COLUMBUS – Ohio’s top law enforcement official is offering school districts and police the chance to use drones and videos to better prepare for assaults such as the one in Parkland, Fla., in February, which left 17 people dead.
Attorney General Mike DeWine’s office is recommending districts use state-owned drones to take aerial photos of school buildings and his office has also released the first of a series of training videos aimed at preparing school staff for attacks.
The state’s Bureau of Criminal Identification, which is a part of DeWine’s office, has six drones used primarily to document crime scenes and assist in missing persons cases but DeWine announced Wednesday that the bureau is offering the drones to take free aerial photographs of school buildings for inclusion in school safety plans.
“When law enforcement responds to a school emergency, they must have as much information about the school as possible,” DeWine said. “Right now, school safety plans must include floor plans, but I believe that aerial photos will be an effective tool to help law enforcement plan for and respond to a violent incident.”
Ohio law requires that each school in Ohio have a school safety plan on file for law enforcement to aid authorities in responding to an emergency. The addition of aerial photographs is encouraged but not required for schools, DeWine said.
The videos – with titles like “Planning with Law Enforcement,” “Lockdown,” “Shelter in Place” and “Evacuation” – were produced by the Ohio Peace Officers Training Academy to help educators and law enforcement work in tandem to prepare for and react to a violent school incident. The remaining 15 videos will be released later this summer, DeWine said.
The videos are an update to training received by nearly 15,000 educators since 2013 which covered topics like how to intervene with students who could pose a danger and how to respond in a crisis situation. A total of 98 sessions were held across the state, and training DVDs were also provided to every school district in Ohio.
An accompanying workbook provides summaries, definitions, discussion points and next steps.
Like the drones, use of the videos is not required but DeWine says it is encouraged.