New technologies can fill the deadly gap of time from when shootings begin to when law enforcement arrives on scene.

MINNEAPOLIS – Crotega Security Solutions brings SentriZone™ to educational facilities as the first-ever interior assailant suppression system that stops school shooters without risking direct confrontation.

SentriZone is a patented technology concealed within the ceilings of a building, allowing security officers to maintain control of entrances, hallways, and other vulnerable areas of a school. Upon recognition of a threat, security personnel use a system touchscreen to activate SentriZone, showering the assailant with a nontoxic chemical irritant called REPULS^®.

Exposure to REPULS causes involuntary closure of the eyes, significant irritation to the nose and throat and stinging to the skin, virtually immobilizing the threat until in-house responders intervene or law enforcement arrives. This system offers a rapid-defense, nonviolent security solution for schools that can help save lives.

“When I was in elementary school, I experienced the trauma of a school shooter in my hometown,” says Crotega founder Jody Allen Crowe. “Since then, I’ve watched countless communities across the nation suffer the same tragedy. As a former educator, the incident at Sandy Hook gave me serious pause. I thought about how vulnerable public spaces are to these threats. And like many of us, I wondered what could be done about it. This was the catalyst for the foundation of Crotega.”

Crotega’s mission is to be your first point of contact for less-than-lethal safety solutions for schools. Crotega’s school security solutions enhance the safety of security officers with a hands-off approach, minimizing physical altercations and reducing the risk to students and staff.

Crotega’s patented chemical irritant spray, REPULS, is a biodegradable solution that is easy to clean up, and is not an OC or tear gas, making it safe to use inside school buildings. REPULS is also offered in handheld canisters for ease of use in confined spaces such as school buses.

Crotega Security Solutions Announces the Launch of Their New Website, crotega.com

Crotega’s mission is to be your first point of contact for less-than-lethal safety solutions. Their new website contains a variety of resources for building and public safety professionals, including product demonstration videos, case studies, testimonials, and detailed information on Crotega’s innovative suite of security solutions.

“Crotega was founded after studying the glaring deficiencies in school security against active assailants,” says founder Jody Allen Crowe. “We hope this new website will help building owners and security personnel of all kinds, whether in law enforcement, education, government, retail, casinos, hospitals and more, to consider how they can be better prepared to confront incidences of violence.”

Website visitors can learn how Crotega’s products can augment and improve their current security posture. They can also explore videos of the security products in use, product testing and evaluations, white papers detailing their chemical makeup and compliance with building codes, and practical advice about how Crotega’s proactive solutions deliver peace of mind for building owners and occupants with a hands-off approach.

Crotega’s patented chemical irritant spray, REPULS^®, is superior to traditional pepper spray for its easy clean-up and mitigation, and no blowback to the user. It is the common thread in all of Crotega’s security products: SentriZone™, a first-of-its-kind building security system designed to suppress violent actors by deploying REPULS from the ceilings in common walkways, and SentriLaunch™, a drone that deploys REPULS within a building to help fill the deadly gap of time from when an incident begins to when law enforcement arrives

“Mass casualty events” and “active shooters” are both recent terms that have become a part of our lives. They’re almost a regular, predictable occurrence. These tragedies do not discriminate or play favorites with the venue. They happen in schools, factories, office buildings, concert halls and outdoor music festivals, hospitals, governmental facilities, anywhere and everywhere.

Active Shooter Suppression: A Growing Challenge

They occur at a greater rate each year and with what always seems like a greater loss of life. These events are happening with such frequency that the news cycle has gone from weeks of coverage down to a few days. We have grown collectively immune to the shock and horror.

Crotega’s Dan Murphy was recently reflecting on his career, in the NYPD and in private security, where he has been tasked with protecting people across the globe against acts of violence. He’s watched and studied numerous cases where shooters have entered buildings and wounded and killed innocent persons before either committing suicide, being captured or being killed by the responding police.

Traditional Security Measures

Murphy and other Crotega team members have been involved in designing, purchasing, and installing countless security technology systems for hundreds of buildings worldwide. The traditional security package consists of CCTV, access control/badging, unarmed security officers and door/window alarms for non-business hours. These measures generally do what they are intended to do: allow normal day-to-day activities and provide a generic layer of protection. These precautions don’t stand up to an armed intruder, and this mistaken belief causes loss of life.

