With more than 6,000 locations and 250 public safety agencies served nationwide, Alyssa's Law implementation experience statewide, SaferWatch brings a proven model for connecting schools directly with first responders and school staff.

FORT LAUDERDALE, FL / ACCESS Newswire / August 21, 2026 / SaferWatch, a national leader in school safety and emergency response technology, today applauded Illinois Governor JB Pritzker's signing of House Bill 5107, legislation that may be referred to as Alyssa's Law, marking another major step in the nationwide movement to improve how quickly schools can communicate with 911 centers and first responders during an emergency. Governor Pritzker signed the legislation on August 7, 2026.

"Seeing Alyssa's Law passed in Illinois is truly incredible and deeply meaningful. Alyssa's legacy continues to protect students and save lives far beyond our own community. In an emergency, every second matters-Time = Life®. I am profoundly grateful to everyone in Illinois who helped make this lifesaving legislation a reality. Every school, every student, and every educator deserves to have the tools to get help as quickly as possible when an emergency occurs."

- Lori Alhadeff, Co-Founder & CEO, Make Our Schools Safe

The passage of Alyssa's Law in Illinois represents more than the adoption of panic alert technology. It reflects a broader shift in school safety toward connected emergency response systems that deliver critical information directly to the public safety agencies responsible for responding.

That is a model SaferWatch has helped build and deploy for years.

"Every state that advances Alyssa's Law is helping move school safety in the right direction, but the technology behind the alert matters just as much as the ability to press a button," said Sam Ambrose, SVP of SaferWatch. "A panic alert should immediately connect the person experiencing the emergency with the 911 center and first responders who can help, while providing them with the location, maps, communications and situational awareness they need to act. SaferWatch has spent years building those connections at scale, and we have the real-world experience to prove that this model works."

Illinois Raises the Standard Beyond the Panic Button

Illinois' Alyssa's Law takes effect January 1, 2027. By the beginning of the 2028-2029 school year, public school districts and private schools must consider the use of mobile panic alert systems in their emergency and crisis response plans. The Illinois State Police is directed to establish rules by March 1, 2027, defining the qualifications for systems known as "Alyssa's Alert."

Importantly, the legislation looks beyond a standalone panic button. It calls for qualifying systems to support real-time coordination among multiple first responder agencies and integration with the local Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP. The law also identifies considerations including internet and cellular reliability, interoperability with existing safety systems, instant notifications, crisis-response mapping, training and annual testing with PSAPs and first responders.

Those requirements reflect a philosophy SaferWatch has championed nationally: the value of a panic button is determined by what happens after it is pressed.

SaferWatch's Alyssa's Law Leadership Is Backed by Real-World Experience

SaferWatch's experience with Alyssa's Law dates back to Florida, where the legislation was enacted following the 2018 tragedy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Today, SaferWatch technology supports emergency communication and school safety across thousands of locations and connects organizations with more than 200 public safety agencies nationwide.

In Broward County, where the Parkland tragedy occurred and where the movement that became Alyssa's Law has its roots, SaferWatch covers more than 440 public, private and charter schools and connects school communities with the Broward Sheriff's Office for emergency communication, threat reporting and public safety information.

The company's statewide leadership extends beyond Florida. Recently in Utah, where statewide school safety legislation requires wearable panic alert capabilities, the Utah State Board of Education lists Carahsoft/SaferWatch as an available statewide cooperative contract for schools participating in its wearable panic alert device program.

SaferWatch has also developed integrations with leading public safety and school safety technologies, allowing schools and first responders to bring panic alerts, mapping, cameras, communications and situational awareness into a more unified emergency response environment. Its integration with GeoComm, ESRI and Critical Response Group, for example, can automatically display detailed campus mapping and the location of an emergency to dispatchers and responders when an alert is received.

"SaferWatch isn't entering the Alyssa's Law conversation because legislation is expanding-we have been part of implementing its mission for years," Ambrose added. "From one of the communities most deeply impacted by the tragedy that inspired Alyssa's Law, to statewide programs and public safety agencies across the country, we have seen what works. The future of school safety is not another isolated device. It is an interoperable network that connects the school, 911 and first responders in seconds."

From Compliance to a Complete Emergency Response Strategy

SaferWatch provides schools with multiple ways to initiate an emergency alert, including mobile, desktop and wearable panic technologies. The platform can provide emergency responders with real-time location information while supporting two-way communication, mass notification, anonymous tip and threat reporting, digital mapping, incident management and integrations with other public safety technologies.

That broader approach allows schools to address not only compliance requirements, but the full lifecycle of school safety-from identifying and reporting potential threats before an incident to coordinating response during an emergency and communicating critical information as an event unfolds.

As Illinois begins developing the rules that will define qualifying Alyssa's Alert systems, SaferWatch encourages school districts and public safety leaders to view compliance as the starting point rather than the finish line.

A panic button can initiate an alert. A connected emergency response system helps ensure the right people receive the right information when every second matters.

To learn more about SaferWatch's Alyssa's Law solutions and school safety technology, visit SaferWatchApp.com.

About SaferWatch

SaferWatch is a comprehensive public safety platform designed to enhance emergency response and everyday safety across schools, government facilities, healthcare systems, businesses and communities. Through mobile, desktop and LTE-enabled technologies, SaferWatch provides real-time communication, location-based alerting, mobile and wearable panic alerts, mass notifications, anonymous tip reporting, incident management and direct integration with Public Safety Answering Points (PSAPs) and public safety agencies. SaferWatch serves more than 6,000 locations and works with more than 250 public safety agencies nationwide.

Media Contact:
Cortney Warshaw
Director of Marketing
SaferWatch
cortney@saferwatchapp.com

SOURCE: SaferWatch