Sumner County has reportedly had many school threats recently, leading to everyone from the school district to the district attorney announcing guidelines for handling threats moving forward.
SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Sumner County has reportedly had many school threats recently, leading to everyone from the school district to the district attorney announcing guidelines for handling threats moving forward.
The announcement comes after the state changed school threats from a misdemeanor to a felony over the summer.
After meeting in September to discuss the next steps in tackling this problem, Sumner County schools, sheriff’s office, district attorney, and the juvenile court decided that a blueprint for handling these threats was needed.
“It’s becoming a continuous, weekly thing,” said Sumner County Assistant District Attorney Jenni Smith.
As school threats spike across Tennessee, Sumner County is making it clear to parents how they will handle this growing problem.
“Even if a child comes in and makes a threat and then says that ‘they’re just joking,’ it’s going to be taken as seriously as any other comment,” Smith explained. “What we’re hoping to do is to let the parents know how serious this is, how serious we’re going to take this, and that they need to talk to their kids about it.”
The statement, sent out on Tuesday evening, details a five-step response that centers around school resource officers investigating any and all threats immediately.
“The school resource officer is going to get involved,” said Smith. “They are going to do a safety check with the student at the school and at home as well. At that point, we get called and determine whether or not the kid is actually going to be detained in custody until the case goes to court.”
Smith said a mental health evaluation will be given to each student who makes a threat. Additionally, expulsion from Sumner County schools for at least one calendar year is a high possibility for students who make threatening comments.
“It’s constant phone calls between myself and the sheriff’s office to determine what steps we’re going to take, if these kids are going to be detained, and sort of what resolution needs to come about these cases. So it’s taking up a lot of time,” Smith told News 2.
Smith explained they didn’t feel like parents were understanding the scope of this situation, hence the need for a joint statement. She added that threats have come from all student age groups in the county.
Sumner County’s lone juvenile court judge had plenty to say on the mental aspect of this issue. In a statement to News 2, Judge David Howard wrote:
When the statute was amended to reflect that the charge is now a felony, I thought it was an appropriate time to meet with the schools, Sheriff, DA, and even Tennessee Homeland Security to go over the process from report through investigation to prosecution. The cooperation among everyone was fantastic. We wanted to address the matter head-on, and to demonstrate that these are serious issues. The days of ‘just joking’ are over.
But I also wanted to address possible underlying mental health concerns, as well. Idle statements or maliciousness aside, some of these kids are asking for help without knowing how to ask for help. We have to be cognizant of that fact. That’s why we have such a fast turnaround on these cases now. That’s why we can offer case planning, and even referrals through Sumner County’s Juvenile Mental Health Court. I want to address a particular child’s needs, and ensure community safety at the same time.
Judge David Howard …Read More