Recently, there were numerous false threats of violence at schools across New York, including at Plattsburgh High School. While law enforcement and school officials were quick to respond, it was a terrifying moment across the North Country for students, teachers, staff, administrators, and parents. This is part of a national phenomenon called “swatting” because of the intention to bring out police Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) teams to provoke a further incident and possible violent response. This not only leads to a waste of resources but could also result in a violent encounter with law enforcement.

In efforts to prevent these threats of violence in the first place, Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay Lake) introduced a bill (# pending) to expand the definition of falsely reporting an incident to increase penalties for a false report of an incident with a deadly weapon or dangerous instrument. This is a companion bill to S6292 introduced in the Senate by Senator John Mannion (D-Syracuse). The bill would make these false reports with a deadly weapon a Class D felony.

“It was a moment of panic and absolute terror for many students, teachers, faculty, administrators and parents when there was a false report of an active shooter at Plattsburgh High School,” said Assemblyman Billy Jones. “No one should be scared to go to school or to work, and this is not the educational environment we should be creating for our children. This bill will make people think twice before terrorizing our schools in the future by increasing the penalty of making false reports. I commend law enforcement, school officials, teachers, and staff for their response in the moment, but the truth is, this never should have happened in the first place, and that is why I introduced this bill to prevent threats like this in the future.”

“I believe that I speak confidently on behalf of the Plattsburgh City Schools community in thanking Assemblyman Jones and his colleagues for advancing this legislation,” said Jay Lebrun, superintendent of Plattsburgh City School District. “As one of our schools and many others statewide have experienced, these false reports are not only anxiety-provoking, they are also dangerous. While students, faculty, staff, and law enforcement alike carried out their emergency response roles superbly during this recent threat, there can be no denying the increased risks of tragedy associated with such heightened responses. For this reason, I believe that the motivation for the perpetrators of such ‘swatting’ is not simply inconvenience or annoyance, but rather to incite and create dangerous circumstances and to generally undermine the sense of security and safety which we work so hard to develop. To this end, Assemblyman Jones has my support and thanks, and I strongly encourage lawmakers to endorse and approve such legislation.”

“As we continue to navigate an ever-changing world, we need to stay vigilant to protect our greatest New York asset, our children,” said Michele Bushey, New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) At-Large Director. “On behalf of our NYSUT members and families across New York, it is necessary to hold individuals responsible who threaten the safety of school children and their learning environment with swatting or violence through the use of weapons, I applaud our legislators Senator John Manion, Assemblyman Billy Jones, and all legislators who will lift up new legislation to make a safer environment for our children and professionals in public school systems.” Bushey is a Living Environment Teacher at Saranac Central School and the President of the Saranac Teachers Association.