School districts and law enforcement face serious dilemma
By Andrew Harris
For most of this week, school systems all over upstate New York have been besieged by digital misinformation attacks meant to cause panic. “SWATTING,” in this context is basically a organized effort to terrorize communities with threats against schools. Using technology and exploiting the fact that “bad news travels fast,” bad actors are basically calling in bomb threats or mass shooting threats to public schools which are not credible. The hope of the attacker is to have the “SWAT team” show up, drain resources, and rattle families.
Today Wellsville Central School Interim Superintendent Dr. Colleen Taggerty sent this statement after the BOCES classes were disrupted:
From Dr. Taggerty:
Good afternoon. Recently, as part of a concerning nationwide trend, several BOCES across the state have been managing online Snapchat posts with threats of violence at their facilities. Wellsville Schools were not referenced in this threat.
CA BOCES released the following statement:
“Unfortunately, today, around 9:00 a.m. CA BOCES received notice from law enforcement sources of a similar post, stating there would be a shooting at our Belmont CTE Center at 11:30 a.m. today. Although law enforcement informed BOCES this is not a credible threat, situations like this must be taken seriously. BOCES is taking additional steps at the Belmont Center to not only ensure the safety of everyone at the Center, but to also make sure everyone is secure in knowing that these types of matters are taken seriously. These steps include additional monitoring, as well as having a police presence at the Center. Please be assured, BOCES will be working with law enforcement to determine the source of the post. Should you have any information about the post or source of the post, we encourage you to contact the State Police/ your local law enforcement agency. If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact my office or you may reach the CA BOCES District Superintendent, Scott Payne at 716-376-8254.”
We live in a nation shell shocked by school violence. Every parent always has to wonder, “will it be our school next? Will my child survive?” These fears are being exploited.
Russian, Iranian, Chinese, and bad actors are funding these efforts, social media companies are not stopping them, and they spread like a wildfire through small towns like Wellsville or Canisteo. In some cases, school age children with smart phones are spreading the fear state to state. For example, Johnny’s little cousin who lives in Georgia shares a fake threat found on social media. Johnny in turn shares his cousin’s post, or shows it to his teacher. Being extra cautious, the teacher shows an administrator who has to react to the threat appropriately.
Recently a local school system hit the panic button, and justifiably so. It wasn’t until hours later that the administration realized the threat was not real, a product of a hoax.
Currently, this is all it takes to sow fears and ruin a solid day at school, distrupt parents at work, and put a real strain in law enforcement resources. Hours are spent by agencies like the Steuben County Sheriff’s Office taking every measure to determine how credible a school threat is. Often they find the source of the threat is a web application or social media post from another continent.
Every analyst or member of law enforcement will tell you: This will only get worse until we develop a way to counter act the intentional deception hell bent on exploiting our worst fears. The perpetrators are usually beyond our criminal justice system and only wish to disrupt our schools, our communities, and our economies with baseless threats. Most experts have warned that such digital terror will only get worse in the weeks before the US Elections.
According to law enforcement sources, the New York State Police operate a intelligence unit that is available to local law enforcement. The Upstate New York Regional Intelligence Center(UNYRIC) has the latest training and technology to sort through threats in order to deem them credible or just cyber terror.
All threats should be taken seriously and reported immediately.
