May 22, 1999
Deputy takes part in teleconference on school crisis situations
Seneca County Sheriff H. Weldin Neff said the Sheriff's Office now will be able to better handle school crisis situations following Thursday's participation in a nationwide teleconference dealing with the topic.
A deputy from the office attended from a site in Toledo and brought back information that could help officers if they encounter situations of violence in schools, such as shootings and bomb threats.
The teleconference involved experts from all over the country, including personnel from the FBI Academy in Quantico, Va., Neff stated.
Some panel members have experience with school violence. A police command officer who was in charge during the aftermath of a school shooting last year, and a prosecutor who was called to the scene of another school shooting were on the panel with a behavioral scientist from the FBI.
The teleconference was sponsored by a national program called United Against Crime, a partnership of the National Sheriff's Association, the National Crime Prevention Council and Radio Shack.
Although the sheriff's office has been working with local school officials for the last three months on school crisis plans, Neff pointed out that prevention and early intervention are the keys to heading off situations in which threats of violence are carried out.
Neff said that it may be hard to predict violent behavior in our schools, but there are signs that parents, teachers, relatives and friends can watch for in students. Some of these are falling grades, more time spent alone, sudden changes in style of dress, threats of violence and expressions of violence in drawings and writings. Other clues are a history of bullying and a fascination with weapons and cruelty to animals, which can indicate a potential for violence or other criminal activity.
Neff warned that individuals should not become passive in regard to threats of violence from students because those threats can be carried out anywhere.