RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — North Carolina’s public safety leaders are releasing new plans to deal with a rise in school violence threats statewide.
Leaders with the Department of Public Safety said those threats range from simple assaults to threats of mass violence, which they say makes up 14 percent of all threats. They say there were nearly 200 mass violence school threats across the state last year.
Now, DPS tells CBS 17 it’s getting help from the State of Bureau Investigation’s new “Beta” unit, which will assess the threats being made.
“Are they legitimate? Are they kids just crying out for help? What is the actual nature of those threats…and then, making sure that there are services put in place for those kids to make sure that they don’t re-offend,” said William Lassiter, deputy secretary of juvenile justice for NCDPS and task force chair.
The department is also partnering with law enforcement across the state on a new campaign about gun violence and making sure middle and high school children know the consequences of bringing guns to schools.
“This is not a video game. You bring that gun to school and there are going to be real consequences that could cause people to die, you to die and they don’t just come back like they do in the video game,” Lassiter said.
DPS leaders also announced in the meeting that the department purchased 25,000 gun locks and 200 gun safes to distribute at community events.
