The perceptions of superintendents and emergency responders concerning the usefulness of Geographical Information Systems in Illinois school district's crisis response procedures

Across the United States, many communities are concerned with the prevention and response to school violence. To address their concerns, school districts and emergency responders (law enforcement) have increased their use of technological information when planning for and responding to a crisis event. There are many different types of security solutions available that utilize technology to help address the safety concerns. Yet with this increased technology available a modern problem still exists; emergency responders (law enforcement) have limited information when responding to violent situations in schools.;The purpose of this research study was to explore the perceptions concerning the usefulness of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) in Illinois school districts' crisis response procedures, especially the integration of GIS as a method of information sharing between the school districts and the sheriffs offices. Geographical Information Systems (GIS) is a network designed for storing, updating, analyzing, displaying, and manipulating spatial information through digital images. The research evaluated whether GIS would be perceived useful in crisis response through qualitative and quantitative research methods. The qualitative component consisted of interviews with Illinois county sheriffs while the quantitative aspects involved written surveys answered by Illinois school superintendents. The findings demonstrate that Illinois school superintendents and county sheriffs favored the implementation of GIS for crisis response with some financial concerns.