For over 25 years, Haystax has been the provider of world-class commercial software products for direct use by individuals in the agencies charged with protecting our communities, cities, and country. Thus, our product is one of the most widely deployed risk management software solutions, used by school, law enforcement, fire, emergency management, and other government agencies across the United States.

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Haystax for School Safety

Haystax meets the constantly evolving challenges of providing safe learning environments for students, faculty, staff, and local security partners by integrating all vital incident and school facility information into a single, online platform.  Physical assessments and behavioral assessments along with the ability to report and monitor incidents on or near campus are hallmarks of Haystax for School Safety.  Know your threats sooner, respond faster, and effectively coordinate actions for all stakeholders.

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Haystax for Public Safety

Law enforcement professionals are called upon daily to perform a broad range of tasks—from routine patrols, intelligence gathering and investigations to major crime and incident responses. Their challenge is to ensure public safety despite incomplete intelligence, limited cross-jurisdictional information sharing, and tight budgets. Haystax helps law enforcement agencies prepare for and respond to any crisis with a dynamic picture of emerging threats, rapid  intelligence-collection and incident-reporting tools, and a seamlessly integrated user environment that  ensures maximum collaboration and analytically sound command decisions for rapid response.

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Haystax for Enterprise Security

Haystax has developed a suite of applications designed specifically to help corporate security decision-makers and analysts navigate this challenging environment. Haystax alerts corporate leaders to their most likely threats and natural hazards, provides critical security and operational information about each physical facility, regardless of its size or geographic location, and allows risk managers to identify and mitigate their biggest vulnerabilities. Moreover, the Haystax platform enables security teams to manage incidents and major events—from the ops center or out in the field.

Equipped with these insights, CSOs can better anticipate their risks, communicate with leadership and limit their company’s exposure to financial, legal and reputational liabilities.

PrevFraudSmall Businesses Most Vulnerable to Insider Fraud31 January 2019NextcybersecurityHaystax Wins Cybersecurity Excellence Gold Award22 February 2019

The Parkland Tragedy, One Year Later

by John Boatman

The massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (MSDHS) in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018 was one of the three most lethal school shootings in the U.S., and remains among the most incomprehensible acts of violence ever committed by a lone gunman.

In addition to the profound impact it has had on the nation, the shooting also exposed a set of glaring weaknesses around school emergency prevention, preparedness and response at MSDHS, the Broward County Public Schools district and local law enforcement agencies.

During the remainder of 2018, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Public Safety Commission conducted an exhaustive inquiry into the root causes of the tragedy. Its report, released in early January, is a damning indictment on the very institutions that are supposed to protect students and staff from harm.

Among its many criticisms, the Commission highlighted the lack of fully-developed emergency plans and policies, ignorance of existing campus vulnerabilities and threats, poor emergency communications and inadequate staff and student training and drills for high-consequence events such as an active shooter incident.

School district leaders everywhere have a critical responsibility in providing safe campus environments where kids can learn and develop. Since the MSDHS tragedy a number of states have enacted laws to boost school safety and security. While some may prove effective, the measures enacted so far have been insufficient in addressing the fundamental need for the coordinated approaches so clearly spelled out in the Commission’s report.

Many of the Commission’s recommendations are applicable to virtually any school district:

  • Jointly develop robust emergency plans and share the details with all stakeholders in advance.
  • Conduct regular training sessions and safety drills — including fire, evacuation, lockdown/lockout, severe weather and of course active-shooter — in close cooperation with emergency responders.
  • Formalize a process for conducting site assessments of each school’s most likely threats and key vulnerabilities (Full disclosure: Since 2014, the Haystax-developed Florida Safe Schools Assessment Tool, or FSSAT, is the primary tool for assessing security best practices at all Florida school districts and, as of mid-2018, conducting safety assessments on all schools in the state).
  • Remove physical security vulnerabilities and ‘harden’ physical structures where possible.

Ultimately though, the Commission’s wisest advice is about responsibility and accountability. As the report put it: “Not all school security changes or enhancements have financial costs, and some only require the will of decision-makers to effect change and hold people responsible for implementing best practices.”

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NOTE: School administrators and security teams wishing to learn more about the Haystax cloud-based school safety solution are invited to contact one of our representatives at info@haystax.com or by requesting an online demonstration of our site-assessment, drill-management and other apps at https://haystax.com/school-safety/.

 

 

 

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