Empowering First Responders – Police and Educator Cooperation
Few question the value of interaction between police and schools. After all, the safety of our youth is not simply a shared interest; it is paramount.
While it’s difficult to fathom the possibility of an active shooter incident on school grounds, the threat is real. OSCR360 empowers both our first responders and schools to prepare for the unthinkable, long before an emergency happens.
OSCR360 uses 360° imaging, software and geo-tagging technology to map out educational facilities and create virtual tours so these facilities can be explored remotely. Using 360° virtual training, first responders can plan and prepare to encounter any situational threat with tactical confidence.
Hear about three partnerships between law enforcement, schools and universities to learn how they are proactively planning for active shooter incidents.
Central Falls Police Department, RI
“For law enforcement it can be frustrating knowing the importance of training and preparing for these events,” says Lt. Christopher A. Reed from the Central Falls Police Department. “I believe that school administrations going forward, based on current events, see the importance for continuing to foster a great working partnership.” Indications are, schools increasingly accept the realities of active shooter incidents, no matter how remote the possibility. From a police perspective, familiarization with buildings, environments, and their populations is key.
Police and Educator Cooperation: In their efforts with the Central Falls School District, CFPD is..
- Completing assessments of all public and private school buildings.
- Taking part in all lockdown drills.
- Has all SROs trained as active shooter and ALICE instructors.
- Molding each school’s approach on grade level, staff ability, and infrastructure.
- Planning to document all public buildings and willing private facilities with OSCR360.
Lt. Reed recognizes getting all officers into every building in its jurisdiction, even once, is impractical. “Access to the completed documentation will be available to all officers via desktops and MDTs. With the amount of buildings, confidently knowing your way around after just one tour is not realistic,” he says. “With OSCR360, the officers can pull up a building and virtually tour the layout during down time or roll call trainings. Having our officers equipped with better knowledge of the layout will be beneficial to all involved.”
Rush-Henrietta Central School District, NY
For Gary Rose, Security Supervisor at Rush-Henrietta High School, outside Rochester, NY, cooperative efforts are critical. “It’s imperative that schools and law enforcement work together, not only on the physical training piece, but the line of open communication as well,” he says. “We bring law enforcement in on threat assessments when needed to gather appropriate information on individuals that raise red flags with us in school. Law enforcement can share information with us with regard to contacts they may have with these individuals within our community as well.”
R-H Central School District partners with the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, an early adopter of OSCR360:
- Allows MCSO S.W.A.T. to use various schools for training, familiarization, and active shooter response.
- MSCO offers training for district staff to discuss active shooter incidents.
- Rose developed and conducts emergency response training with high school students, faculty and staff.
- Rose conducts ongoing training with special needs high school students, tailor-made to their abilities.
- Both agencies conduct cooperative two-way threat assessments on identified individuals.
Rochester Institute of Technology, NY
Grade schools are not the only educational venues working hand-in-hand with law enforcement. The Public Safety Department at a Rochester N.Y. University has begun documenting its entire collegiate campus with OSCR360.
A Rochester University is using OSCR360 for scenario based training:
- RIT Public Safety uses OSCR360 to provide realistic in-depth scenario based training within the department and with outside first responders including Fire, EMS and Law Enforcement teams.
- The department plans to catalog all spaces on the RIT Campus with OSCR360 as another resource for emergency response.
Use of OSCR360 to document buildings fills a tactical void, says L-Tron Director of Forensic Education Andrew McNeill, a 20-year police veteran. “A common police training mantra is, ‘where the mind has been, the body will go.’ Officers often don’t have the luxury of detailed tours of Universities and other high-traffic buildings. OSCR360 fills this knowledge gap by providing an unlimited number of virtual tours at the officer’s pace. An officer who has calmly “toured” a building during his down time will be better prepared to navigate inside that building under high stress conditions later.”
There is no ONE solution to increasing school safety, but open communication and increasing police and educator cooperation is certainly a great start.
These are people with true hearts and a winning mindset.
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Kiki. On Fleek. Bae. Yas.
Every generation revises and adds to language, its predecessors uttering,
“Those damn kids!” No different today. And these language updates don’t just apply to popular culture. We’re seeing the same in public safety.
Another retired cop and I recently discussed “pre-plan” versus plain old “plan.”…
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These days, the term, “active shooter,” is far too commonplace. For first responders, the term “active shooter” can mean a potential threat to their survival.
First responders better their chances of survival by continually exploring ways to prepare for and respond to such incidents. One way in which to prepare is by coming up with a pre-accident plan.
