New York City Mayor Eric Adams and New York City Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Matthew Fraser today announced the nation’s first pilot integrating public schools with 911 services to enable rapid, life-saving response in the event of an active shooter situation. | Photo by Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office
NEW YORK – Mayor Eric Adams unveiled a first-in-the-nation Emergency Alert System (EAS) that directly connects NYC public schools to 911 dispatchers, enabling rapid response—within 10 seconds—in the event of an active shooter or weapon-based threat.
Developed by NYC’s Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI), the Emergency Alert System (EAS) is a secure, automated system that allows schools to instantly alert 911 during a hard lockdown. Activation methods include fixed panic buttons and wireless lanyards worn by school staff. Once triggered, the alert bypasses traditional 911 protocols and goes straight to dispatchers, while audio and video indicators warn everyone inside the school of the emergency.
The pilot program launched at Spring Creek campus in Brooklyn, making it the first school building in the U.S. with direct 911 integration. The system will be rolled out to 25 school buildings covering 51 public schools across all five boroughs during the 2025–2026 school year.
Mayor Adams emphasized that public safety is foundational to education, and this system ensures help arrives within seconds during a crisis. NYC CTO Matthew Fraser noted that the system not only alerts responders but can also pinpoint where in the school the threat is occurring, enhancing situational awareness.
“Public safety is our North Star,” Adams said. “We know that public safety is a prerequisite to our prosperity. We have to be safe. I know it. You know it. But we want to feel safe at the same time. Our parents must feel safe. Our students must feel safe.”
The initiative responds to a troubling trend: over 1,900 K–12 school shooting incidents occurred nationwide between 2015 and 2025, with a peak of 351 in 2023.
“We’re the first city in the nation to provide this type of capability. And what we look forward to is a much safer New York and a much safer United States,” said Fraser.
The EAS is part of Adams’ broader push to use technology for public safety, complementing efforts like removing over 24,000 illegal guns from NYC streets.
The system was custom-built after OTI found no existing product met the city’s needs for direct 911 integration in schools.
