The demand for this military-inspired technology in schools and the apprehension it causes can be traced to the fear that reverberates from the massacre nearly three years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., where a gunman killed 20 first-graders and six adults.
In fact, one school near Newtown is installing a gunshot-detection system right now.
“Unfortunately, there’s a market for this,” said Christian Connors, chief executive of Shooter Detection Systems, which is working with the Connecticut school. He declined to name the school because of contractual reasons.
At Newark Memorial High in California, Principal Phil Morales said he sees the gunshot-detection sensors — about the size of smoke detectors and placed in every classroom and hallway — as just another safety device. His school of 2,000 students does not have a violence problem. No metal detectors meet students at the doors. But Morales, a former police officer, said he welcomed the ability to detect gunshots.
“I think all schools should have this, just like fire alarms,” Morales said.