|
Next week is Teacher Appreciation Week and now, unlike ever before, should we be appreciative of our teachers, faculty and educators. As a company who works primarily in schools, we can see how much you can miss students! Missing their daily jokes, quick wit and things they do that make us want to just shake our head and laugh has been part of a teachers daily routine since they took the job.
I have never seen teachers be so selfless as they are right now. They have quite literally, through zoom, welcomed their students into their own homes to keep them active in learning and provide a welcomed distraction from the outside world. They don’t care about how this pandemic has overtaken politics completely, they just care that their students are safe and are still able to develop. They fear for what could be from this, but from the perspective of just seeing their students again. Of course, they want the seniors and 8th graders to have graduation, dances, etc, but really, they just want to say bye to them before they head off on a new adventure. When I think of teachers, now more than ever, selflessness comes to mind. I have seen zoom sessions go well beyond “normal” working hours. But then I think, are there even set working hours for a teacher? They don’t get paid for the time they spend thinking about their students or running through ideas in their mind about how they can get the most out of each one of them. Like parents, they don’t have days off. What we ask is, after reading this, reach out to a teacher you had, no matter how long ago. Ask how they are and check up on them. Tell them you’re thinking about them. At the end of the day, I’m a firm believer that every hero was developed, nurtured and educated by a teacher. Semper Secure THANKS YOU! Every teacher, educator and member of faculty is a hero in our eyes! Very Respectfully, Shane Camardo
1 Comment
In today’s day and age, a police officer has to be much more than just a disciplinarian. He or she must foster relationships in the community as well as gain the trust of those they are serving. They have to get out of the police cruiser and talk to the kids playing basketball in the street and help the elderly if they see them struggling with groceries. I remember when I was growing up, I lived on a dead end. The police did an outstanding job of always talking to me and my friends when we were playing hockey or basketball in the cul-de-sac. They also started handing out police officer cards to us which were awesome. We started trading them and trying to go out of our way to talk to police so we could collect all of the cards of the officers in the department. Youth actually wanting to see and find the police? What a phenomenal way to build trusting relationships. When I was at Drexel University, this concept of community policing was starting to really evolve. It was an entire, mandatory course for criminal justice majors and was the focal point of our senior capstone project. It was evident, that this concept was here to stay. Getting police talking, being proactive and associating with members of the community seemed like such a simple idea it was crazy enough to work! In the same way as police create a bond with those they serve, it is extremely crucial that school resource officers and security guards do the same. I’m pretty sure I say the word “proactive” in all of my posts but this is another example of demonstrating that. Guards in schools need to take a vested interest in the children they are protecting. They need to be the first ones there and the last ones to leave showing a smiling face and greeting them as they enter and exit the building. Most importantly, they can’t be that tough guy or girl so much so that they become unapproachable. In order to be successful, they must gain the trust of all of the students in the school so if something doesn’t seem right, the student will feel safe enough to tell the guard. They have to be liked by the students they serve. They shouldn’t be a disciplinarian or be expected to report minor infractions that do not affect the safety of the students, such as tardiness to class. The officers cant be “out to get” the kids and get them in trouble. After all, how can you feel comfortable going to someone you just genuinely don’t like? The job of a school resource officer is a crucial one. Anyone worth the money needs to be personable, caring, talkative, trustworthy and well trained to take down any threats that will harm the students they care for. Be proactive. #ExpelFear Until next time, Shane Camardo Do you know when the last time there was a mass casualty in a school as a result of a fire? 1958. No that is not a typo. Per the National Fire and Protection Association, the last time there was a school fire resulting in the death of 10 or more students was at Our Lady of Angels School in Chicago, Illinois. Why do we think that is? With technology the way it has taken off, I highly doubt it is due to decreased electrical hazards. I firmly believe, that this is a direct effect of proper training and practice. Fire drills are a part of your routine growing up in schools. You do them so much, it becomes second nature as soon as you hear an alarm what to do. If this is the case, why aren’t more school adopting these beliefs for active shooters? Drills that instruct students exactly where to go and what to do need to be implemented across America. We no longer have the luxury of saying school shootings are isolated incidents. This is the time to be proactive. I was recently in an outstanding presentation run by the Chubb Insurance Global Security Team. They discussed what the “survival mindset” and how it relates to active shooter situations. Three key factors were discussed.
