Metal detectors to be installed in Cumberland County Schools for the 2024-25 school year

Joseph Pierre, Fayetteville Observer
·2 min read

Metal detectors will be installed in schools across Cumberland County for the upcoming school year after the Board of Education unanimously voted for the systems during its monthly meeting on Tuesday.

Two Opengate metal detectors will be installed in all county schools by the beginning of the new school year, according to a Cumberland County Schools news release. The detectors are portable and ready to use, the release said.

"Providing our schools with preventative tools for the safety of our students and staff is of utmost importance," Kevin Coleman, associate superintendent for the school district's Auxiliary Services, said in the release.

Coleman said a detector will be placed at two school entry points in each school during morning hours. The detectors will be monitored by two to three staff members, the release said.

The systems will then be moved to monitor visitors arriving through the main school entrance for the remainder of the school day, according to the release.

More: Parent arrested at Hope Mills Middle School baseball game for allegedly carrying a gun

Nearly a year ago, more than 200 district and community leaders, law enforcement officers, families, educators and students engaged in a forum hosted by Cumberland County Schools in response to the escalating incidents of school violence witnessed nationwide, according to the release.

The prevailing recommendations among those in attendance at the forum were to increase the number of security cameras in schools, offer de-escalation training for school staff, and implement metal detectors, Cumberland County Schools said.

The district also recently installed a visitor management system and the use of artificial intelligence to improve camera systems, the release said.

There have been at least three reported incidents of weapons on Cumberland County school grounds in 2024:

  • A student was arrested after allegedly being found sleeping in a vehicle with a loaded gun in his pocket in the parking lot at Douglas Byrd High School on Feb. 15.

  • A student was arrested after a gun, ammo and drugs were found at South View High School on April 10.

  • A Fayetteville mother was arrested on allegations she brought a firearm to a Hope Mills Middle School baseball game on April 18.

Public safety reporter Joseph Pierre can be reached at jpierre@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Cumberland County to install metal detectors at schools