The Reality of the Situation

Armed, determined killers brush through most traditional security measures like a knife through warm butter. “If there is one thing that I have learned for certain,” Murphy says, ”if an individual decides to bring a weapon into a facility to kill, they will inevitably find a way.”

What’s needed most is a focus on mitigating the risk to all once an armed intruder gains entry with an intent to harm others.

Security Innovations for Active Shooter Suppression

Traditional security measures listed above do one of three basic things: alert, detect or record. They all require a human response to remedy the situation. None of them do what is truly needed to equip a facility against a killer: confront and suppress the shooter using non-lethal technology.

The concept of Active Shooter Suppression was founded on the same life-saving principles as fire suppression. Fire and shooters spread quickly, are highly lethal, and waiting for police or fire response means a greater likelihood of casualties. Assailant Suppression involves using several security technologies working in unison to accomplish Priority #1: stop the shooting ASAP.

More Firepower Can Equal More Casualties

And that means shooting by anyone, including the police. More rounds fired means more risk and generally more casualties. Many law enforcement and security officers are focused on ensuring that they respond quickly and work in a coordinated fashion. There is also a focus on providing all employees and students with training to survive an active shooter situation. Yes, those are important, but they don’t address Priority #1.

A New Method

The development of comprehensive, integrated assailant suppression systems is needed to address Priority #1. These active shooter suppression systems join with traditional measures to make swift notifications, confront and suppress the shooter’s actions, and provide real-time, accurate images to ensure a safer, more focused response.

Once Priority #1 becomes a greater focus, we will see active shooter incidents that are over before or immediately after they begin, fewer lives lost, and a greater sense of societal relief from these terrible tragedies.

A New Era for Active Shooter Suppression

History has shown us that current methods are failing. We rely on equipment not intended to stop shooters and on the actions of people during an active shooter scenario. It’s time to prioritize technologies that can be built into facilities to ensure that a safer response is where you want it when you need it.

The Crotega team has studied security systems for years and has been repeatedly confronted with an institutional flaw. For many security personnel, perceptions of what constitute a secure environment are inaccurate.

Security guard services, for example, exist for good reason and guards are an expected and important part of the security posture of any facility. They have their assigned responsibilities and, when done properly, can add a measure of protection and give occupants a sense of security.

Perhaps that sense of security is too replete to be accurate.

The Reality of Unarmed Security Guards

Many end-users do not understand the severe limitations that the security guard role presents. Unarmed security guards are not paid, trained, or expected by their employers to stand up to armed aggressors. Yet so many who contract with those services believe they somehow will and should. This can and has been an unrealistic and disastrous expectation.

The Kraft Manufacturing Shooting

A workplace shooting at a Kraft manufacturing plant outside Pittsburgh in 2010 brought this to light. An aggravated employee was placed on suspension and was ushered out of the gated, locked plant by unarmed security. She went to her car, drove around for a few minutes, and returned with a .357 magnum which she pointed through the gate at the guard manning the entrance. The guard opened the gate for her as he was ordered to do, then he watched as she walked calmly into the building where she proceeded to shoot several people, killing two before surrendering to the police.

The Unarmed Security Guard’s Actions

What did the guard do? When faced with a loaded .357, opening that gate was about the only choice he had. It’s what he did next that was the real problem. He walked away and quit the job without bothering to notify anyone of what was happening. No 911 call. No call to the main office. Nothing. The first call to the police was from the shooter herself.

Kraft was of course horrified by these events. They filed suit against the guard services for failing to act. They felt the guard could have and should have stopped the shooter and/or denied her entrance.

Unrealistic Expectations

That was an example of a complete failure to grasp the reality of what your security dollar had purchased. In no way should anyone who is unarmed be expected to stand up to an armed aggressor. When planning for security at the location they believed that the unarmed guards and fencing would be sufficient. This presumption was sadly and drastically unaligned with the reality of these situations. Kraft won a sizable judgment against the guard company, but their unrealistic expectations played a part in the deaths at their plant.

Security Measures Today

In the ever-evolving world of security technology, it has become commonplace for manufacturers to advertise that their product will save lives — especially against active shooters. Building owners can sink money into myriad solutions like gunshot detection systems, locking doors, AI camera technology, access control systems, advanced CCTV systems, alert notification systems, and yes, guard services.

Each of these components is capable of certain things, and each can be used as a part of a smart overall security posture. But it’s important to be realistic about their limitations. Faulty assumptions about what they can achieve can have serious consequences.