WASHINGTON — (WMAL) Frederick County Public Schools (FCPS) are installing “panic buttons” in school buildings in order to immediately notify police should there be a need for a lock-down.

The buttons will be installed in all 63 school buildings in Frederick County. Currently, 21 buttons have already been installed.

Michael Doerrer, Spokesperson for FCPS, said the panic buttons will be a good way to contact the police should there be an intruder that enters any of the buildings.

“Obviously, when there’s an emergency, every second counts,” said Doerrer. “The idea behind these buttons is to cut the time that it takes our school administrators and school staff to respond to an emergency…cut that down as much as possible.”

Prior to the buttons being installed, staff would have to make a number of phone call to make sure that the appropriate people were notified in the case of an emergency. The panic buttons streamline that entire process.

Frederick County hopes to have the buttons installed in all its public schools by the end of next week.

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