“Panic room”, gates, cameras, security guards… These new security devices tested in schools to prevent intrusions

Since March 21, many schools have been affected by threats of attack in France, particularly in Île-de-France and Hauts-de-France. Threatening messages are posted via digital workspaces (ENT), sometimes with violent videos. Middle schools, high schools and schools are concerned and obliged to systematically carry out investigations to ensure the safety of students and staff.

These cyberattacks come at a time when each threat is taken very seriously since the government has just announced, on Sunday March 24, the raising of the Vigipirate security plan to its highest level, namely the “emergency attack” level. Faced with these threats, the debate around the security of educational establishments has reopened. But what solutions are possible? Between the supporters of a “sanctuary” of the school, and those who want to keep it open to the world, certain elected officials and school heads are taking decisions locally and experimenting with new security measures.

No common device

In the Paris region, around ten schools, for example, have opted for a system offered by the company Black Eyes, a French start-up specializing in protection, anti-intrusion and alert systems, created by a technician from the Research and Intervention Brigade (BRI). The man we will call Enzo (first name changed for security reasons) invented “LockOff”, an anti-intrusion device which allows you to quickly block a door in order to confine yourself. “It’s a bit like a clamp or a kind of big stapler, you install it on the door and when you press on it, it will raise the door with points that will hook into the floor, and that will block the door, we can’t get back in.”describes Enzo.

“In 2024, we are still asking a teacher to put tables and chairs in front of a door. I am a parent, I imagined finding her something easy, which is next to the door and with which she will go to be able to protect the children on D-Day and protect herself.”

Enzo, inventor of LockOff

at franceinfo

Enzo has also developed a sort of nomadic alert button as well as a system for taking photographs which are sent directly to certain people to enable doubts to be cleared remotely. The “LockOff” is billed at 510 euros excluding tax, and it costs 2200 euros for the complete pack. A budget that Paris Cité University agreed to pay since it equipped itself with 10 “LockOff”, 10 “PushPanic” alert buttons and 10 “BlackOtus” photo cameras, reports the company.

In Blausasc, a small village of 1,500 inhabitants located near Menton, in the Alpes-Maritimes, the mayor opted, last November, for a completely different option. Michel Lottier recruited two private security guards to ensure security in front of the schools in his village. “When you look at the prefect’s reinforced Vigipirate plan, it asks to put elements in front of the schools. We only have one official, how do you expect us to secure 4 establishments?”testified Mayor LR, last November to France 3 Provence-Alpes Côte d’Azur, “A mayor is there to carry out a job, his functions, everyone does it in their own way”he justified himself in the face of an initiative which still remains very rare.

Portals and video protection

In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Laurent Wauquiez had mentioned, in 2016, the promise of equipping all his high schools with security gates. To date, 285 high schools in the region are equipped with a “filtering means”, that is to say, a turnstile, a tripod, a rapid corridor or a pedestrian lock and as many high schools are also equipped with video protection. In the press kit of the last Plenary Assembly (page5-6), we also read that “since September 2023, reinforced mobile reception teams made up of two people have also been in place in several high schools in the region. Monitoring, surveillance, diagnosis, prevention of tensions are an integral part of their missions in order to calm the school climate if necessary”. But the region would like to push the slider even further.

Last October, Laurent Wauquiez declared that he wanted to experiment with facial recognition, except that the current legal framework does not allow it. The president of the PACA region, Renaud Muselier, through a resolution adopted in 2018, wanted to test this technology in two high schools. The deliberation was ultimately canceled, deemed illegal by the Administrative Court of Marseille. The CNIL, National Commission for Information Technology and Liberties, also issued an unfavorable opinion, judging the system “neither necessary nor proportionate”.

In Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, we now speak more of“experiment with intelligent video protection”believing that “the very strong development of artificial intelligence offers new perspectives”. “Note that it is now possible to use intelligent video protection without implementing facial recognition or biometric data identification”defends the region.

On the side of the Ministry of National Education, we sometimes ignore the nature of the systems deployed in schools. “To date, we have no information on the use of this device in schools.“, replies for example the ministry when asked about the security system proposed by the company Black Eyes and tested in several schools, notably in Ile-de-France. The ministry recalls that “local authorities are owners and managers of public school sites and as such equip the schools.” Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, however, announced the organization of a meeting on April 4 which should discuss on the safety of “150 to 200” establishments qualified as “especially at risk”.