This article originally appeared on WCTB in Bristol, VA, and was written by Olivia Bailey. To view the original article, click here.
ELIZABETHTON, TN – A new system will now add extra protection for children in Carter County schools.
The program alerts school officials and law enforcement if a registered sex offender tries to enter the building. The system is called ‘Raptor’ and it works by scanning a person’s ID card.
It is now being used by several school systems in the area. Right now, the primary use is to identify sex offenders, but it could be expanded.
School safety is a top priority, and new technology is making schools safer.
“It’s probably the most important thing. The most important thing we want to do other than educate them is to get them back to their parents at the end of the day,” Carter County Schools CTE Safety Director Mickey Taylor said.
He said the latest program they’re using is Raptor. The system identifies registered sex offenders by scanning government-issued IDs like drivers licenses and military IDs.
Taylor said, “We’ve really looked at over the years with all the safety initiatives and everything that we’ve tried to do to really upgrade our security, so this is just another layer of security for our students.”
Carter County Sheriff Dexter Lunceford purchased the equipment this summer making sure every school in the county had access to the program.
“We don’t want anyone in our schools in today’s world that we don’t know are there,” Lunceford said.
When a visitor enters a school, their license will be run through a scanner. If the system finds a registered sex offender, it alerts school officials, a school resource officer, and 9-1-1. If you pass the test, it prints out a paper visitor’s card.
“After 24 hours; the ink disappears, so it can’t be reused,” Lunceford added.
The program also keeps track of anyone who’s entered the school as a visitor, which police say can help in an emergency situation. The sheriff’s department is also working to enable the system to flag for active arrest warrants or court-ordered parental arrangements.
So far, the system has not flagged for anyone in Carter County. However, back in December, a man was arrested at a Johnson City school when the system notified police that he was a sex offender.
Sheriff Lunceford also has plans to implement this for the courts in Carter County, so the system will flag for anyone coming to court with an active arrest warrant.
All Kingsport City Schools are using this. Some have been using the system as early as six years ago, but all schools were put on the system last year. Johnson City implemented this program for all schools this year. Bristol, Tennessee has two elementary schools, Fairmount and Haynesfield, using this program right now.
