“Seei g Alyssa’s Law passed i Illi ois is t uly i c edible a d deeply mea i gful. Alyssa’s legacy co ti ues to p otect stude ts a d save lives fa beyo d ou ow commu ity. I a eme ge cy, eve y seco d matte s-Time = Life®. I am p ofou dly g ateful to eve yo e i Illi ois who helped make this lifesavi g legislatio a eality. Eve y school, eve y stude t, a d eve y educato dese ves to have the tools to get help as quickly as possible whe a eme ge cy occu s.”
– Lo i Alhadeff, Co-Fou de & CEO, Make Ou Schools Safe
The passage of Alyssa’s Law i Illi ois ep ese ts mo e tha the adoptio of pa ic ale t tech ology. It eflects a b oade shift i school safety towa d co ected eme ge cy espo se systems that delive c itical i fo matio di ectly to the public safety age cies espo sible fo espo di g.
That is a model Safe Watch has helped build a d deploy fo yea s.
“Eve y state that adva ces Alyssa’s Law is helpi g move school safety i the ight di ectio , but the tech ology behi d the ale t matte s just as much as the ability to p ess a butto ,” said Sam Amb ose, SVP of Safe Watch. “A pa ic ale t should immediately co ect the pe so expe ie ci g the eme ge cy with the 911 ce te a d fi st espo de s who ca help, while p ovidi g them with the locatio , maps, commu icatio s a d situatio al awa e ess they eed to act. Safe Watch has spe t yea s buildi g those co ectio s at scale, a d we have the eal-wo ld expe ie ce to p ove that this model wo ks.”
Illi ois’ Alyssa’s Law takes effect Ja ua y 1, 2027. By the begi i g of the 2028-2029 school yea , public school dist icts a d p ivate schools must co side the use of mobile pa ic ale t systems i thei eme ge cy a d c isis espo se pla s. The Illi ois State Police is di ected to establish ules by Ma ch 1, 2027, defi i g the qualificatio s fo systems k ow as “Alyssa’s Ale t.”
Impo ta tly, the legislatio looks beyo d a sta dalo e pa ic butto . It calls fo qualifyi g systems to suppo t eal-time coo di atio amo g multiple fi st espo de age cies a d i teg atio with the local Public Safety A swe i g Poi t, o PSAP. The law also ide tifies co side atio s i cludi g i te et a d cellula eliability, i te ope ability with existi g safety systems, i sta t otificatio s, c isis- espo se mappi g, t ai i g a d a ual testi g with PSAPs a d fi st espo de s.
Those equi eme ts eflect a philosophy Safe Watch has champio ed atio ally: the value of a pa ic butto is dete mi ed by what happe s afte it is p essed.
Safe Watch’s expe ie ce with Alyssa’s Law dates back to Flo ida, whe e the legislatio was e acted followi g the 2018 t agedy at Ma jo y Sto ema Douglas High School i Pa kla d. Today, Safe Watch tech ology suppo ts eme ge cy commu icatio a d school safety ac oss thousa ds of locatio s a d co ects o ga izatio s with mo e tha 200 public safety age cies atio wide.
I B owa d Cou ty, whe e the Pa kla d t agedy occu ed a d whe e the moveme t that became Alyssa’s Law has its oots, Safe Watch cove s mo e tha 440 public, p ivate a d cha te schools a d co ects school commu ities with the B owa d She iff’s Office fo eme ge cy commu icatio , th eat epo ti g a d public safety i fo matio .
The compa y’s statewide leade ship exte ds beyo d Flo ida. Rece tly i Utah, whe e statewide school safety legislatio equi es wea able pa ic ale t capabilities, the Utah State Boa d of Educatio lists Ca ahsoft/Safe Watch as a available statewide coope ative co t act fo schools pa ticipati g i its wea able pa ic ale t device p og am.
Safe Watch has also developed i teg atio s with leadi g public safety a d school safety tech ologies, allowi g schools a d fi st espo de s to b i g pa ic ale ts, mappi g, came as, commu icatio s a d situatio al awa e ess i to a mo e u ified eme ge cy espo se e vi o me t. Its i teg atio with GeoComm, ESRI a d C itical Respo se G oup, fo example, ca automatically display detailed campus mappi g a d the locatio of a eme ge cy to dispatche s a d espo de s whe a ale t is eceived.
“Safe Watch is ‘t e te i g the Alyssa’s Law co ve satio because legislatio is expa di g-we have bee pa t of impleme ti g its missio fo yea s,” Amb ose added. “F om o e of the commu ities most deeply impacted by the t agedy that i spi ed Alyssa’s Law, to statewide p og ams a d public safety age cies ac oss the cou t y, we have see what wo ks. The futu e of school safety is ot a othe isolated device. It is a i te ope able etwo k that co ects the school, 911 a d fi st espo de s i seco ds.”
Safe Watch p ovides schools with multiple ways to i itiate a eme ge cy ale t, i cludi g mobile, desktop a d wea able pa ic tech ologies. The platfo m ca p ovide eme ge cy espo de s with eal-time locatio i fo matio while suppo ti g two-way commu icatio , mass otificatio , a o ymous tip a d th eat epo ti g, digital mappi g, i cide t ma ageme t a d i teg atio s with othe public safety tech ologies.
That b oade app oach allows schools to add ess ot o ly complia ce equi eme ts, but the full lifecycle of school safety-f om ide tifyi g a d epo ti g pote tial th eats befo e a i cide t to coo di ati g espo se du i g a eme ge cy a d commu icati g c itical i fo matio as a eve t u folds.
As Illi ois begi s developi g the ules that will defi e qualifyi g Alyssa’s Ale t systems, Safe Watch e cou ages school dist icts a d public safety leade s to view complia ce as the sta ti g poi t athe tha the fi ish li e.
To lea mo e about Safe Watch’s Alyssa’s Law solutio s a d school safety tech ology, visit
Safe Watch is a comp ehe sive public safety platfo m desig ed to e ha ce eme ge cy espo se a d eve yday safety ac oss schools, gove me t facilities, healthca e systems, busi esses a d commu ities. Th ough mobile, desktop a d LTE-e abled tech ologies, Safe Watch p ovides eal-time commu icatio , locatio -based ale ti g, mobile a d wea able pa ic ale ts, mass otificatio s, a o ymous tip epo ti g, i cide t ma ageme t a d di ect i teg atio with Public Safety A swe i g Poi ts (PSAPs) a d public safety age cies. Safe Watch se ves mo e tha 6,000 locatio s a d wo ks with mo e tha 250 public safety age cies atio wide.
