More inducing-panic charges from schools

Associated Press

HAMILTON, Ohio

The number of juveniles charged with inducing panic because of school-related threats in a southwest Ohio county has nearly doubled over the last two years, court officials said.

In 2013, seven juveniles were charged with the crime, but so far this year, 13 youths have been charged with the offense, Rob Clevenger, Butler County’s juvenile court administrator, told the Hamilton-Middletown Journal-News. At least five Butler County students have landed in the Juvenile Detention Center since Oct. 2 after purportedly making threats against their school or, in one case, using a pellet gun to shoot at classmates.

Schools around the state have been disrupted or closed by bomb-threat calls this month. The state Department of Education said Oct. 7 it didn’t know exactly how many, but that Ohio Homeland Security has reported “a number of bomb threats.”

Though no actual bombs were found, school district and law enforcement officials are taking steps to punish the offenders and reinforce zero-tolerance policies when it comes to threats of violence against educational institutions. Law enforcement officials said there’s an element of “copy-catting” that comes into play as well as a heightened alertness after high-profile incidents.

Hamilton police and Hamilton city schools have partnered to produce two videos to be shown in schools. In one, a police officer discusses the law and how threats can result in school discipline and criminal charges. The second will focus on urging students “if you see or hear something, say something.”

The police and schools want students to realize that “they are directly responsible for their own safety and that of their classmates and schools,” said Hamilton Police Sgt. Ed Buns.

Two more schools in the county received threats last week. Officials at Middletown High School and Fairfield East Elementary said schools were evacuated Oct. 20 after receiving bomb-threat calls. Nothing was found and no arrests were made immediately.