In Wake of School Swatting Incidents, Officials Call for Stiffer Penalties

Stamford Police are working with the FBI and several other police agencies in Connecticut to determine who is behind a series of telephone bomb threats that have forced the evacuation of schools this week.

It all began early Tuesday afternoon when Stamford High School — along with four other schools in West Haven, Hartford and Bristol — received the threats. Swarms of police and emergency personnel descended upon the schools as students and faculty evacuated the buildings. Nothing was found in any of the incidents.

On Wednesday afternoon, the Stamford Academy — located on North Street in downtown Stamford — became the latest victim of swatting. Swatting involves what is ultimately a false threat that prompts massive police response. Nothing was found at the Stamford Academy campus.

The incidents has prompted Stamford Mayor David Martin to call upon Gov. Dannel Malloy and the city’s state and congressional delegations “to create stiffer penalties for people who maliciously call in threats to public buildings and schools.”

In his letter, Martin wrote,

“I am requesting that we enact stiffer penalties for those who make bomb threats. Such threats continue to place our children and the general public at significant risk. I am therefore proposing that we consider taking the following actions:

1. 1. Increase the maximum sentence for individuals making bomb threats. Our current law classifies such offenses as a class D felony, which has a maximum of five years in prison.
   2. Allow municipalities to receive restitution for the expense associated with the threat response. Municipalities should be allowed to recover three times the cost of the city to respond.”

And Stamford state Rep. William Tong, (D-147), House chairman of the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, one of the bills raised by the Judiciary Committee would increase the penalties for threatening when the threat involves a preschool, school or an institution of higher education. The bill is similar to legislation championed last year by Sen. Tony Hwang of Fairfield that increases the penalty for first-degree threatening intended to cause a school to be evacuated.

Under that legislation the penalty was increased from a class D felony, punishable by imprisonment for up to five years, a fine of up to $5,000, or both, to a class C felony, punishable by imprisonment for one to 10 years, a fine of up to $10,000, or both.

In his letter, Martin’s anger about the impact the false threats had on city resources and residents was evident.

“Important city and school resources were diverted to these two schools, which compromised the city’s ability to respond to other emergencies during these times. The swift deployment of emergency response units also increased the potential for accidents with civilians.

“The cost impact to taxpayers from these threats is significant. The Stamford High incident was very expensive for taxpayers, with 37 police officers on the scene for hours completing their investigation. Stamford Academy’s threat required more than 30 officers this afternoon. In addition, Fire and Ambulance crews were called to the scene to stand by in case of emergency. More importantly, from an education perspective, thousands of student and teacher hours were lost with students being unable to complete lesson and class plans.”

Stamford Police Capt. Richard Conklin, head of the Detective Bureau, he supports increased penalties.

“It’s straining the resources of different agencies — police, fire, EMS. But it’s a double-edged sword. It’s much, much more difficult to track down these callers who use different apps and numbers,” Conklin said.

He added, “This isn’t a decade ago where it’s a kid who doesn’t want to take a test. Now you don’t know if it’s a group of people ready to act or a deranged individual. It’s very disruptive to the community.”

Regarding the FBI’s involvement in the investigation, Conklin said, “It’s too early to say whether they were all made by the same individual but there is a good probability. A lot of the calls seems to be similiar.”

Photo credit: Carissa Rogers via Flickr.com.