Waco School First in Texas to Use Software for First Responders During Emergency
By: Sarah Macias
Source: CenTexProud.com and Fox 44 News
ROBINSON, Texas - The Robinson Independent School District is going to great lengths to protect students from harm.
The district is the first in the state to have access to a software called "CommandScope", allowing the police and fire departments to tap into a school's surveillance system if an emergency happens.
CommandScope works without the internet, and has a layout for everything in and around the schools - including water supply. Police say this will allow them to respond quicker to emergencies.
"It's very simple. It's very easy to learn. It's very easy to understand," one Robinson police officer says.
All Robinson fire and police officers now have CommandScope on their laptops to give them a look inside the schools as they respond to emergencies.
"Floor plans, hazardous materials, you know, any kind of information that will help them to securing an area or being able to fight a fire," says Robinson ISD Director of Special Programs David Wrzesinski.
With this software, educators don't have to pick up the phone to call for help - now they just click for it.
"It will automatically send an alert out that will get responders in route to them," an officer says.
Dispatchers also have access. They can give first responders a play-by-play of what's happening.
"Having this is an additional tool to us to narrow down our response to certain areas based on information. It just makes it much more efficient," says Robinson Police Chief Phillip Prasifka.
With this week's deadly shooting in Florida, and multiple reports of students taking guns to school, officers say this issue is high on their radar. This is why the district hopes to connect the surveillance cameras to the software soon.
"They can go and access those cameras and see Room #214 and see whats going on in that room," Wrzesinski says.
"This tool is going to help keep our children and our staff safe at this district," Prasfika says.
The software cost the district around $2,300.
Robinson ISD is upgrading their cameras and hope to have them connected to CommandScope by this summer.