Hoke sheriff wants to arm teachers with tech, not guns

To make local schools safer, Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin has a three-part plan built around technology, not guns.

Posted 11:11 p.m. Mar 22, 2018 — Updated 1:54 p.m. Mar 23, 2018

Gilbert Baez

, WRAL reporter

RAEFORD, N.C. — To make local schools safer, Hoke County Sheriff Hubert Peterkin has a three-part plan built around technology, not guns.

Although President Donald Trump and some lawmakers want teachers and volunteers to get firearms training to thwart gunmen on school campuses, Peterkin said he wants to take guns out of the equation and instead arm teachers with a cellphone app that serves as a panic button.

"Timing is so important – how quick you can report it, how quick you can respond and how quick you can make sure everyone who needs to be there is in place," the sheriff said.

Panic buttons were installed in the main offices of schools statewide in recent years as part of a concerted effort to upgrade security, but Peterkin said he has researched ways to issue alerts faster and found the Rave Guardian app that every teacher can use.

"If there's an active shooter, all the teacher would have to do is hold that [button] for 1.2 seconds, and immediately, everyone in the school is notified that there's an active shooter in the building," he said. "The teachers would go into lockdown mode, 911 would be notified, the law enforcement agencies in the city and county would be notified."

The app can also send building and campus diagrams along with video from school security cameras to law enforcement agencies responding to the emergency. In non-shooting situations, the app can be used to summon paramedics to help with medical emergencies on campus without calling law enforcement.

No North Carolina school system is using the RAVE app, but studies in states that have adopted it show it has saved lives, Peterkin said.

The second phase of his strategy involves installing electronic perimeter security devices around every school.

"It would immediately set off an alarm into the school, and then it would send text messages or emails to persons that you put on the list, including 911, to let them know that there's a possible intruder on the campus," he said.

The third phase involves enhancing the district's video security camera system.

Peterkin didn't have a cost estimate for his plan, but his office has put $10,000 in seed money in a fund to help pay for the security upgrades. He's now looking for other Hoke County residents to chip in as well.

"We're asking citizens to donate, businesses to donate. We don't want to put all the strain on the board of commissioners or school board," he said.

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