NEWARK, Calif. – Officials recently installed a network of microphones around Newark Memorial High School to become the first school in the nation with a gunfire detection system.

The school’s new SecureCampus technology alerts officials when shots are fired on campus, and provides an instant location that’s accurate to within 10 feet, CBS Evening News reports.

The technology, developed by the company ShotSpotter, is already in use in many cities to help law enforcement quickly track criminal activity, and it now covers Newark High School’s 25 buildings spread over 44 acres, according to the Contra Costa Times.

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“We look at this as the next wave of student and staff safety,” said Newark Unified School District Superintendent Dave Marken told the news site. “Being right in the heart of Silicon Valley, we’re proud to be the first high school to implement this cutting-edge technology and we believe many others will follow.”

The school has never had an active shooter scenario, and officials wouldn’t say how many microphones are spread around campus, or how much the system cost, KTVU reports.

“When there’s a school shooting without SecureCampus it’s chaos,” Newark principal Phil Morales told the news site. “It’s still chaos. It’s scary, but it gives us that immediate information.”

Officials acknowledged that the system won’t prevent a school shooter from firing at students, but will help first responders react quickly if there is a shooting.

“God forbid that this technology would ever have to be deployed,” Marken told KTVU. “But when it’s in place, we believe (a) significant number of lives will be saved.”

FBI statistics show there have been 27 school shootings in the U.S. between 2000 and 2013, CBS News reports.

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“It won’t stop a school shooting but it’ll get us to the shooter quicker,” Newark Police Commander Mike Carroll said. “It’ll get us medical aid to those people who are injured in a shooting much, much faster.”

Carroll told the Contra Costa Times the system will alert the school’s principal, superintendent and police of where shots are fired, but has built-in protections against false alarms. He also assured the media the unknown number of microphones on campus won’t compromise student privacy.

“It’ won’t have false alarms because it can distinguish between a gunshot and a firecracker or a door slamming,” he said. “And it doesn’t record conversations because they aren’t loud enough to trigger a recording.”

Currently ShotSpotter is in use in 90 cities worldwide, and one other school campus – the Savannah College of Art and Design in Georgia, company vice president Damaune Journey told the Contra Costa Times.

The site reports that the school board did not vote on the contract with ShotSpotter because it was under $20,000, and district policy gives Marken authority to make purchases below that threshold.

The superintendent said the system will cost “a few thousand dollars per year” to maintain service, which is less than the district spends for its fire alarm system.