News and Information

Tapping Technology To Keep Predators Out of School
District Administrator Magazine, November 2005

Sex offenders and schools shouldn't mix. Unfortunately, they occasionally do. This fall registered offenders entered schools in Illinois and Florida, but they were stopped before they could interact with students.

The two schools were equipped with a Web-based system that includes a scanner to screen visitors' drivers' licenses and compares the visitor's name against the sex offender database in 43 states. If the visitor is registered in any of the states, a picture of the offender is instantly sent to the school. If it's a match, Raptor Technologies's V-soft program sends a text message or e-mail to law enforcement and school administrators within 10 seconds, enabling law enforcement officials to immediately handle the situation.

The company is working with the several additional states to develop a unique identifier like first and last name plus date of birth to enable the software to catch offenders registered in any state, says President Allan Measom.

The software is proving utility beyond nabbing sex offenders in schools. "Schools can stay up top of custody issues," explains Measom. If a non-custodial parent shows up at school office to retrieve a child, the software alerts staff. The open-architected software can be tied into other programs to track items like track volunteer hours or share real-time time and attendance data.