Nassau County working to improve safety for students amid increased school threats
NASSAU COUNTY, Long Island (WABC) -- Nassau County officials are addressing new measures to improve school safety amid an uptick in threats on Long Island.
Authorities say 80 threats have been made since the start of the school year -- which is almost quadruple the amount received this time last year.
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman says it is important for people to report any suspicious behavior -- both from people looking to make fake calls or those who pose a real threat.
He says parents should tell their kids to report threats they see and hear and not to repost online threats.
Students at Kellenberg Memorial High School have seen Nassau police repeatedly respond to their private Catholic high school in Uniondale after receiving 11 school threats since the start of the year.
While Kellenberg has likely seen the most police activity, it is not alone. The number of school threats across Nassau County have nearly quadrupled from this time last year -- from 23 to 80.
"There is nothing more important than the safety of our children, especially when they're going to school," Blakeman said.
Blakeman says panic buttons have been installed in schools which allow police to respond faster.
"Seventy percent of school shootings are over in three to five minutes, 40% of the 70% are over in two minutes, response time in Nassau County to any emergency call is one to three minutes," said Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder. "But the most important thing that we do is familiarize ourselves with the environment, every one of our cops is mandated to visit a school every single day."
Officials say SWAT teams are strategically placed throughout the county and K-9s are used for explosive threats.
A new training facility with a mock school is being built to help with police responses.
There is also a Rave app that acts as a panic button on a cellphone for school staff to quickly use to activate police in case of an emergency.
"The Rave app bypasses the 911 system in the case of a shooting and goes directly to the supervisor's desk, so that dispatches the cops quicker," Ryder said.
Police in Nassau County are already using their intelligence and training center to monitor all 550 school buildings throughout the county in real time.
"Every one of our cops is mandated to visit a school every single day, so we got 177 cops out there, by the end of every three days, we've visited every school building in Nassau County," Ryder said.
Ryder gave few details on possible suspects but he says the investigation is ongoing and they could be getting closer to making an arrest.
----------
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.
