Douglas County student designs 3D-printed tool to help police during school lockdowns

Finding ways to make schools safer is a top priority in districts across Colorado and all over country. Now, a Douglas County student's 3D printed invention could help do that in his school and other schools across the district.

At Mountain Vista High School, the STEM lab is where problems go to get solved, and this semester, Nick Dimercurio has been singularly focused.

For months now, the senior has been fine-tuning his tool meant to help student resource officer Jeff Cislo if there's ever an emergency, especially when doors at schools are locked.

"It's important for us to be able to get through doors quickly, and in one of our trainings we had a door shut behind a deputy and the other guys could not get in to support them," Cislo said.

Earlier this year, Cislo brought that predicament to teacher Kent Allison, who shared it with his capstone class. Within hours, Nick ran with it.

Weeks later, he had his final 3D printed version, called the Pop Block. It's small enough to fit in your hand and allows officers to prop open any locked door in the rare time that's needed.

"Every second counts, so we can't be fumbling with doors or anything like that," Cislo said. "What we're doing is trying to make us as efficient as possible."

"I've been through all the lockdown drills, and I've seen all the stuff that's transpired, especially recently," Dimercurio said. "It's something that I've made that's going to help keep people safe."

Cislo now carries the tool every day and has already used it for a medical situation. The Douglas County Sheriff's Office has also bought more than 100 tools for other SROs around the district.

"This gives us the ability to get to the threat quicker," Cislo said.

While he graduates next week, Dimercurio's work isn't over. Moving forward, he hopes to make more tools to keep students like him safe.

"If they think it's going to help keep people safe in schools, I can make that to provide some help with safety," he said.

One of those tools Dimercurio is working on is a wedge to keep doors shut. He'll work on it over the summer, and then this fall at Wichita State University.