Newcastle Public Schools’ encouragement of students to “See Something, Say Something,” when they see or hear threatening behavior or language recently paid off.
Students utilizing the school’s STOPit reporting software contacted the school about a student their own age who was off campus but posing threatening behavior.
At the same time, Newcastle Police Department was contacted by the First Baptist Church, and brought in to investigate the related complaint and take action before anything further could take place.
Police Chief Toby Garver said, “Officers were dispatched to the church for threats being made. There was an altercation that had taken place between some juveniles, and one stated that he was going to get a gun and shoot up the church.”
Officers spotted the juvenile who had made the threat and then left the area. He was transported by police to a juvenile detention center.
Garver said for security purposes, Newcastle Police increased patrols around the middle school the next day. Garver added that the department received a lot of good feedback on the way the officers responded and handled it so quickly.
NPS Superintendent Dr. Cathy Walker said, “I appreciate the students using the STOPit app because we encourage the students to say something when they hear or see someone doing something. I’m proud of them for doing that.”
Walker said the incident did not happen on school property, but middle school students who are the same age as the person making the threat informed the school because they all go to school together and they were concerned.
The STOPit app is described as a tool to aid the school district in facing bullying, acts of violence, social isolation, and lack of basic needs.
