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Local Officials Discuss Protocols Followed in Case of School Threat

Wednesday, January 29th, 2020 -- 11:38 AM

-School districts in the state and around the country continue to face the challenge of students making threats against the district.

Whether it be a bomb threat overheard or written in a bathroom or a shooting threat made toward a student or on social media, districts and local law enforcement continue to confront the problem of students making these threats. These days, each threat must be taken seriously and every threat must be investigated by districts, local law enforcement and, if it progresses far enough, district attorneys offices. I spoke with John Gaier, District Administrator at Neillsville, and he explained the procedure followed by the district if a threat is made.

“We have a standard threat level assessment that we go through. Normally, if it’s something that’s written in the bathroom, we don’t know right away who wrote it. So, we do an investigation right away and try to find out the details in the threat to provide us with what level of threat we believe it is and whether we need to dismiss school, evacuate the school or whether it’s kind of an innocuous threat where it’s not real detailed. It just says bomb or something like that.”

“So, we go through that threat level assessment and then we do contact law enforcement right away to help us go through those things. So, whether it’s a bomb threat or a weapon threat or whatever it is. It becomes a legal issue very quickly for us. Any cases that we’ve ever had with a weapon or a threat often results in expulsion. And the students are not allowed to be back on the grounds. So, I think it’s important for students to know how serious it is. And that if they simply just don’t want to be school, probably better off to just not come to school rather than make some kind of a threat just in order to accomplish that. That is not the best way to do it and I know that, based on age, you’re going to be referred to either juvenile court intake or you’re going to be charged with a felony based on the age of the student.”

Mr. Gaier said the response to the threat can vary depending on a few factors.

“The more detailed it is, the more that a plan is specifically laid out; for instance, I have seen threats that say ‘a bomb is going to go off at this time.’ When it’s that specific, then it becomes a high threat level and we will evacuate this building and make sure nobody is around in the building at that time and contact law enforcement. Like I said, if it’s something more like ‘bomb’ written on a bathroom stall wall in very small writing, where it could have been there a long time before someone discovered it, that threat level will not be as high a threat level as one that’s more detailed.”

Social media also creates more challenges when it comes to threats, but Mr. Gaier reminds residents, and students, that if you hear something, say something.

“We go through our threat level protocol. I think it’s really important that people understand, if you see something or hear something, say something. We would much rather err on the side of safety. So, if we overreact in order to make sure everybody stays safe, I would rather be accused of that then under reacting. Or not having the information at all, but others have it. A lot of research shows that when a violent act occurs, most of the time, they’ve told somebody. The person that creates that violent action, whether it’s a shooting or something else, normally has told people. And those people either didn’t take it seriously or they just didn’t speak up. It is vitally important that if you hear something or see something on social media, contact us and let us know. Because our ultimate goal is to keep everybody safe.”

Finally, Mr. Gaier stressed the seriousness of a student making a false threat.

“Just again, a reminder to young people how serious this is. And that there are things you cannot do and cannot say at this time because of violence that has happened in schools and in other public places. Nobody takes those as jokes anymore. So, you have to refrain from doing that completely. It’s a different world than it used to be.”

I also spoke with Detective Kerry Kirn of the Clark County Sheriff’s Department, he explained how they begin the investigation on their end after a threat is made by a student.

“From the initial call, if it’s a bomb threat or any sort of a call where there may be a weapon in the school, right away the school implements their procedure we respond. So, law enforcement has two things going on at the same time. One is going to be searching for that bomb or weapon in the building; and two there’s going to be a simultaneous investigation going on to identify any perpetrators, witnesses, what have you.”

Detective Kirn also explained that the response to the threat can vary depending on a few factors, but they investigate any kind of threat they receive.

“Any threat that we receive, whether it’s a workplace threat, a school threat, any other type of threat. Threatening to cause harm, injury or towards property, we will dedicate the resources to investigate it. In this day and age, you don’t know which threat is going to come to fruition and which one is not.”

Finally, Detective Kirn explained the direction the investigation can go once it’s completed.

“Once the investigation is complete, there’s really two directions it can go. One is a referral for any sort of mental health issues that need to be addressed. And the other is we would also refer to the district attorney's office for review for any potential criminal violations.”

Finally, I spoke with Melissa Inlow, Clark County’s District Attorney, and she explained how her office handles a threat investigation when they receive it.

“It depends on the age of the student because if they’re 17 or older they’re considered an adult for criminal purposes, so it’s handled a little bit differently. Some of the general charges we could do is terroristic threats, which is one of the reasons the state legislature passed that statute was for these particular purposes."

“There’s also the disorderly conduct, which is the unreasonably loud, profane, ect., etc., or otherwise disorderly. So, it’s a little bit more of a catch all. So, basically, you did something to cause a disturbance and issuing a threat whether legitimate or otherwise does cause a disturbance.”

“If they’re 16 or under, they would become a part of the juvenile delinquent system. So, the juvenile justice system. We would work with Social Services to determine whether or not we would issue a delinquency petition or if there’s something else that we could do to address the problem. It would depend on the seriousness of the threat. Was it just to get out of school? To get out of a test? Was it because people were bullying? Was there an actual plan? Things like that. All of that stuff would be in the reports we get from law enforcement.”

DA Inlow also explained how the charges can change depending on the seriousness of the threat.

“That depends on whether it was just a threat? Whether they took steps to carry out the threat? What the school did in response? What other student did in response? Those are all things we’d consider.”

DA Inlow also discussed what kind of sentencing a student could face if they’re convicted of the charges.

“That is a felony charge, so they could be looking at a prison sentence. But, obviously, we’d look at the background of the student. Prison is not the first answer. In fact, the statutes require that we look at probation first if this is out of character. If we can do other things other than prison to protect the public and address the needs of the student, then we’ll look at that as well.”

Finally, she stressed the seriousness of the situation and hopes students will not make false threats.

“Just generally, we take all of these threats very seriously, especially in the social environment we are in now, we can’t afford to ignore such threats. Obviously, the school takes administrative action. Law enforcement will investigate. Just because a threat is issued doesn’t mean that criminal charges are going to follow. We would evaluate them on a case-by-case basis. But we do have to take them very seriously to protect the school, the public and the other students because know one should have to be afraid as to whether that’s going to be the last day they’re going to go to school.”

Mr. Gaier, Detective Kirn and District Attorney Inlow all stressed that if a student doesn’t feel like going to school, just don’t go. Making a false threat isn’t worth the potential fine and even jail time you could face by making a false threat. And, of course, if there’s a student who makes a threat that they mean, they should seek help and teachers should reach out if they believe a student makes a serious threat.

Feel free to contact us with questions and/or comments.