Authorities Hope Interactive Maps Can Help Prevent School Tragedy

PRAIRIE VILLAGE, Kan. — The tragic shooting death of three people at an Ohio high school has authorities and school officials across the nation taking a closer look at their own plans in the event of a worst-case scenario.

Here in the metro, Detective Seth Meyer of the Prairie Village Police Department and owner of 360 Degrees of Kansas City, has a program that allows police to view an interactive 360-degree map of Shawnee Mission East High School. This allows officers to see precisely what they can expect in terms of the layout of the building.

“The school crisis mapping is essentially an interactive floor plan of Shawnee Mission East with an interconnected web of 360 degree spherical photos, so essentially that officer can walk through the school, walk every classroom, every hallway, every exterior space and be able to see the school in it’s entirety,” said Meyer. “This allows officers to actually be at the school, be able to walk the school, before they get there so they can orient themselves and know what they’re going to see when they walk into the school.”

Meyer says that the maps are currently deployed in every responding emergency vehicle, allowing police to view them in route to the school. These allow the officers and incident commanders to make educated and informed decisions prior to getting to the school.

“All schools are required to have some kind of preparedness plan in place, so this is a part of that plan,” said Meyer. “They will be able to work with our inside commanders by using the maps, so we can start sending in resources whether it be the police department, fire department, medical and start assisting them as to what might be the best course of action.”