MCCC plans to overhaul and update the security infrastructure of the West Windsor campus over the next twelve months. The first step has been the installation of Teacher-Lock brand door sealing barricades. The locks are designed to allow a classroom to be quickly sealed from the inside, affording first responders precious extra minutes to respond to a crisis such as an active shooter.
Once activated the TeacherLock prevents the door from opening from the outside without the removal of a bolt and the use of a special key. The key is currently held by Security, department heads and lock-boxes around campus to which first responders have access.
The search for a suitable device began after the Robb Elementary School shooting.
Josh Johnson, Assistant Director of Facilities, says, “There was a concern about being able to secure their classroom in whatever type of situation, whether it’s a mass shooting [or something else]. So we took some time after the events that occurred in Texas, and we said to ourselves ‘what are our options here?’”
Johnson continues, “We established some long range goals that we wanted to see. But then we said we also don’t want to wait until next spring to put something in place that can secure classrooms.”
Heather Jennings Professor of Psychology and Faculty Association President says the faculty share this priority.
“The faculty are optimistic that while this may not be the best form of security for the classroom, that there is something that is more secure. That builds more confidence.” Jennings says.
Destiny Pierre, a second year Business Administration Major shares this feeling, but also expresses separate concerns saying, “Like I know that there’s security [officers] downstairs but I only ever see them downstairs. Like, sometimes I take night classes and I’m like ‘Is there anyone in the building in case I get mugged?’ It gets like really dark and you never know. But other than that I feel pretty safe.”
The long term security updates will include keying the approximately 1,300 doors on campus, and adding swipe card access for faculty to more campus doors. However, as that is a large project which is not scheduled to be completed before next fall, interim measures were sought.
Johnson says, “Generally what first responders have said is they want an additional three to five minutes to respond. What we’ve found through our research is that any type of mass shooter is going to go to a classroom and if they find they can’t immediately get into that classroom, they’re going to move on.”
Selecting the right device was a balance of cost, efficacy, and the particular needs of MCCC. Some devices either didn’t fit most campus doors or didn’t fit any of them.
“A lot of those [models] actually took longer to deploy than the TeacherLock. So that was something else we looked at ‘how quickly can this be deployed in an emergency, and how easy is it to use?’” Johnson says.
Professor Jennings already views the Teacher-Lock as an improvement saying, “I feel that it’s good moving forward, because in the past we had only a magnet to lock our doors and this seems to be more secure.”
The Facilities Department has further enhanced the TeacherLocks with specialized torque bolts, replacing the easily overcome flat head bolts the models came with. The torque bolts are more difficult to remove with common tools but can be removed with the proprietary key already in campus lockboxes and utilized by first responders.
Johnson explains, “When we reached out to Teacher-Lock they said they knew that they were flathead screws and if we could get the bolts somewhere else that they would reimburse us.”
Many on campus are happy to have the new locks, but as Destiny Pierre explains, it’s more complicated than that.
Pierre tells The VOICE, “Shout out to Mercer for taking the proper steps to ensure that we’re safe, but it’s also just sad that that has to be done in the first place, you know?”
