Hi everyone!
Today my husband and I had a meeting with the Commander of the School Resource Officer Unit, Lt. Mike Garrison of the Forsyth County Sheriff's Office, and we learned a few things that we thought might be helpful to other parents.
The anonymous tip line (also known as P3) is actually an app that is accessible 24/7 for anyone who has a concern or threat to report. Once the tip is reported, it is immediately sent out for investigation. For example, if a threatening tip comes in at 2am, the Forsyth County Sheriff's Department (minimum of 2 officers) are dispatched at 2am to investigate. They do not wait until the next morning to take action.
Last year there were 220 threats that came in through this tip line which ultimately lead to 10 "felony arrest". A felony is determined by the level of "chaos or planning" behind the threat.
The 6 investigation teams along side the Cyber Crime Unit use a 10 point check list that stems from the threat assessment protocol that the Secret Service uses. They take many things into account for example, family situations, access to guns, and seeing what these children are researching online or posting on their social media accounts.
While it's good to hear the Forsyth County Sheriff's office takes all threats seriously and have done the best they can to keep our children safe, a loaded gun still walked into Little Mill Middle School and could've been fired at any moment. The fact of the matter is the level of school violence is rising in Forsyth County. Last year there was a serious threat to West Forsyth High School that ended in a felony arrest, kids continue to bring BB guns, air soft guns, and knives to school, and fights are occurring. Times are changing and we have to continue to change safety protocols with it. We must be proactive and not reactive!
After brainstorming with Lt. Garrison, we have come up with a couple of "meet in the middle" ideas.
1) Use this 14 year old child as an example. Bring the FCSO into the schools and explain exactly what happened to the child who brought the gun and how it has destroyed his life. This could be included with beginning of the year orientations for students and parents.
2) Making sure our current active shooter drills are executed PROPERLY to educate and protect our children.
3) Have "pop-up" random metal detectors throughout the county in middle and high schools a few times a week. This will get families used to seeing them, dealing with them, and come to rely on them to keep them safe. This is an easy affordable immediate deterrent that can be put into effect this coming school year. Lt. Garrison seemed open to this idea and was on board with ANYTHING that could be added deterrents for violence.
4) Have a short video on the Forsyth County School's website for parents and students to get a glimpse of what actually happens behind the scenes and preventative measures that are already in place. Not only will this help kids feel safer, but can also be used as another deterrent for troubled kids who are think about bringing a weapon to school.
The end goal is to have metal detectors in all middle and high schools, but these are deterrents that can be put in place immediately. I know people are concerned that this will cause the school to look like jails, but that is a price I'm willing to pay to keep our teachers, my child, and your child safe. It may sound scary, but we live in scary times.
Please reshare the petition and highlight these 4 points so we can get more signatures. We need all the support we can get before going to the School Board.
Thank you for your time and continued support!