By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
A rash of online threats made against schools across Missouri has the St. Joseph Police Department spreading awareness.
Police Chief Paul Luster says no matter the threat, the police department has it seriously.
"We have to take each one of them with the same level of seriousness and it really, as the Police Chief of St. Joseph and our police department, and our partners that we work with at the school district, we have this commitment to where the safety of our students and the safety of our schools is always going to remain a top priority," Luster tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr.
Luster says he can recall at least two instances since he arrived in St. Joseph that officers were into work at 2am to get to work on this assessment to determine if it's safe for children to go to school.
"And that involves a tremendous amount of resources," Luster explains. "Both local resources, state resources, federal resources at times, of course our partners within the school district, other partners within the community, so we have to complete this rapid assessment."
Luster says those assessments take resources away from other law enforcement activities. crimes in the community, and says parents need to make sure children know how much trouble they can get into for doing it.
Luster says it's important for parents to tell their kids how these sorts of threats can affect them.
"Obviously it's very important that we encourage parents and students and community members to report any suspicious behavior or threats, and we know that timely reporting can make a critical difference in our response and how that can prevent potential incidents," Luster says. "But it's important to talk with your kids about this is not something to joke around about, and there can be serious charges if you are found that you're just putting this hoax out there on social media."
Luster says these sorts of threats also cause problems in the community because his department is forced to pull officers away from helping them, to assess the online threat.
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