NAVIGATING SCHOOL LIFE SECURITY

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When it comes to LIFE SECURITY1 and safety, how can you to be PREPARED & ACCOUNTABLE:

How do you NAVIGATE the new complexities of “Life Security” needs for Students and Schools when it comes to Active Shooter & Hostile Events2 concerns?

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How can you be prepared and accountable within a reasonable budget and timeline?

By using the tried and true approach of enlisting the help of trained professional consultants we can analyze the needs and prioritize the implementations for the most effective and economical solutions that fit a reasonable budget considering several potential funding grants and programs .11

Here’s how it works:
1. Identify or establish a Life Security Leader and Team.
2. Enlist the help of a Certified Professional Life Security Consultant4.
3. Commission a Comprehensive Life Security Assessment and supplemental ComPASS3 floor plan.
4. Analyze and prioritize the needs and establish a long-range Master Plan of Life Security implementations along with an initial and annual budget line item.
5. Commission the Life Security consultant to create a first Phase implementation bid documents for competitive pricing, and implement that Phase.
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6. Year by year revisit, periodically update the Assessment and continue on to the subsequent Phases moving forward. With this logical and organized approach you can become more prepared and accountable to the degree your Life Security Program is funded, based on your Masterplan and budget.


External link opens in new tab or windowThe Upchurch GroupThis approach ensures your Life Security Program will be:A. Organized and preparedB. Comprehensive and Master PlannedC. Professionally designed and implementedD. Competitively bid to be Budget friendlyE. Appropriate for accountability
This is the path to “The Best Defense9 for your facility and organization.

How can we help you? As certified “Life Security” professionals, Architects and Engineers5 we offer the broad range of expertise necessary for an integrated Life Security facility project from start to finish and save you money in the process.

We are very passionate about providing comprehensive Life Security that saves money, rather than spending more than anyone can bear while reaching toward a relatively impossible ultimate goal.


Dennis Elledge RA, PSP, AIA is one of the very few licensed architects in the nation that also holds the Physical Security Professional (PSP) certification from ASIS. Since the response to Life Security needs has been relatively slow so far the majority of architectural community has not adopted intensive integration and tends toward principles associated with CPTED8 and its certifications. This area of design is very meaningful and is part of the PSP study, yet it is not comprehensive enough to appropriately address the broad ranges of Life Security needs, especially the more technical aspects.