After separate threats to two Utah school districts last week, one of which resulted in a lockdown of West High School in Salt Lake City for most of a school day and a temporary switch to online learning in eight Box Elder County’s schools, Officials including Utah Governor Spencer Cox have urged parents and students to report worrying or unusual information.
“I can tell you that there have been cases … that have not made the headlines where interventions have taken place that we believe have prevented any type of violence or victim,” Cox said Thursday during the governor’s monthly press conference from PBS Utah.
Put simply, “When you see something, say something,” said Sgt. Jeremy Barnes, security officer for the Utah Department of Public Safety, in an interview.
On Monday, a West High student stole a firearm from a family member and took it to the school, according to police, resulting in a lockdown of the building. One student involved was taken to the Salt Lake Valley detention center and two others were arrested, police said. The gun was later recovered.
In the Box Elder school district, an unidentified student drew a picture of a gun dated “12/13/21” in a toilet cubicle last Friday, and police received additional tips on Sunday on a Snapchat message with a gun sent by a student and another photo that speaks of an explosion, the police said. Classes were rescheduled online on Monday as the threats were investigated and by that afternoon two students had been identified as being responsible and may now face criminal prosecution. According to the police, the threats were “attempts to be funny”.
Two-thirds of perpetrators of school attacks communicate their intentions or threaten the target within two weeks of the attack, according to a 2019 intelligence report, Protecting America’s Schools / Analysis of Targeted School Violence.
The report also found that 54% of attackers reported their intent within two days of an attack and 37% threatened their intent or target within an hour of the attack.
These “leaks” are “information released prior to the attack while the person is on the road to violence,” Barnes said. “When this information is collected and reported, some interventions can be done there,” he said.
“If you see something that is abnormal, if you see something that concerns you, say something,” he urged, regardless of whether it is reported through the SafeUT app, which provides a platform for threats to be reported report and receive crisis intervention, or by telling a school resource officer, school counselor, teacher or other trusted adult in the school “so that they can come together in a multidisciplinary approach and deal with the situation before it becomes a tragedy”.
SafeUT’s 2020 annual report shows that almost a third of the 294 threats reported through the app were categorized as planned school attacks.
Cox noted that Utah “has some tools that other states don’t. This is one of the reasons we recommend downloading the SafeUT app on every smart device in every school. “
In 2019, Utah legislature passed law and provided funding to establish the School Safety Center within the Utah Board of Education. The team includes educators, psychologists, law enforcement officers, and data analysts, among others.
Rhett Larsen, a school and student security specialist with the state school board who is a team member at the security center, said school districts are conducting evidence-based assessments to determine an appropriate response when there is a threat.
“When threats arise, we definitely don’t want to overreact, we don’t want to underreact. We really need to work together as a team: this multidisciplinary team with the mental health school, school administration, resource officer and other resources … and then what interventions need to take place, ”said Larsen.
Amid a vague social media threat to a “GHS,” the principal of Granger High School, David Dunn, wrote to parents late Wednesday saying that the Granite School District and state and local law enforcement partners lacked credible evidence of a threat would have found.
“The social media post in question comes from a ghost (unidentifiable account) who in a few days is deriving a threat to a ‘GHS’. There is no specific mention of Granger High School. There are several schools in the state of Utah that use the GHS nickname, as well as dozens more in the United States. Regardless, we take any potential threat very seriously and continue to investigate. As a precaution, we will have an increased police presence on our campus in the next few days, ”wrote Dunn.
Dunn asked the parents for help: “Please check your student’s smartphone on one of the following social media platforms: Snapchat, Instagram or TikTok. We are looking for a user account on one of those platforms that are characterized by the evil eye, the serenity or the yelizaveta. If you identify any of these user handles, please contact Granite Police at any time at (801) 481-7122. “
The threat “is an unfortunate reminder that many of our students are unable to use social media responsibly,” he wrote.
Dunn noted that the threats caused unnecessary panic and concern among students and their families.
“We respectfully ask that you restrict access to this if you cannot monitor your child’s smartphone and social media usage. Schools and law enforcement agencies DO NOT have the ability to monitor thousands of student social media accounts. This is the responsibility of the parent or guardian, ”he wrote.
As for students in schools facing bans, temporary closings or threats, Larsen said he felt bad about students experiencing these events.
“I’m grateful that we have these logs to make sure our students are safe,” said Larsen. Schools and community partners continue to evaluate what students need and provide support when threats arise.
“Again, I wish we didn’t have to have bans, but unfortunately we do so when situations arise to keep every student safe,” he said.
Barnes acknowledged that such events “can be traumatizing and we do not try to downplay them. But it’s important to remember that schools are still safe. Most schools are safe. “
Contribute: Katie McKellar
Comments are closed.