Schools face rising threats of violence
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Schools across the U.S. have been rocked by a spate of false threats of violence in recent weeks, forcing them to evacuate or temporarily close.
Why it matters: Threats of bombs, shooters and other dangers disrupt learning and stir community-wide anxiety about school safety. Responding to them can also be expensive and time-consuming for local governments and law enforcement.
In a single afternoon last week, schools in Tennessee, South Carolina, Minnesota, Ohio, Florida, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Texas, Michigan and Maryland all received threats.
- Schools across Colorado and Texas increased police presence or canceled classes earlier this month because of social media threats.
- In Springfield, Ohio, schools closed over hoax bomb threats following the GOP presidential ticket's amplification of a debunked conspiracy theory that immigrants in the city were eating pets.
- In Volusia County, Florida, the sheriff's office received 54 tips about potential threats in a single night this month. All the threats turned out to be false.
The big picture: Even though most threats turn out to be false alarms, ignoring them simply isn't an option for law enforcement.
- "Not taking it seriously even one time and it turns out to be truly a bomb, that's just not going to be satisfactory to the community," said Lauren Shapiro, an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
Friction point: A single threat can cost between $25,000 and $40,000 to investigate, Shapiro said.
- Investigations into anonymous school threats can take between one and four years. The probe can then be followed by legal prosecution, which adds additional costs for a school district or city.
- A person can also easily access websites to create and disguise fake threats, making it difficult to trace the perpetrator.
By the numbers: Education facilities are the most-targeted sites for bomb threats according to the U.S. Bomb Data Center. In 2023, schools and universities received over 1,123 threats.
- False reports made up 29.5% of school violence incidents in 2023-24, according to a report from the Educator's School Safety Network. Gun-related incidents made up 27.6%.
Zoom out: "The goal, for some of these [perpetrators], is to create anxiety and a sense of terror," said Ron Avi Astor, a professor of social welfare at the University of California, Los Angeles.
- False threats exacerbate existing school safety concerns, and can sometimes lead to copycat threats, Astor said.
What's next: Some jurisdictions are upping the reprecussions for hoax threats.
- Volusia County Sheriff Michael Chitwood shared photos of an 11-year-old boy and four teenagers after making an announcement that he'd publicly shame people who made false threats.
- Zero-tolerance policies though, passed in Tennessee, could counteract real protection of students and mitigation of violence, ProPublica reported.
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