Grades of threat: Gov. Justice, WVU prof address worries of school violence

Sep. 16—Gov. Jim Justice this past Friday called for the creation of a task force to address the recent threats of violence leveled at as many as 50 schools in West Virginia—along with numerous others in neighboring states.

The West Virginia Fusion Center, a state agency formed in 2008 to investigate criminal and terrorist activity, is leading the coalition, the governor's office said in a press release.

Additional support will be provided by West Virginia State Police, the West Virginia Safe Schools Unit and federal law enforcement officers, according to Justice's plan.

The governor is also bringing the state Department of Education to the effort with the help of WVIX, the West Virginia Intelligence Exchange.

Also included is the state Prevention Resource Officer Program, which represents those in uniform who patrol the halls of schools.

A key hub in the task force is a "communication connect room, " which will be a centralized hub for response in the event of an active-shooter situation in any public school across West Virginia's 55 counties.

The above is addressed in part through the "See something, send something " app for anonymous users, which may be downloaded to cell phones via My Mobile Witness, available through the App Store or Google Play.

In the meantime, a WVU authority on the grim bookends of violence and mass killings said he believes all schools should be equipped with threat assessment teams of their own.

That's so they can respond swiftly and safely to any act of gun violence or threat of gun violence in the building, Jeff Daniels said.

Don't overlook the preventive component, said Daniels, a professor of counseling the College of Applied Human Sciences.

If, say, the threat ends up coming from a student with a track record indicating a predilection toward violent behavior—such as making threats, though not carrying them out—Daniels wants that student "targeted " too, as it were.

That means addressing the underlying behavior and monitoring the student, to whatever degree deemed necessary, he said.

It means bringing in the school counselor and resource officer, he added, both of whom could decide on a suspension, an expulsion altogether—or a call to police, in a more-concerning case.

All of the above, he said, comes under a continuum of response and assessment by people in authority in the school building.

There's a low-level threat, the professor chronicles, such as a student saying, "I'll kill you, man, " in the midst of an argument in the cafeteria or in front of the lockers.

A medium-level threat, Daniels continued, could have some thought attached to it—say, a "hit list " of perceived enemies—that wouldn't amount to anything else, since the author never really thought about it after that.

The high-level threat, he said, is in a different realm, because it will suggest definite planning and definite preparation.

Right now, only nine states currently require in-school assessment teams, Daniels said, though it looks like West Virginia is going to be added to that list after the governor's directive.

While today's climate of school violence—and all the threats attached—is worrisome to students, their parents and teachers, Daniels does deliver one comforting fact.

At least pertaining to one segment of the dynamic.

It's true that low-level and medium-level threats are very common in schools, he said.

"One study in Virginia schools found over 1, 000 threats made in one year, " the professor reports, with a less-concerning caveat.

"Only a handful were serious."

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