DESOTO PARISH, La-What started as a school project has become a way for law enforcement in Desoto Parish to better protect students in schools.
With the work of some creative students at Logansport High School, and the school’s dedicated resource officer who has vowed to protect them, a new tool has been created that could save lives.
“Time saves lives. This eliminates time,” says Lt. Lane Burns from the Desoto Parish Sheriff’s Department on the innovative new tool.
Lt. Burns has been in law enforcement for less than 3 years, but in just a short span of time he has made a huge impact on the students he protects.
Lt. Burns was working at Logansport High School when he worked with a group of students there to implement a groundbreaking idea that could transform the way school resource officers patrol the school campus.
The students were in an engineering class learning skills like building apps when Lt. Burns decided to stop by and ask about what they were learning.
“Well, it basically started with a simple ‘Will you all build an app?’ and we just thought… “Why build an app like a game or a streaming website, let’s make something that has an impact.”
Lt. Burns suggested the students build a map that could help law enforcement, but not just any map.
The students worked with Lt. Burns to create an interactive map of their school through a mapping company called MapMe.
The timing was no accident, as the country had just been rocked by the tragic 2022 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which left many questioning how best to keep students safe at school.
“We are behind the game when it comes to knowing the layout of schools.
The team worked to map the school using 360-degree images of each classroom, hallway and stairwell. Drone imagery was also used to map the school’s campus.
The maps are only available to officers to give them an advantage in case the unthinkable happens.
According to Burns, it was the creativity of these students that helped bring this idea to reality.
“You made me feel like it was possible. I never would have pursued it if it wasn’t for her,” he said.
Lt. Burns says the information provided by the cards students develop is a “game changer.”
Safety is the primary concern of law enforcement and schools in the Desoto community. Therefore, giving this project the green light was a no-brainer. for Coday Johntson, President of the Desoto Parish School Board, as the country grapples with the aftermath of another school shooting in Nashville, Tennessee.
“The Desoto Parish School Board is pleased to say that we have an SRO at every school and campus in the community and have a wonderful working relationship with the Sheriff’s Department. We’re very proud that SROs like Deputy Burns are thinking about ways and ways beyond that,” said Johnston.
Deputy Burns says he’s had positive feedback from other law enforcement officials since the project began and is now working to implement the maps in all Desoto Parish Schools and eventually across the state.
“We do our job. We try our best to make the school as safe as possible,” he says.
This summer, Lt. Burns will speak at an SRO conference in Marksville, Louisiana, representing Desoto Parish.
He will be introducing the card idea to members of the FBI and other SROs across the state to keep making a difference.
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