Reader-supported. GopherTrunk is free, open-source software. Some
hardware links on this page go to Amazon with our Associates tag
(gophertrunk-20); if you buy through them we may earn a small
commission at no extra cost to you. Links to out-of-production gear may go to
eBay searches instead; we have no affiliate relationship with eBay and earn
nothing there. It never changes which gear we recommend, and
the software stays free either way. How GopherTrunk is funded →
Why Is the School on Lockdown? What Parents Should Do
Most school lockdowns are precautionary — police activity in the neighborhood, not a threat inside — and the single most important thing a parent can do is also the hardest one: don’t drive to the school. Here’s what the terminology actually means, how the next hour will unfold, and how to get real information while the official messages catch up.
Key takeaways “Secure” ≠ “Lockdown”: secure = threat outside, doors locked, class continues (routine); lockdown = threat at/inside the building (rare, often a hoax). Do not go to the school — you’ll block the response; wait for the reunification message and bring photo ID. Text once, calmly; don’t call repeatedly. Info while you wait: district + PD social feeds, county alerts you registered for, and — where unencrypted — the dispatch traffic itself, where the all-clear happens first.
Decode the word the school used
Most districts follow the Standard Response Protocol, and the exact term in the message tells you the shape of the event:
- Hold — hallways cleared, class continues; usually a medical event or maintenance issue inside. Lowest concern.
- Secure (older term: “lockout”) — something is happening outside: a police search nearby, a pursuit, a bank robbery a mile away. Exterior doors lock, recess comes inside, teaching continues. This is by far the most common event, and it usually ends within the hour when the outside incident resolves.
- Lockdown — a threat at or inside the building: locked doors, lights out, students out of sight. Rare — and a painful share of the dramatic ones are swatting hoaxes, fake calls engineered to draw exactly the massive response you’re seeing.
- Evacuate / Shelter — movement orders; the school’s message will name where.
The next hour, from the outside
- The first message is thin on purpose — staff secure kids first, communicate second. A vague first text is procedure, not concealment.
- The response looks huge regardless — agencies surge on every school call and stand down after the canvass. Many units ≠ confirmed threat.
- Reunification, if needed, happens off-site — a named location, controlled release, photo ID required. This is why driving to the school accomplishes nothing: your child won’t be released at the front door.
- The all-clear lands as a message and, before that, as radio traffic — “building canvass complete, code 4” — which is why scanner-listening parents are calm twenty minutes early.
What to do — and not do — while it runs
- One text, calm, short. “I know what’s happening. I love you. Follow your teacher.” Then stop — silent classrooms full of buzzing phones and crying return-texts are a genuine operational problem.
- Stay off the school’s phone lines — the office is running the protocol, and 911 does not have school updates for you.
- Don’t spread screenshots. Mid-incident rumors (and hoax calls themselves) travel through parent group chats faster than any fact; forward the school’s messages, not the speculation.
- Registered for county and district alerts? This event is why. Do it today if not.
The information gap this page can’t close politely
Between message one and the all-clear sits an hour where the district says nothing and your imagination says plenty. The honest options: the district and police social feeds (minutes behind), local news (further behind), or — where your agencies are unencrypted — the dispatch channels coordinating the actual canvass, live. That last one is what the kit below hears, and on the worst morning of a school year it is the difference between an hour of dread and hearing “canvass complete, unfounded” in real time. On the ordinary mornings it answers everything else on this site.
The fix for next time: a scanner that never sleeps, for about $250
Every lookup method on this page depends on someone else — a feed volunteer, an app's coverage map, an agency webmaster. This kit removes the middleman: a silent little box on a shelf that decodes your county's digital dispatch directly off the air, streams it to any browser in the house, and records every call with timestamps. Next time the sirens go past, the answer is already on your phone — and free, open-source GopherTrunk is the software, so the parts below are the entire cost.
Why two receivers: one dongle stays locked to your police trunked system while the second covers fire/EMS or a neighboring system at the same time — the two channels a "what's going on?" moment actually needs. That's a trick a $500 handheld scanner can't do, and GopherTrunk drives both dongles from one Orange Pi.
Orange Pi 5
around $90
The RK3588 host that runs it all 24/7 — silent, low-power, and strong enough for both dongles with headroom to spare. GopherTrunk ships a native ARM64 Linux build for it.
Orange Pi 5 on Amazon →RTL-SDR Blog V4 kit
around $55
The dongle and the telescopic dipole antenna kit with coax and mounts in one box — this one holds your police system's control channel.
