Shootings Kindle Fear, Urge to Fence Kids Off

What’s one sad side effect of crazies with guns? A business boom for many San Fernando Valley security companies.

In many parts of the Valley, phones are ringing off the hook at companies that install everything from surveillance cameras to panic buttons. And some companies that have yet to experience a business uptick have canvassed the area with mailers, offering free consultations for worried Valleyites still in shock from the brutal rampage one week ago at the North Valley Jewish Community Center in Granada Hills.

While security firms say they’ve gotten calls from residents and businesses of all stripes, they note that among the most frequent callers are child care centers and religious institutions that run child care programs.

“We’ve gotten calls from child care centers,” said Mark Spilka, president and founder of M&J; Video Communications in Agoura Hills, who says orders overall jumped by about 50% last week compared to the previous week. “They’re asking what they can do to prevent something like this.”

It’s a natural reaction. But while acknowledging the need for increased vigilance, some child care experts urge caution when laying on the extra precautions, saying they may have the unintended impact of further unnerving our children.

“That’s a tough one,” said Kathy Malaske-Samu, child care coordinator for Los Angeles County, which runs six child care centers for county employees. “I don’t know if you want to get to the point where. . . you’re making it into a place with a moat and the armed guards. That isn’t what we want for our kids.

“We want kids to learn and have confidence in themselves and their community,” she added. “But we need them to be safe and that’s become an increasingly difficult challenge.”

So now nervous, anxious parents face yet another vexing puzzlement. How much security do you push for without turning your child care center into an armed camp? How do we convince our young ones that things are getting back to normal when they see Moats-R-Us beginning work in what used to be the center parking lot? But if we don’t amp up security, how can we be comfortable leaving our tiny treasures behind as we head off to work?

*

Welcome to Parental Sleepless Night No. 1,273.

Standing ready to address at least part of the security puzzle is the local security industry, where some companies report that they can’t get the extra cameras and door access controls installed fast enough.

“We’re two weeks behind right now,” said Spilka, who said his firm has fielded calls from two area school districts asking about installing cameras in school hallways. “People are definitely becoming more security conscious.”

Even without nerve-rattling incidents like Granada Hills and Littleton (a tragedy that spurred Spilka to donate cameras to his daughter’s school), Americans have been steadily investing more and more in security hardware.

Last year, home and business owners spent a record $43 billion on residential and commercial security products including surveillance systems, access controls and burglar alarms, according to Joseph P. Freeman, chief executive of J.P. Freeman Cos., which does research, consulting and product testing for the security industry.

“It’s a new record almost every year,” said Freeman, former president of Wells Fargo Armored Services. “The industry just keeps growing.”

And next year, the Denver-based National Resource Center for Health and Safety in Child Care is expected to publish revised child care health and safety standards that include recommendations to increase the use of cameras and controlled access systems at child care centers.

“We think cameras are a good thing and that’s one of the ways we will be encouraging people to improve safety,” said Ruth Neil, project coordinator for the federally funded center that works with state agencies to help develop licensing standards for child care.

Many child care experts noted that in employer-sponsored centers--ones on the grounds of a major company and used largely for that firm’s employees--such security measures are already commonplace.

But only an estimated 30% of the 400 or so child care centers in the San Fernando Valley have electronically controlled access systems, said Laura Escobedo, associate director of the Van Nuys-based Child Care Resource Center. That includes employer-sponsored programs and child care run by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

“For cameras, key cards and things like that?,” she said. “We’re down to a handful.”

Even with basic camera systems coming down in price--to about $1,500--that’s still out of reach for many small centers, Escobedo and other experts said.

“For the typical day-to-day program, it’s like, ‘Golly, what do we do next?’, “ she said. “There’s a lot of talk out there right now and it’s going to come down to who has the resources to do what.”

But installing new, high-tech security measures in child care settings isn’t just a matter of wherewithal. Experts say that too much security can be dangerous, too.

“Certainly, in the last few years, people have become more acutely aware of security concerns,” said Ellen Lubell, communications director of the national Child Care Action Campaign, an advocacy and education group. “But it’s important that the kids not feel that they’re restricted because of this.

“Behind how many walls and barriers do you want your children?” Lubell asked. “We’re all vulnerable when someone has a machine gun.”

*

Anara Guard, a research associate with the Children’s Safety Network, wasn’t necessarily surprised that the local shooting has been good for business in some quarters, but she did call it, “a sad statement.”

“I can understand the concerns of the individual parents, and I think that’s laudable,” said Guard, whose organization provides state and federal health officials with data on child and adolescent injury prevention.

“But there are other levels of response that need to be done that have little to do with installing a key pad system at an individual child care center.

“I would hope that every parent that calls their center about key pads would also check the installation of their child’s car seat,” she added. “I’m just trying to get a little perspective on what really places children at risk.”

*

Right now, the immediate threat for many parents, homeowners and shopkeepers feels like: crazies with guns.

And the immediate relief feels like: more electronics.

Barbara DeFranco, administrative assistant with Lone Star Security Inc., a family-owned business in Canoga Park, could barely finish a sentence Friday before the phone would ring again.

“We’ve had maybe an increase of 20%,” said DeFranco, referring to the number of additional calls since the community center shooting.

“We have a lot of churches and centers that we do the security for, and they just wanted to make sure . . . that they were adequate,” she said, adding that her business added 11 new clients between Tuesday and Friday.

No one, DeFranco said, is in a panic, but they are concerned.

“They want to have reassurance that they have good protection,” she added. “This is a wake-up call, and it’s a wake-up call they’re going to listen to.”

*

As the parent of a toddler in child care, I consider myself fortunate. My daughter’s center has an impressive array of security measures including cameras, keypad entry and security patrols.

Is it enough? God only knows.

For now, I pray daily that it is. I check to make sure the door closes securely behind me. And I keep the number of Moats-R-Us handy, just in case.

*

Valley @ Work runs each Tuesday. Karen Robinson-Jacobs can be reached at Karen.R[email protected].