School securityIn Oklahoma, even rumors of threat of school violence are taken seriously, and investigated

Threats of violence in schools must be be taken seriously, even if the threats are nothing more than  rumors. In Tulsa, Oklahoma, police and school officials take every threat seriously, even if it is nothing more than gossip.

Tulsa Worldreports that in the last four years, Oklahoma has averaged twenty-one handgun incidents in schools per year.

“Even if you think it’s no big deal, you don’t know what people are thinking,” Bonnie Rogers, spokeswoman for Jenks Public Schools told theWorld. “If we hear something, we investigate it. No matter what it is.”  

Tips on threats or suspicious activity usually come from students or faculty. Just five hours before the Connecticut elementary school massacre last week, an 18-year-old Bartlesville High School student was arrested after police uncovered a school-shooting massacre plot in which he was allegedly involved.  A student reported the plan to school officials who then informed the police.

“It is most common for campus police or school administrators to receive tips about threats against specific students, not schools in general - threats to physically attack a student over a girl, over insults, family, or neighborhood issues,” Gary Rudick, chief of the Tulsa Public Schools campus Police Department told theWorld. “Those conflicts don’t stop at the schoolhouse door.”

The school districts in Tulsa do initial investigations before involving the cops, usually to make sure the name of the person involved is actually a student. In addition to school threats, they also check threats made on social media Web sites. Charlie Bushyhead, Union Public Schools assistant superintendent of support services, saidthat “Initially, we make a determination as to the validity of the report. But we always err on the safe side and assume there is a danger if we are unsure.”

In the wake of the  Connecticut shooting, Oklahoma State Superintendent Janet Barresi wants all school district leaders to review and evaluate their safety policies.

“There has been a great deal of discussion and questions about Oklahoma and the safety of our students in this state,” Barresi said at the beginning of Wednesday’s state Board of Education meeting.

During the meeting, Barresi said that a statewide policy is unnecessary since most schools already have measures in place and lockdown drills are required twice a year.

Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin is urging school officials and local law enforcement to attend security training seminars offered by the Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security.

The 2-day seminars are provided at no cost and cover a wide range of topics, including developing, updating, and maintaining an emergency response plan and how to identify and correct potential security gaps.

In the last three years the seminars have trained approximately 400 school officials from more than 150 school districts.