County awards weapons detection contract

Burke County settled on a vendor for installation of 13 OPENGATE weapons detection systems in Burke County Public Schools (BCPS), leaving nearly $244,000 of grant money available for future safety expenditures.

Burke County Purchasing Agent Brian Nieft confirmed the county awarded the contract for security walk-through gates to Point Security, Inc., following the review of all bids submitted before the Jan. 8 cutoff. Point Security is a security screening equipment company with more than 34 years of industry experience, based out of Lexington.

Point Security placed a bid of $224,935, less than half of the $468,743 the school district said would be allotted from the $600,000 Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grant that Burke County received from the U.S. Department of Justice.

The county received eight bids, with Point Security being the lowest, responsible bidder that met all the requirements of the request for proposals, Nieft said.

The implementation of security gates comes just a few months after BCPS began using wand metal detectors and requiring clear bags for entry to middle school, junior varsity, and varsity high school basketball games. The district said in October that those measures would be extended to middle school football games later this year.

As for the new security gates, BCPS Director of Student and Family Services Dr. Dillon Sain said, “It’s going to make things a lot smoother as far as having to stop and wand.”

Students and game attendees can simply walk through the gates without removing their bags. Managed by an app, the devices will scan the person and their bags for various weapons.

“Now, some small metallics like small pocketknives, it’s not designed to pick that up,” Point Security Regional Sales Manager Dustin Gallimore said. “But it is designed to pick up the large knives, the handguns, the mass casualty stuff — the stuff you’re really trying to keep out of the school.”

Items like laptops and three-ring binders will have to be removed and passed off to an attendant or held over the head, according to Gallimore. The system doesn’t know the difference between their metal spines and a similar-sized gun barrel.

Sain explained that each high school will receive two gates, and one for each middle school. Since the devices are portable, they can even be transported between properties.

“We can use them at graduations, for prom, homecoming, and dances,” Sain said. “If the elementary school calls and says, ‘Hey, we’re having an awards day, today, and we’d love to use them.’ Well, we can pick them up and take them over there and use them.”

BCPS started with 13 detection systems to allow for use and review but will likely expand their inventory if the systems are satisfactory.

“With the grant process, it takes time,” Sain said. “We may eventually get to elementary schools with these detectors, but it’s costly. We’re starting with the secondary schools first.”

Sain added he can reapply for the grant next year.

The implementation of OPENGATE systems is currently planned for athletics only but can be extended to daily entry coverage if the school board or the superintendent’s safety council decides it’s best. According to Sain, school officials toured Hickory High School, where the detectors are used for daily entry and exits.

Gallimore explained that Point Security has installed security systems in schools across the state. The first training session typically takes 45 minutes with a group of 15-20 people but can take up to two hours.

The next day, Point Security returns for a live screening session, allowing school leaders to ask questions and test the equipment for issues.

“It’s a very user-friendly system,” Gallimore said. “It’s not rocket science.”