they come on any Indian River School District property,” said Preston “Pep” Lewis, administrator of student services.

To that end, Wednesday was a training session and test run of the new OpenGate equipment.

Under the eyes of constables and administration, district staff and teachers passed through the system. And several attempted to walk through the two poles with fake weapons, intentionally planted to activate the alarm.

“We’ve got this set at this point to where we feel very comfortable that it can detect certain types of weapons,” Mr. Lewis said. “We don’t want any handguns on school property. It’s illegal. We know the carnage that it can do.”

OpenGate uses low-frequency electromagnetic technology that does not impact medical or other electronic devices. It is also safe for children and pregnant individuals.

After several tests Wednesday, the preferred sensitivity level was determined, so the equipment will detect a firearm but not phones, metal belt buckles or metal keys.

“Really, you have to find that medium, where we want to make sure we are getting firearms and keeping everyone safe. That is the main thing,” said Dan Mann, the district’s supervisor of technology.

Indian River has purchased two systems, at more than $20,000 each. For now, the units will likely be used at athletic events, such as football games, that typically draw large crowds.

The training, staged at the Southern Delaware School of the Arts and the Indian River Education Complex, enlisted constables, staffers and teachers from Sussex Central and Indian River high schools.

And the hope is the district will be able to expand its security inventory.

“Right now, it would just about be impossible to put one of these at every one of our buildings. We’d certainly love to do that,” Mr. Lewis said. “But we need to work through this because this is brand new to everybody, not only to the staff but also to the visitors.”

He also noted that many other districts in Sussex County are utilizing this line of defense.

“This is something that is growing in the state of Delaware right now,” Mr. Lewis added. “It’s a learning process for us right now. However, we feel that we can make this successful, so our visitors, our students and staff are safe. We may have a little bit of pushback at the beginning. But it is worth every penny … to make sure everybody is safe.”