As the nation gets ready to mark the one year anniversary of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting this week, IHS announced on Wednesday that it is forecasting strong growth in demand for security equipment in U.S. schools over the next several years.

According to the research firm, the market size for security equipment in schools will reach $634 million this year and is expected to surpass $720 million by 2014. IHS said that high-profile shootings like Sandy Hook have a “partial impact” on school security spending as there is typically a spike in spending and budgets following these tragedies.

“These events force schools to review their existing policies and create threat assessments as well as new policies and procedures. There is no set standard for what schools need to do to prevent these tragedies,” Blake Kozak, senior analyst for access control, fire, and security at IHS said in a statement.

“Perhaps the key here is to have ongoing discussions and security reviews long after such events fade from media coverage. For example, continued knowledge sharing between school districts and universities to find best practices.” Funding remains one of the biggest barriers of growth when it comes to expanded use of security equipment in schools.

IHS said that the U.S. Department of Justice awarded $45 million in Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) grants this year to schools that planned security enhancements.

Video surveillance is expected to be the focal point of school security spending in the years to come. […]