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What Is a Hoax Threat and How Can People Help Police Stop Them from Spreading & Impacting Our Schools
Description
They have been circulating throughout the State since the start of the school year, impacting schools, causing fear and anxiety, and leaving people wondering what to do.
On this episode of the Supercast, we are talking with Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes of the Utah Department of Public Safety. He'll talk with us about threats that turn out to be a hoax, the impact they have on schools, and what we can do to properly report them and make sure that they don't create unnecessary panic. He'll also talk about why it's important to take every threat seriously.
Audio Transcription
Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
I compare that to maybe one of the largest terrorist attacks that we've seen in our country and it was basically able to be carried out through our own fear.
Anthony Godfrey:
Let's say a parent sees this on social media, a student sees this on social media. What is the appropriate action if they see either a very specific threat or a vague threat that feels like it could be targeted at their school?
[Music]
Hello and welcome to the Supercast. I'm your host, Superintendent Anthony Godfrey. On this episode of the Supercast, we talk with Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes of the Utah Department of Public Safety. He'll talk with us about threats that turn out to be a hoax, the impact they have on schools, and what we can do to properly report them and make sure that they don't create unnecessary panic. He'll also talk about why it's important to take every threat seriously.
[Music]
We're pleased to have Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes with us today to talk about school safety, introduce yourself, and tell us a little bit about your current position.
Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
Okay, so thank you for the introduction. I'm Lieutenant Jeremy Barnes with the Utah Department of Public Safety with the newly created Division of State Security. In my current role, I oversee, I work directly for the State Security Chief who was created under House Bill 61 in 2023. I work directly for him and we oversee a regional team of eight individuals.
The state has been broken up into eight regions with multiple districts throughout each one of those regions to help facilitate the big lift of House Bill 84 from this legislative session which includes the safety assessments and the guardian program and things like that.
Anthony Godfrey:
We definitely want to get into the details of that. Let's start with talking a little bit about the hoaxes that we've heard about over the, probably the last year is really where they've accelerated. Talk to us a little bit about how that information comes to you and what you want parents to know about hoaxes when they're announced, when they come out.
Lt. Jeremy Barnes:
So if I could think back, so as part of my role, I have been the school safety liaison with the Utah State Board of Education School Safety Center since 2020. That is a multidisciplinary team composed of individuals from the Utah State Board of Education, Division of Substance Use and Mental Health, or Office of Substance Use and Mental H