V4 + antenna kit on Amazon →RTL-SDR Blog V4 (second dongle)
around $35
Covers fire/EMS, a second trunked system, airband, or NOAA weather — simultaneously, not by giving up the first channel.
RTL-SDR V4 on Amazon →The complete parts list
| Part | Why it's in the kit | Approx $ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Orange Pi 5 | Always-on host for both dongles | ~$90 | Amazon → |
| RTL-SDR Blog V4 + dipole antenna kit | Receiver #1, antennas, coax, mounts | ~$55 | Amazon → |
| RTL-SDR Blog V4 (second) | Receiver #2 — fire/EMS or a second system | ~$35 | Amazon → |
| Powered USB 3.0 hub | Clean, stable power for two warm dongles | ~$35 | Amazon → |
| 16-piece SMA adapter kit | Joins any antenna to any dongle, first try | ~$18 | Amazon → |
| RG316 SMA pigtail kit | Flexible jumpers between hub, dongles, antennas | ~$15 | Amazon → |
| USB-C power supply (5V/4A+) | The Orange Pi 5 needs solid power for 24/7 duty | ~$15 | Amazon → |
| microSD card (64GB, A2) | OS plus months of recorded calls | ~$12 | Amazon → |
Kit total: about $250–275. Worthwhile upgrade once it's earned a permanent shelf: an outdoor discone antenna (~$40) that hears everything from 25–3000 MHz — see the antenna guide. Prefer a Raspberry Pi 5 host instead? Same build, swap the board — Pi 5 (8GB) on Amazon and the SBC build guide.
From boxes to first decoded call
- Flash 64-bit Linux (Debian/Ubuntu image) to the microSD and boot the Orange Pi headless.
- Plug in the powered hub, both dongles, and the antennas — the adapter kit bridges any connector mismatch.
- Install GopherTrunk — one free static binary, no dependencies: download, then follow the setup guide to point it at your county's system from RadioReference.
- Open the web console from any phone or laptop in the house — live calls, talkgroup names, and a scrollable, replayable recording archive.
Two honest caveats before you spend a dime: check RadioReference that your agencies are not encrypted — no device decodes AES — and skim the legality rules for your state (listening is legal in the US; a few states restrict use in vehicles). Rather have a no-computer, pocketable option instead? That's the dedicated scanner guide.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my child's school on lockdown?
Most lockdowns are precautionary and external: police activity in the surrounding neighborhood — a pursuit, a search for a suspect, a nearby robbery — triggers a ‘secure’ posture where classes continue behind locked exterior doors. Full lockdowns for a threat inside the building are far rarer, and swatting hoaxes (fake threat calls) unfortunately account for a meaningful share of the dramatic ones.
What's the difference between lockdown, secure, and hold?
Most US schools use the Standard Response Protocol: ‘Hold’ (stay in your classroom, hallways clear — usually a medical issue inside), ‘Secure’ (threat outside — exterior doors locked, class continues normally), and ‘Lockdown’ (threat inside or immediately at the building — locks, lights out, out of sight). A ‘secure’ is routine and usually resolves within the hour; the word ‘lockdown’ in a school’s message is worth reading precisely.
Should I go to the school during a lockdown?
No — this is the one thing every agency agrees on. Arriving parents block the responding units, clog the streets responders need, and become a crowd police must manage instead of the incident. Nobody will release a child mid-lockdown. Wait for the school’s message naming the reunification site, and bring photo ID when you go.
How will I find out what's happening at the school?
The school or district will push messages (text/email/app) as facts firm up — expect the first one to be thin, because staff secure kids before they type. Between messages: the district’s and police department’s social feeds, and where dispatch is unencrypted, the scanner traffic itself, which is where the ‘all clear, canvass complete’ actually happens before any press release.
Why are there so many police cars at the school but no news coverage?
A large, fast response to any school call is standard even for weak threats and hoaxes — agencies surge first and sort out later. News crews only follow if it develops. A big response followed by quiet dispersal is the signature of a swatting call or an unfounded report, and the dispatch radio narrates exactly that arc.
Should I text my kid during a lockdown?
One short, calm message is fine (‘I know, I love you, follow directions’); a stream of calls is not — phones buzzing in a silent hidden classroom are a real problem, and a panicking child texting back distracts them from instructions. Teachers report parent contact is now one of the hardest parts of any lockdown. Send one line, then work your information sources instead of their phone.