Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad (left) describes the challenges of keeping schools safe and dealing with online threats at the Dec. 7 Dearborn City Council meeting, as City Clerk George Darany and City Council members Leslie Herrick, Robert Abraham and Michael Sareini, City Council President Susan Dabaja, and City Council members David Bazzy and Erin Byrnes listen.
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald and Sunday Times Newspapers
In the wake of the Oxford High School shooting, as copycat threats surge on social media and add stress, school districts, law enforcement and judges call for zero threat tolerance.
However, with threats being made by immature teens, adults struggle with how to stem the tide of threats and violence without ruining the lives of children who thought their joke would net them a day off school and not incarceration.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said school threats, which put everyone on edge, have a stranglehold on southeast Michigan right now, and she urged all parents and guardians to talk to their children about threats of school violence and the consequences of such statements.
“As periodic school shootings have become an unfortunate reality across the country, the publicity of these school shooting events often prompts a small subset of students to make similar type threats,” she said. “In many of these cases, the student who made the threat tells investigators that they were ‘just joking,’ and seem genuinely shocked by how serious the consequences are for making the threat.”
Worthy said students think threats are not a big deal if they did not plan to actually carry it out, but said Michigan law makes it a crime to make a threat, even if the person did not have the intent or capability of actually carrying it out.
“When a threat is made, we cannot immediately know whether the threat is a serious threat, or whether the threat is meant to be a so-called prank,” she said. “Therefore, we in the law enforcement community must take seriously every threat, because to not do so would be to put your child at risk and the community at risk, and we simply cannot take that chance.”
Since the Oxford High School shooting on Nov. 30, copycat threats have been made in Dearborn Heights and Downriver, including:
Melvindale: A 12-year-old boy at Strong Middle School was charged with threatening to commit acts of violence against a school, school employees or students, using a telecommunications device.
Southgate: A 13-year-old boy at Davidson Middle School was charged with making a false report or threat of terrorism.
Wyandotte: A 14-year-old boy at Wilson Middle School was charged with making an intentional threat to commit an act of violence against a school, school employees or students, and malicious use of a telecommunications device.
Taylor: A 13-year-old boy at Taylor Exemplar Academy was charged with making an intentional threat to commit violence against a school, school employees or students.
Dearborn Heights: Threats were made in the Westwood and Crestwood school districts, which local law enforcement are investigating.
Dearborn: Dearborn High School has had an increased police presence out of an “abundance of caution” to ensure school safety.
The Michigan State Police urge students to use the OK2SAY, either by phone, 8-555-OK2SAY; by text, OK2SAY; or email, [email protected], to submit a confidential tip to help end school violence. The goal of OK2SAY is to stop harmful behavior before it occurs by encouraging anyone to report threatening behavior to adult authorities.
The Southgate City Council held a moment of silence at its Dec. 1 meeting for the Oxford High School victims, with City Clerk Janice Ferencz (left) and City Councilmen Phil Rauch, Dale Zamecki and Christian Graziani, City Council President Zoey Kuspa, and City Council members Bill Colovos, Mark Farrah and Karen George present.