Be proactive. #ExpelFear Until next time, Shane Camardo Let me start out by saying, if you don’t read any of my other blog posts, read this one. This method to surviving an active shooter situation was created by the University of Texas at Austin and is called “Run. Hide. Fight.” This is not linear, meaning, it does not have to be done in that order. However, it could be the key to survival. Run: Get out of the building. Know where your emergency exits, low windows and escape routes are and exit the building quickly and efficiently. Encourage others to leave with you and notify those outside of the building so they do not enter. Hide: Find a safe place away from the line of sight of the shooter. TURN OFF ALL CELLPHONES. The last thing you want is excess noise. Fight: Once you hit this stage, you have to make a commitment. There is no “kind of” anymore. Fight like you never fought before. Find objects in the office such as chairs, phones or fire extinguishers. Spray the attacker in the eye with the fire extinguisher. Use the element of surprise. Anything you can do, do. Here is a link to the video showing the different stages in great detail. Viewer discretion is advised: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsE_JdzpAbI Its sad that this is the world we now live in, however, this is our reality. Make sure you are prepared and go through scenarios in your head about what you would do or where you would go should an active shooter enter the building. Practice. Practice. Practice. BE PROACTIVE. #ExpelFear Until next time, Shane Camardo As with any service, there is a cost related to school security. When budget time is near, we see schools, organizations and individuals trying to budget to their last penny. At the end of the day, however, some simply feel they do not have it in their budget for security. I’m here to tell you, that is an incorrect and dangerous approach. Frankly, that puts the entire school community at a very high risk when there doesn’t have to be. But, since budget is a primary concern, let’s discuss the financial costs associated with deciding against having security. Let’s say, your school or organization doesn’t choose to move forward with budgeting for security personnel and an incident occurs resulting in the loss of either property or people. With that, will undoubtedly come law suits and litigation. The first bill you will receive alone from a lawyer will most likely surpass the bill the security company will give you and you haven’t even paid the lawsuit yet! That lawsuit, whether it be for pain and suffering or the loss of a person will far exceed the cost of having a school resource officer on your site. In todays day and age, it is impossible to be ignorant to the fact that schools need security, and if I was a gambling man, I would bet a jury would feel the same way. This blog post is in no means meant to scare you or make you feel threatened. Rather, it is to protect you, encourage thought and make you aware of the simple fact that it is much more costly to not have security than it is to have it. I can only speak for Semper Secure, but we work hard to be as cost efficient as possible. We feel that our clients need to trust us, so, we keep our costs low and pay our employees well to ensure you get the best product for the most reasonable price. Don’t gamble with the lives you are trusted to protect. #ExpelFear Until next time, Shane Camardo Hi Everyone,
As I’m sure you are all well aware, there was unfortunately another tragic school shooting at Great Mills High School in Maryland. However, this time, there was a different result. Great Mills employed a competent, trained and frankly, heroic school resource officer who was on school property at all times. Officer Blaine Gaskill was able to show the tremendous benefits of a proactive approach to school safety. We talk to a lot of schools and we hear numerous concerns in regards to having a school resource officer on campus full time. I can understand that this may be an uncomfortable reality for some. However, frankly, the statistics I will give in this blog post PROVE that an officer on campus is essential to the safety of students and teachers. The average time it takes an active shooter to carry out their plan from the first to last shot is anywhere from 2-7 minutes. The average length of time it takes the police to arrive, by the time they are notified, is anywhere from 3-5 minutes. Now, let’s look at these numbers in real time. It is very rare that the police will be notified the second a shot is fired. It normally will take some time for the person to gather themselves, seek cover and find a phone to make the notification to 9-11. Let’s say the first shot is fired during lunch time at 12:01pm and the police are called at 12:02pm. Even if the police arrive, enable a quick reaction plan and enter the building, in the hopeful time of 3 minutes, the shooter has had 4 uninterrupted minutes. FOUR. You may think that four minutes is not that long of a time, but think of how long four minutes feels for those who are terrified and trapped inside. And mind you, four minutes is the BEST case scenario. Now, let’s imagine a highly trained officer is on the school campus at all times. They will know the “mood” of the school and be able to be on the look-out for any potential threats. As we’ve all learned, the myth of someone “just going crazy out of nowhere” is false. In most, if not all, of the active shooter situations, someone was told or hints were given. There are always warning signs. A competent and aware officer on campus will have a better chance to stop the threat before it becomes a hostile situation. I say it all the time but it can’t be stressed enough. We owe it to our children to have a fear free learning environment. Be proactive. #ExpelFear Until next time, Shane Camardo As I was putting my 15 month old to sleep last night, I decided to scroll through my twitter feed and came across a tweet from The School Safety Advocacy Council. They host School Safety Conferences as well as a National Conference on Bullying. The tweet said, “School Safety must be a 365 days a year issue, not only when a Major School Shooting occurs.” And I personally could not agree more.
