NEW HAVEN, CT/June 8, 2018 – As the number of school shootings continues to rise in the United States, some district administrators, students and parents are taking innovative and unusual fund-raising measures to purchase a popular device to defend against intruders.
Sales for The Barracuda, manufactured by The BILCO Company of Connecticut, rose by more than 400 percent in the first quarter of 2018, as compared to the first quarter of 2017. The Barracuda was introduced in 2013 by Troy Lowe, the CEO of Silverback Safety & Training Solutions and a SWAT Medic Team Leader. The device is designed to offer a layer of protection to slow down and frustrate attackers, thus buying time for people to escape and/or law enforcement to arrive. It is intended to work in conjunction with a facilities’ Emergency Operations Plan. The Barracuda can be used on outward and inward swinging doors and is installed in 10 seconds or less.
Roger Cook, the superintendent of schools in Taylor County, Ky., turned to social media to purchase The Barracuda for all 254 rooms in his district. Parents, businesses, and other organizations donated money to the district’s cause. Within 24 hours of Cook’s Facebook post in early March, donors contributed enough money to put The Barracuda in every room. The names of the donors will be stenciled on The Barracuda.
“I have been researching how to make schools safer for quite some time,’’ Cook said. “Out of all of my research, it seemed that The Barracuda was the quickest and most simple device to be deployed.”
There were five shootings in U.S. schools in May, resulting in 17 deaths and 11 injuries. On May 18, 13 students died in separate shooting incidents in Texas and Georgia. In the incident at Santa Fe, Texas, a lone gunman used a shotgun and .38 revolver to kill 10 people. Multiple IEDs and pipe bombs were also found around the school. There have been 66 people killed in 22 shootings at U.S. schools in the first five months of this year.
“These are senseless tragedies and it saddens me every time I hear about one of these situations,’’ Lowe said. “Most people will do all they can to help and protect others when tragedy hits. But willingness and effort to give in these situations is only part of the solution. The amount of help and protection you provide falls directly in line with the training you’ve had and the protective equipment you have available.”
Lowe said training and protective equipment are critical to improve security. “Simply put, the difference is the number of lives saved,’’ Lowe said. “The Barracuda provides a very effective layering option of protection from an active attacker. Combine use of the Barracuda with a solid training base, add in an effective Emergency Operations Plan and you will greatly increase survivability.”
Cook and Taylor County are not the only districts who have turned to The Barracuda to ensure classroom safety this year. Sales of the device soared 431 percent in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the first quarter of 2017. In Dennison, Ohio, a fourth-grade student at Claymont Intermediate School, Kohlton Calvey, raised more than $2,000 from private donors and fund-raisers, such as bake sales, to purchase The Barracuda for every room in the school. In Humboldt County, Calif., students organized fund-raisers to purchase The Barracuda for their school. The parent of a student in Lincoln County, Mississippi spearheaded an effort to raise more than $5,000 to purchase 52 devices for one of the schools in the district. The parent, Melanie Smith Daigle, said she started the fundraiser in the wake of the incident at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. in February.
“Most research says that metal detectors at doors have never stopped a shooting because people carrying guns don’t try to go through a metal detector,’’ Cook said. “Those metal detectors are very expensive and don’t really keep a shooter out of the building anyway. It seems that if a shooter has gained access to a building, the only reasonable, common sense thing you can do is to try to slow down his approach in getting into classrooms.”
For more information about The Barracuda and other products from The BILCO Company, contact 1-800-854-9724 or visit www.bilco.com.
###
For more information about The Barracuda and other commercial products from The BILCO Company, contact them at 1-800-366-6530.
About BILCO
For over 85 years, The BILCO Company has been a building industry pioneer in the design and development of specialty access products. Over these years, the company has built a reputation among architects, and engineers for products that are unequaled in design and workmanship. BILCO – an ISO 9001 certified company – offers a line of roof hatches, automatic fire vents, floor access doors, natural ventilation products, smoke and fire curtains, and a complete line of residential access products. BILCO is a wholly owned subsidiary of AmesburyTruth, a division of Tyman Plc. For more information, visit www.bilco.com.
About AmesburyTruth™
AmesburyTruth™ is a leading manufacturer of window and door extrusions, hardware, and sealing systems, which are used by leading window and door manufacturers throughout North America, for both residential and commercial markets. Based in Edina, Minnesota, the company has facilities throughout North America. The company is a subsidiary of Tyman Plc. (London Stock Exchange: TYMN). Tyman Plc, headquartered in London, is a leading international supplier of components to the window and door industry. Visit www.amesburytruth.com .
Keep up with the latest news from The BILCO Company by following us on Facebook and LinkedIn.
