Starting this school year, CESJDS begun using BluePoint Alert Solutions’ Police Alert System for lockdown procedures, a system to facilitate the activation and police notification of lockdowns.
The BluePoint Rapid Emergency Response System is an all-in-one communication system that can be used for police or medical alerts. The Police Alert System allows students or faculty to initiate a lockdown using blue pull stations that will be installed throughout the school, similar to the appearance of a familiar red fire alarm pull station.
These pull stations will immediately notify authorities, activate blue strobe lights and play a pre-recorded audio message from High School Principal and Head of Upper School Campus Dr. Lisa Vardi over the school’s Public Announcement system (PA). Select faculty will also be able to activate a lockdown through small, wearable devices.
JDS began implementing the BluePoint Police Alert System at the start of 2024, after being advised by the Jewish Federation of Greater Washington.
“Because of what’s going on in the United States, the rise of antisemitism that we’ve seen and different Jewish institutions [that] have been targeted, there is a call for a more quick and efficient system to be put in place,” Vardi said.
According to research by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), antisemitic incidents across the U.S. increased by over 200% between Oct. 7, 2023 and Sep. 24, 2024 compared to the previous year. Of the over 10,000 incidents within this period, at least 1,200 occurred on college campuses and over 2,000 were targeted towards Jewish institutions.
Before this system, every step of the lockdown process st the upper school would have had to be done manually. Administration had to be notified, then a 911 call had to be placed and then someone would notify the rest of the school through the PA system.
The BluePoint Police Alert System does all of these steps simultaneously and autonomously. A set list of contacts are also notified directly and can send further information to authorities via text and email.
“It makes things much smoother, faster,” Security Manager Herbie Epstein said. “No one has to worry about getting over the PA system; this does all of it. That way, someone can concentrate on what they need to do: locking down. And the goal is we’re going to implement a lot more pull stations throughout both campuses…So then, as a student, if you saw an active shooter, you could pull that system. It’s easy to do.”
According to Epstein, with recent funding, the school plans to provide select faculty with the wearable devices and install the rest of the pull stations and strobe lights throughout both campuses within the next few months. Members of the faculty that will receive the wearable devices and how they will be used are being considered as the school expands the system. There is currently one pull station located near Upper School Administrative Assistant Heather Udell in the front office, next to the system’s control panel.
“When we pull that, we know exactly what’s going to happen,” Udell said. “We know who’s going to respond. So, that gives me relief. I’m happy that we have a way [of] handling things, and it’s been spelled out very plainly and clearly with the staff.”