We all fall into this trap including myself. There is a “hot issue” going on and we want to all get behind it, until slowly it becomes forgotten. ( I did it not too long ago by investing in crypto currency! ) We see a school shooting happen and social media explodes with prayers, well wishes and pushes for change within our laws across the nation. However, sadly, time passes, small changes are made, and the push for school safety fades away until another tragedy happens. THIS IS AN INEFFECTIVE REACTIVE APPROACH!! Just think for a minute. What if, instead of reacting to a school shooting, measures were put in place to prevent it from happening all together? What if schools staffed a trained security officer who is passionate about keeping the students safe? This officer would develop relationships with the students. Talk to them, ask them how their day is going or how that big test or game went. Develop a level of trust. The sheer presence of this individual can deter tragedies from occurring. Teachers would also benefit from this individual actively patrolling the building. Should they double as a security officer while teaching? Should they hold the burden to carry a firearm and have to potentially point it at one of their students? In my opinion, absolutely not. As a child of two educators, I was able to see firsthand their hard work, countless extra hours grading and preparing meaningful assignments and deep level of care for the students that they educate. For as much work as they do and as little pay as they get, they too deserve an environment that is safe. Being proactive is crucial to the mission of both student and faculty safety. Let’s put measures in place NOW to prevent incidences from occurring in the future. Lets make sure the students and the faculty at these schools know we care. Until next time, Shane Camardo Hi everyone! We have recently added new followers as well as clients, so I prepared this letter to give an overview and reiteration of who I am, who we are and what we do!
___ My name is Shane Camardo and after getting honorably discharged from the Marine Corps two years ago, I saw a need for a different approach to school safety and security. Too many times, I walked into a gymnasium to watch a game and saw the “security” standing in the corner talking together or on their phones, drinking a cup of coffee. I knew this wasn’t an effective way to keep the students safe. Thus, I decided to start my own company and Semper Secure, LLC was born. Thanks to Sister Marianne at Paul VI High School, we were able to get our start and we have been growing ever since! We are licensed through the state of New Jersey and all of our officers have been fingerprinted and hold the Security Officers Certification (SORA) through the New Jersey State Police. Also, most of my staff are veterans or retired police officers. Though our price tag may be less than our competition, you will not be losing any quality. The main thing that separates us from our competition is our philosophy. We have a five step security approach that we have found to be the most effective.
Make no mistake about it, this is my passion. I don't hire just any one, I hire the right people to ensure my clients get the best of the best. A trained eye is crucial in deterrence and I guarantee you will get that with my employees. I look forward to speaking with you soon about how we can tailor our approach to your school or event. Very Respectfully, Shane Camardo Chief Operating Officer, Semper Secure, LLC Hey everyone,
I know it has been awhile since I wrote a blog post, but we have been extremely busy! We were also fortunate enough to add a few new schools and centers to the Semper Secure family! Another development is, we have officially expanded into the party service, catering and valet service world which I am very happy to announce! As the winter time and holiday season approaches, please keep us in mind! I mean...why clean the dishes yourself when we can do them for you? Remember, we work basketball games, wrestling matches and any other sport during the winter season! Our guys (and girls!) are eager to ensure your event goes on without a hitch and it is an extremely safe and enjoyable experience for all in attendance. I am especially proud to announce that a new class of our staff members just completed their SORA licensure course! SORA is offered through the NJ State Police and is the official Security Course of New Jersey. As far as the business side, I am learning a whole lot! There have been ups and downs, but I cannot believe how my vision of this small company has grown over the course of a year. The idea started around thanksgiving 2016 and we quickly got the company up and running to work our first event in early December just a week after my son was born. I had goals set and we far exceeded them thanks to my extremely dedicated and hardworking staff. Without them, none of this would be possible. Take a moment and check out the new “Veteran Spotlight” page on our website and get to know the Semper Secure family. Due to the expansion, we have even been able to hire a few more people who will help take the company to the next level. And what is that next level? My goal for this year was to sign one new client and we tripled that! So for next year, I guess that means we are going to have to set our goals higher and work even harder to achieve them! If possible, please take a moment and like our facebook page and follow us on instagram and twitter. It really helps us get our name out there. Thank you for all the support. It’s really not work when you are loving what you do and know you are making a difference! Until next time, Shane Hey Everyone! With spring here and summer just around the corner, that means outdoor parties, BBQ’s, graduation parties and social gatherings. Please remember us when planning your next event!
Our capabilities are far beyond ensuring your event is safe. We can do it all, to include even recommending a catering company that will provide the perfect cuisine for your party. Our staff is eager to make your event a great success! We will set up and break down your party, acquire rental glassware and provide servers for your hors d’oeuvre’s and buffets! I can personally guarantee, that if you hire Semper Secure, you will actually be able to ENJOY the party and not have a bunch of things to do or worry about. How great does that sound? Let us do all the work and you just sit back, relax and enjoy your guests! We are also offering special pricing for anyone who books with us in the summer! Call us at 856-723-7317 to get a no-obligation quote. Until Next time! Shane Camardo Chief Operating Officer Semper Secure, LLC |
AuthorShane Camardo, Chief Operating Officer, Semper Secure, LLC Archives
April 2018
Categories |
RSS Feed