Campus safety agents around New York City will now be in direct communication with police via new radios in an effort to make school environments safer.

The change comes after the NYPD issued new radios to school safety agents at the beginning of the school year and instructed them to stay on a channel monitored by the department. The NYPD says the change will help improve response times in case of an emergency.

Previously, safety officers used the same radio frequency as the Department of Education staff in their schools. Now, only one agent per school will stay on that channel to maintain communication with other school staff.