Local law enforcement and school leaders recently received training as it relates to preventing threats of mass violence events at schools. Amy James is a Forensic Psychologist from New Bern, North Carolina and says she was invited by Marion County Attorney Ed Bull to share her knowledge about how to assess school threats and get local school districts and law enforcement better prepared as it relates to events. James says the best way to get ahead of school violence is to follow the rule of “see something, say something,” and report any potential threats to law enforcement and school administrators.
“If someone has a concern about something, definitely say something, but say something to a school administrator or law enforcement officer, or a school counselor” she says. “Friends are usually the first to know if someone poses a threat to a school–they are the first to be alerted to that, but they don’t know where to bring that information.”
Bull says the program was shared with representatives with every police department and school district in Marion County.
“We know threats transcend an individual school district, we know there is the potential–and unfortunately, we’ve seen historically students who have graduated or dropped out of school — how are we sharing the information we know in a legal way to keep our children as safe as humanly possible,” Bull says. “I think that’s what everyone in this [training] room and our community wants to do, is to ensure when our kids go to school, that they’re dealing with the ‘everyday’ drama that we all recall from being a middle school or high school student, but aren’t concerning themselves with ‘am I safe here?'”
Bull’s office is coordinating the threat assessment training countywide and says schools and police departments will be working together to further strengthen their policies and procedures as it relates to school safety this year. Bull says the program was funded by collection funds for fines and debts. The training event was recently hosted by the Pella Police Department.