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“As battle-scarred survivors of a financial crisis and deep recession, community bankers today confront a frustratingly slow recovery, stiff competition…and the responsibility of complying with new and existing regulations. Some observers have worried that these obstacles— particularly complying with regulations—may prove insurmountable.” – Ben Bernanke, October 2, 2013 An infographic discussing the overwhelming costs and burdens of excessive regulation.Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

An article by Guy Bliesner and Brian Armes was brought to my attention…and in full disclosure I know both Guy and Brian, and I think they do great work with school security assessments and more. Their article was called: There Is No Such Thing as Plausible Deniability in School Safety http://www.campussafetymagazine.com/article/there_is_no_such_thing_as_plausible_deniability_in_school_safety1 Their article explained a “commonly held and deeply disturbing issue of concern” involving campus and district administrators: “If we do an assessment, we will be at a greater risk liability”. The article goes on to point out how the legal doctrine of in loco parentis assigns responsibility to educators for student safety and securityRead More →

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Awareity has accepted the 2014 Campus Safety BEST Award from Campus Safety Magazine, for its Cawood Assessment Grids, winning in the Incident and Records Management Software category. The honor was announced at the ASIS International 60th Annual Seminar and Exhibits taking place in Atlanta, GA. As tragic stories of violence and suicide continue to mount nation-wide; schools, colleges and organizations must update their conventional approaches with next generation threat assessment solutions to proactively identify, investigate, assess and intervene with students and/or employees who show signs of distress, aggression and violence. Awareity’s TIPS prevention platform is taking threat assessment to the next generation level with theRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

The news and sports headlines for the last several weeks have focused a lot of attention on NFL running back Ray Rice and his involvement in a domestic violence incident, as well as Adrian Peterson and his involvement in child abuse. The headlines were followed by an explosion of public outrage targeted at NFL leadership and Baltimore Ravens and Minnesota Vikings leadership. The public felt these leaders failed to make morally right decisions initially, then when caught, offered lame excuses and cover ups for their failed leadership, and also failed to mention their concerns for the victims. As social media outrage and public backlash grew,Read More →

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Post-incident reports and overwhelming evidence-base data validate most incidents (from data breaches to policy violations to violence) and tragedies were PREVENTABLE. However, even with all these lessons learned, the same common gaps and disconnects lead to more and more failed prevention efforts. Failure to “collect, assess and connect the dots” across multiple locations, departments, silos and individuals make it difficult for organizations to proactively and predictively prevent incidents, lawsuits and tragedies. Whether you are just starting your risk management planning process or reviewing your current capabilities, Awareity’s experienced team can provide the expertise and advice to improve your prevention efforts and protect your reputation andRead More →

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Next Generation Challenges are Not Going Away… Click here to download Awareity’s Next Generation Survival Guide for Superintendents, School Board Members and Educators to learn how you can take action today! Every day more children’s lives are ruined and lost. Sweeping and pervasive media coverage of bullying, cyber bullying, suicides, sexual violence, human trafficking, gangs, stabbings, shootings and other violence in schools and colleges provide a constant reminder of the need for solutions. After nearly every school related incident, lawsuit or tragedy, post-incident reports are released to explain what happened, what went wrong and suggestions on how to prevent the incident or tragedy from happeningRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*

The school shooter in DeKalb County, GA allegedly gained entry to the heavily secured school by “piggy-backing”, following someone with controlled access through the door. Does your school have a policy to prevent this potential risk? Do you tell your employees not to hold the door open for others? How are visitors managed on a day to day basis? Most schools try to steer visitors to one controlled entry point, the “front door”. Reconfiguring school entrances to direct all traffic here is good. However, many schools may then develop tunnel vision and only focus on the security of that front entrance. It is important toRead More →

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How safe do students really feel at school? Southwestern Wisconsin School District (SWSD) asked their students that very question last May and are now taking action to proactively ensure a safe environment for all students and staff. SWSD recently selected Awareity’s TIPS platform as part of a school-wide prevention effort. At the end of last school year, SWSD students in Grades 7-12 participated in a school climate survey. The results revealed 55% of the respondents had been bullied or had witnessed someone being bullied at school. 22% of the respondents felt uncomfortable reporting these acts to school officials for fear of retaliation. The survey alsoRead More →

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As the new school year begins and already we see tragic stories of bullying, suicide and violence emerge throughout school systems and communities; Nodaway Valley Community School District in Iowa is focusing on prevention. Nodaway Valley CSD is implementing Awareity’s proven and multi-award-winning TIPS (Threat assessment, Incident management & Prevention Services) prevention platform to help improve school communications, raise awareness and improve student safety. TIPS is an innovative solution equipping students, teachers, staff, parents and community members to anonymously report bullying, cyber bullying, weapons, abuse, vandalism, suicide risks and other concerning behaviors. It is impossible for a school to prevent something they don’t know about.Read More →

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Awareity is excited to announce that The Handbook for School Safety and Security, written by Lawrence J. Fennelly and Marianna A. Perry has been released! Awareity’s President, Rick Shaw, authored and contributed Chapter 7: Prevention and Student Safety for K-12, providing an overview of how K-12 schools can better focus on PREVENTION efforts and strategies, rather than the last resort of REACTING to an incident or tragedy at their school. School security is one of the most pressing public concerns today. Yet in most schools, there is little security expertise or detailed knowledge about how to implement and manage a security program. The Handbook forRead More →