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Bill would create statewide panic button

Acacia Wetzstein

Nebraska News Service

LINCOLN — Nebraska public schools would get the choice to adopt a statewide panic button under a bill heard in the Nebraska Legislature.

Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha presented LB 1156, to the education committee Feb. 25 and said the plan would speed up communication processes in the school and with 911 when emergencies happen.

Currently, there is nothing mandating schools to have a panic system but some schools throughout the state have already adopted a panic system. 

The bill comes from Alyssa’s Law, a measure that would require schools to have a panic alert system. Alyssa’s Law was passed in New Jersey and Florida.

Alyssa Alhadeff was a 14-year-old student killed, along with 16 others, in the mass shooting in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. In a letter to the education committee, Alyssa’s mother Lori Alhadeff urged lawmakers to consider the measure.

“Time equals life,” she said. 

According to the Federal Commission on School Safety, during an active assailant incident, the call to 911 occurs 2 to 3 minutes after the start of an attack.

“In 2020 alone, there have already been 20 incidents of gunfire on school grounds that resulted in seven deaths and 11 injuries,” Vargas said.

According to the bill, users would download the panic button app to their devices. In an emergency, they could send a push notification and message to authorized users onsite at the school like teachers, staff and public safety personnel.

The technology would also be integrated into the 911 system to place calls directly to the 911 call taker and present information such as floor plans and building information without any additional action on the caller’s side.  

Adam Eisenman, director of government affairs of RAVE mobile safety, testified in support of bill LB 1156. RAVE’s panic button system is already implemented in several local Nebraska communities including Ralston, Hershey and North Platte. 

Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte and chairman of the committee, questioned the concept multiple times and said, “I have 911 on my phone.”

Eisenman said the application along with sending an automated voice call to 911 sends an immediate notification to every administrative worker about who is reporting the incident and where the call is being placed based on GPS off the phone. 

“We are getting information to the right people at the right time as fast as possible,” he said. 

Buffalo County Chief Deputy Dan Schleusener testified in opposition but said he was not opposed to the concept but opposed to how the bill was written. 

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