NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — After more than a dozen school threats in Tennessee this fall, sheriffs across the state said they were discussing the best strategies to address campus safety.
One mid-state school resource officer actually describes the rash of recent threats against schools to epidemic proportions. All threats are disruptive and taken seriously.
Now, sheriffs and district attorneys have issued joint statements vowing to crack down on those claims. The Tennessee Sheriff's Association issued a rare joint statement from sheriff's offices across the state. They said with the increased spike in school threats new aggressive steps will be taken to ensure the safety of all students.
"These words cause a lot of fear and panic," said Coffee County Sheriff Chad Partin.
He said it needs to stop.
In the wake of the Apalachee High School shooting in Georgia, there's been a sudden spike in threats on social media made usually by teens against schools across Tennessee.
Partin said now if they're caught it's off to jail to await a day in court.
"Not going home to Mommy and Dad. I've got a juvenile court judge who is not playing," said Partin.
The plan moving forward in every county in the state is to arrest and prosecute.
It wasn't always that way.
"You might have just called the parents into the office. May not have made it to juvy court, and if did then community service or something of that nature," said Nick Leonardo, NewsChannel 5's legal analyst
But now with continued school shootings and even more threats, punishments will go well beyond school expulsion.
"It's a (Class) E felony locking them up in detention, and then they are placing them under house arrest," said Leonardo.
And, expect more arrests. Authorities now have more sophisticated methods of tracking those who make terrorist-like threats.
"What they don't realize when they do this stuff we may not get them in five minutes, but we will in the first five hours," said Sheriff Partin.
And then they will pay the price. These days all school threats are taken seriously. They disrupt classes and divert law enforcement resources to investigate.
Overtime is often paid to detective working threats at taxpayer expense.
Partin said state lawmakers may consider a law allowing sheriff's to seek reimbursement from parents for the cost of investigating these cases.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at nick.beres@newschannel5.com.
I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.
-Lelan Statom
