Are our Schools Prepared to Handle a Shooting?

Tools

By Stacy Lilienthal

Story Published: Apr 6, 2009 at 11:39 PM PDT

Four 13 and 14 year-old teenagers were arrested yesterday. Cops say they planned to kill students and adults at their junior high school near Salem, a plot that we see carried out all too often.

So i wanted to know, how prepared are our police for a threat? Captain Greg Copeland with the Yakima Police assures us, "If something like that happens we have the layout of the school pretty much at our fingertips." He tells me Washington is one of few states to have maps of all primary and secondary schools and even some colleges.

With this program police can quickly find out where every door is, every floor, every hidden area. And they can take this information with them on the go. "It's available in most of the police cars. Especially the supervisors cars and up at dispatch as well." says Copeland. "Some school campuses are pretty complex with different stories and multiple buildings so it's good to have that."

Because every minute matters in a crisis. And with this program emergency crews can take care of the kids that matter most to you, in minutes less. Stacy Lilienthal, Action News.

The Rapid Responder program also helps responders in case of a fire, medical emergency, or any other case when they need to get to someone fast

Upload directly from your mobile device.

Learn how

YouNews

This content requires the latest Adobe Flash Player and a browser with JavaScript enabled. Click here for a free download of the latest Adobe Flash Player.

On Demand

Stay Connected