The following article originally ran as a sidebar to 4 Ways to Improve School Visitor Management, which ran in our June/July issue.
One high school in Delaware has upgraded its visitor management system, tying it in with the state’s criminal justice database to get the most up-to-date information on individuals’ backgrounds.
The visitor management system allows school personnel to scan government-issued IDs and capture information and photos for a visitor management database. It then automatically compares the people in the database against the Delaware Judicial Information System (DELJIS). In addition to scanning the DELJIS information for sexual offenders, the visitor management system also searches for other red flags, such as restraining orders and open warrants beyond minor traffic issues.
Once someone is checked and approved by the system, they are issued an expiring sticker badge that is good for about 24 hours. After 24 hours, a stop sign image automatically appears on the badge making the badge useless.
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If there is a match to the criminal database, how the situation is handled is based on the school’s policies. Typically access is denied. The visitor can also be told that the system flagged them and they can check with the State Police Bureau of Identification to make sure there aren’t any errors.
The important part is that the school does not admit those individuals with criminal matches.
