Butler Area approves agreements with law enforcement agencies following swatting
BUTLER TWP — Following a late-September swatting incident that caused the majority of Butler County school districts to go on lock down simultaneously, Butler Area School District signed memorandums of understanding with local law enforcement agencies to establish policies and procedures.
Butler Area School District’s board approved the MOUs with the Butler County Sheriff’s Office and the Butler County District Attorney’s Office at its board meeting Monday, Nov. 9.
The agencies were among those who responded to the incident, which affected school-day operations at Butler and five other districts.
A swatting incident is a false report intended to prompt an emergency response and create panic and confusion.
“This came out of a debrief following the swatting incident we had. We interact frequently with the sheriff’s office,” superintendent Brian White said. “Because both of those offices could be responding, we felt it was appropriate to have these in place.”
The memorandums establish procedures to be followed when certain incidents “occur on school property, at any sponsored event, or on a conveyance as described in the Safe Schools Act (such as a school bus) providing transportation to or from a school or school sponsored activity.”
The state has a standard template schools use for when they enter agreements with local law enforcement agencies.
“Just because they respond, and we did not have one, we felt that we should have one,” White said.
