Steve Chacon (left), installer, and Chris Fill (right), president, Tempe, Ariz.’s, Total Protection Films.

A Prescott, Ariz., elementary school is now a safer place to work and learn due to newly-installed security film and attachments on the exterior and interior windows of the building. Tempe, Ariz.’s, Total Protection Films completed the 1,100 square-foot, four-day project with two installers and a prepper/helper.

Project Profile

“The school received a construction grant to upgrade the [building] for security purposes,” says Chris Fill, president of Total Protection Films. “It’s an older school built probably in the early 1950s. Some of the windows are nearly 75 years old. This school is in the middle of basically nowhere. It’s a smaller school. The school is so old, yet very sound when it comes to build quality. It’s a brick structure with steel-frame glass windows.”

Total Protection Films is a commercial and residential window film installation company serving Phoenix and the surrounding metro cities with more than 20 years of experience. Seventy percent of the company’s projects are commercial security film and attachment installations. The business has installed security film at four schools in Arizona in the last two years.

“It feels great,” Fill says of school-based security film installations. “To be a part of something that will secure lives and assets is cool—while providing a service to make money on at the same time. It’s opened doors for us to collaborate with other companies that are designing security facets for schools and structures. We’re trying to come together to secure schools, structures and religious organizations that need our services.”

Educating the Public

Two installers and a prepper/helper assisted with the 1,100 square-foot, four-day project.

With tragic mass shootings on the rise, communities are seeking solutions. Security film and attachments play a crucial role, but Fill says it’s necessary to provide proper education on the products.

“We help our customers understand that the film we’re putting on is an anti-intruder film,” he says. “The objective is to keep someone out for a period of time so that authorities can arrive or others in the structure can put themselves in a secure spot. It’s a walkthrough process through our onboarding of the project.”

Buying Time: Security Film’s Role in School Security, a WINDOW FILM magazine May/June 2023 feature focuses on the misconceptions of security film. Click here to read the article.

Further Reading

School security is a focus in and out of the window film industry. From Texas to Tennessee to South Carolina to Kentucky, catch up on the latest developments within the security film and attachment product segment. And feel free to reach out to editor Chris Collier at ccollier@glass.com to share how your company makes schools safer with security films and attachments.

• South Carolina Budget Earmarks Millions for School Security Upgrades

• Tennessee Enacts Law Involving Security Film

• Kentucky Schools Invest in Security Film

• Texas Adopts School Safety Standards Including Film