Today, once again, threats to our schools began circulating. After deploying most of our deputy resources to each school in the county for added security, we received information from ALEA that the same threats were circulating statewide and weren’t exclusive to Walker County. And while that may be true, we take every threat to our school, substantiated or not, extremely serious because that is what our students and teachers deserve. I’m a firm believer in “if you stay prepared you won’t have to waste time getting prepared” and that is how we approach our SRO program.
So, you will see an increased deputy presence at our schools today, even though these current threats aren’t believed to be legitimate. That presence will remain until we, and the board of education, feel it is time to return to normal operations. I understand this may cause panic or concern among parents. As a parent myself, I understand those feelings, but your children are safe and aren’t in and danger. I caution everyone to not buy into every crazy story you may see on social media. When things like this happen, they seem to take on a mind of their own in people’s imaginations, so keep your eyes out for confirmed and validated information. I know these situations have seemed to increase recently, and that is as frustrating for my office and the board of education, as it is for parents and students. We have already made one arrest in relation to recent schools threats, and are currently investigating others with expected arrests coming soon in those situations as well. Tracking down cyber-crimes may take a little longer than we’d like, but it’s just a matter of time until the people responsible are tracked down. Students and parents both need to understand that we take these threats seriously and we will charge anyone responsible for threats against our schools. Parents, if a student is made aware of a threat to a school, remind them to make the Sheriff’s Office or the board of education aware as soon as possible. Don’t make posts on social media or send pictures through Snapchat. Not only does that not help us address those threats quickly, but it may implicate your child in a crime. Comments are closed.
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