KANSAS CITY, Mo. — When lock downs happen at schools, they can be scary for students and their parents. However, a former police chief says they are necessary to keep everyone safe.
Chief John Douglass retired from the Overland Park Police Department, took a week of vacation and then started his new job as the director of security and safety for the Shawnee Mission School District.
Any time an incident happens at a school here in the metro or anywhere in the United States, he’s watching and learning.
“It’s no different than when I was the chief of police, we’d look at those same kinds of things to try to learn from each other,” Douglass explained.
When it comes to school security, Douglass said it’s always been part of his plan. His new job with the SMSD is no different, in fact, it’s even more focused.
“I read everything I can and I take a look and I think how would we handle it: what would we do? What holes are there? What thing would they wish had been done differently? What things did they do really well?” he said.
Shawnee Mission schools have its own set of policies and procedures for any potential dangerous scenario involving its schools and students. But the last few months have given Douglass plenty to read up on.
In early February , Gladstone Elementary School was locked down after shots were fired near the school.
Later that month, the Success Academy in Raytown, Mo. was locked down because of a homicide in the parking lot.
Last week, Wyandotte High School in Kansas City, Kan. was locked down after a student reported seeing someone with a weapon. Students and teachers turned out lights and locked their doors and police swarmed the school.
It turned out it was a laser pointer for a school project. Douglass calls each of these instances success stories. No students or staff were hurt. While the lock downs can be scary he says they work.
“I think people should realize we are going to error on the side of caution on an abundance of safety and I’m sure parents of children in these school districts want us to do that,” he said.
