Like many of you I watched in horror on July 4th as a community parade turned into the latest (as of this writing, anyway) tragic shooting in the U.S. This one hit home for me in a personal way, since I used to live very near Highland Park and my oldest son was born at Highland Park Hospital. I have been to that exact spot many times when my older two boys were small (before moving to Annapolis 18 years ago) and can imagine all too well the terror felt by those families who simply wanted to enjoy a holiday parade with their children. 

I now have kids in high school and college and am afraid for them in ways I know my parents never thought of when I was their age. In addition, my 20-year-old plans to be an elementary school teacher, which should be one of the safest jobs in the world, but isn’t. But the sad truth is it doesn’t matter. It could happen anywhere, any time — a grocery store, a church, a school, or a random street somewhere. 

There are, of course, no easy answers to the problem of gun violence in this country and the political issues surrounding it. But I do take heart in one thing, at least. I am in the unique position of being able to see what is being done on both the prevention and apprehension side of things, and I know the great efforts the security industry is putting into everything from gunshot detection to camera surveillance to lockdown and communications. 

Some of these efforts are evident in our first-ever Project of the Year (link to story) winner, for example. Custom Alarm spent two years upgrading and implementing state-of-the-art fire and life safety systems at a large school district in Minnesota — working through pandemic and supply chain challenges to make sure the project finished on time for school to start this September. The new systems include not only the latest in fire alarm technology and communications, but also feature lockdown and emergency notification capabilities, standardized across the district so no matter where a teacher, administrator, visitor, or student goes, the procedures will be the same.

In fact, it was that technology that got the school district the funding in the first place. “The school was able to get funding because of the emergency communications system, which is how it was all approved,” says Custom Alarm CEO Melissa Brinkman. “The fire alarm installation — with lockdown and weather alert all tied into one — allows the whole district to upgrade its system and overall functionality.”

One of the things I love about this industry is something I hear frequently from its participants: that it is not just about selling products and making money, but truly about making a difference and protecting people.

This is really brought out in our annual feature profiling the SDM-sponsored TMA Excellence Awards Winners (link to story) and finalists. All of these companies and individual winners have been recognized for going above and beyond in helping both their staff and customers. For example, Emily Bishop, one of the finalists for Operator of the Year, was recognized in part for an alarm verification call that found her on the phone with a subscriber in the midst of a shooting situation in her home. Bishop kept the customer calm and was able to instruct her to a safe place, saving her life

No technology or human being can completely stop bad things from happening, but it is nice to know that we are in an industry that never stops trying to do just that — and that when they do, we can play some small role in helping recognize them for their efforts.