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The Polk County Sheriff’s Workplace in Florida has arrested 24 public faculty college students because the starting of the tutorial 12 months, for alleged written or on-line threats, based on authorities.
Polk County Faculty District Superintendent Fred Heid introduced the surprising variety of arrests throughout a information convention Thursday, simply weeks after a deadly capturing at Apalachee Excessive Faculty in Georgia.
“College students might be arrested. They are going to be charged with a second-degree felony,” Heid mentioned throughout the information convention coated by FOX 13 Tampa. “And from the college district’s perspective, we’ll pursue the fullest extent of the implications for any pupil or any non-student member of our group who telephones these in or posts one thing on-line or social media or e mail.”
Together with searching for felony expenses for college students who make threats in the direction of faculties, Heid mentioned the college district will search restitution for any time and assets spent investigating the threats.
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Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd and Polk County Colleges Superintendent Fred Heid introduced Thursday that 24 college students had been arrested because the begin of the college 12 months for making written threats. (Polk County Colleges / YouTube)
Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd joined Heid throughout the information convention, and mentioned there have been 42 arrests made throughout the 2023-24 faculty 12 months wherein college students made written threats in opposition to county faculties.
Up to now this 12 months, in simply 28 days, the Polk County Sheriff’s Workplace has made 24 arrests.
“That is why we’re all standing up right here immediately,” Judd mentioned. “As a result of we will not have any extra of that.”
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Officers introduced Thursday that 24 college students had been arrested because the begin of the college 12 months for making written threats on-line. (iStock)
Judd praised the app, Fortify Florida, which supplies college students the flexibility to instantly report suspicious exercise to regulation enforcement companies and faculty officers.
FOX 13 reported that Heid supplied an evidence on why he believes there have been so many threats just lately.
“I believe, sadly, a lot of our college students consider that social media is an acceptable place for them to attempt to garner consideration,” the superintendent mentioned. “Because the sheriff put it, we examine, and we full extra risk assessments than a number of others do as a result of we don’t diminish the expectation.”
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Florida regulation enforcement and faculty officers introduced Thursday that 24 college students had been arrested because the begin of the college 12 months for making written threats on-line. (iStock)
The sheriff echoed Heid, including that some children go along with the most recent social media tendencies.
“We find yourself with these TikTok challenges; nicely we’ll TikTok you to jail if you happen to comply with these challenges. That is the underside line to it,” Judd mentioned. “The overwhelming majority of the children go, ‘Effectively that is nuts, and I am not going to do it.’ However a couple of of the children say, ‘I am nuts, and I am gonna to do it,’ after which, we’ll arrest them.”
Fox Information Digital has reached out to the college district.
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Nonetheless, the choice to talking about proactive measures could be the tragic results of not doing something.
“I might a lot reasonably be standing right here speaking about this immediately than you saying, ‘Sheriff, faculty board, superintendent, you probably did nothing, and this child’s been sending messages for months? And now he is introduced a gun to high school and shot the college or shot up a child at college,’” Judd mentioned.
Greg Wehner is a breaking information reporter for Fox Information Digital.
Story ideas and will be despatched to Greg.Wehner@Fox.com and on Twitter @GregWehner.
Two dozen Florida faculty college students arrested after allegedly making threats since begin of educational 12 months
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