Ƶ of 11 a.m. Thursday, there have been 203 reported tips in the past two weeks related to school threats, affecting 37 counties and 79 schools in the state, according to Robert Cunningham, deputy secretary of the West Virginia Department of Homeland Security.
ƵThere are people being held accountable,Ƶ Cunningham said during a presentation that was part of Gov. Jim JusticeƵs Thursday media briefing.
Cunningham reported the arrests of 23 individuals in the state, including both adults and juveniles, in relation to alleged school threats.
Last week, the governor directed the Department of Homeland Security to establish the School Safety Task Force to address the uptick in school threats statewide.
The task force is made up of:
West Virginia Fusion Center
West Virginia State Police
West Virginia Safe Schools Unit
ƵSP Ƶ West Virginia Intelligence Exchange
Federal Law Enforcement Partners
West Virginia Department of Education
West Virginia Prevention Resource Officer Program
ƵThese things can be trackedƵ
Also presenting at the media briefing was Jack Luikart, director of the West Virginia Fusion Center. According to from the governorƵs office, the Fusion Center, under the direction of Homeland Security, is coordinating response efforts and investigations into these school threats at the state level.
ƵWhether itƵs a joke or whether itƵs a real threat, (the students) may not be aware of the seriousness of that, all the way down to just sharing a threat,Ƶ Luikart said during the briefing.
Luikart said a new task force initiative has begun in partnership with local stakeholders such as county prosecutors, county boards of education, schools and law enforcement.
The group will encourage educational assemblies at schools to explain the legal penalties of being involved in creating or perpetuating school threats.
This program will initially focus on students in both middle and high schools.
Luikart also said these assemblies will educate students on the falsehood that once a threat is deleted from social media, it canƵt be recovered.
ƵThese things can be tracked back to the original person,Ƶ Luikart said.
Reporting a threat
ƵWeƵll do all we possibly can to put an end to this,Ƶ Justice said about school threats, encouraging people who see something to report it.
The state has partnered with the technology company to implement a Ƶsee something, send somethingƵ reporting system.
According to a news release from the governorƵs office, all West Virginians are encouraged to participate in this initiative by downloading the free See, Send app for their mobile devices.
My Mobile WitnessƵs technology is also compatible with web-based reporting and is not strictly for cell phone use.
ƵThe West Virginia Department of Homeland Security reminds all West Virginians to immediately call 911 if there is an immediate danger or law enforcement intervention is necessary,Ƶ stated the governorƵs recent news release.
Beth Sergent is the political reporter. She can be reached at 304-348-2731 or email at bsergent@hdmediallc.com.
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