School threat system receives thousands of tips in 1st month
HARRISBURG — A threat reporting system now required for all Pennsylvania schools fielded more than 4,900 tips in its first month, about a third of them considered serious enough to pass along to local police and school officials.
The goal of the Safe 2 Say Something program, which funnels tips to an around-the-clock call center at the attorney general’s headquarters in Harrisburg, is to respond to troubling behavior, unsafe school situations and anything else tipsters deem appropriate to report.
The program passed the Legislature with near unanimity last year, mandating it encompass all K-12 students in Pennsylvania, including charter, private and vocational-technical schools.
Sen. Scott Martin, a prime backer of the new law, has been encouraged by the volume of tips so far.
“I think, in itself, that justifies why we need to do this and why it’s important,” said Martin, R-Lancaster.
The reports come in through phone calls, by email and via an app. Callers are assured of anonymity.
In the first month, nearly 1,400 contacts were deemed “life safety” tips, considered important enough to notify schools and the local 911 center.
Attorney General Josh Shapiro told lawmakers at a hearing last week those tips have included suicide threats and situations where students may have hurt others without intervention. Other common subjects of calls include harassment, bullying and mental health issues, Shapiro’s office said.
There have been more than 415 incidents of gunfire on U.S. school grounds since 2013, according to Every Town for Gun Safety, a nonprofit aimed at reducing domestic gun violence. Last year’s carnage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., that left 17 dead surpassed the 1999 Columbine High School massacre as the deadliest high school shooting in U.S. history.
The program, which is in part a response to the frequency of mass shootings in America, is mandated in four other states and about a dozen others are at least considering starting their own version, according to Tim Makris, managing director of Sandy Hook Promise. The nonprofit has provided technical help, support for training and equipment to help get Pennsylvania’s program up and running.
Pennsylvania is the first state to do a comprehensive launch of the program.
