DES MOINES, Iowa [KCCI; WHO-TV; KCRG] — Non-credible threats to schools are no laughing matter, authorities say, and they’re happening with alarming frequency. Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek told KCCI officers respond to each threat as if an incident might occur, even though it is most likely a hoax.
Des Moines police responded in force Monday to a call of a student being held hostage inside a bathroom at Lincoln High School, which they eventually deemed a non-credible threat. Lincoln students said the school made an announcement over the loudspeakers. No one was injured, and now Des Moines police say they’re investigating it was a swatting incident.
It was not the first false threat to a central Iowa school over the last several days. A bomb threat at Ankeny Centennial High School shut down a state speech competition last Saturday. And there were other threats to Perry schools, just a month after the deadly shooting there. KCRG report the Cedar Rapids Police Department has seen an increase in the number of swatting calls this year. They say technology has made it hard to pinpoint where the calls come from.
When a school shooting hoax call is made, every on-duty officer in the Cedar Rapids metropolitan area responds. That includes Marion, Linn County Sheriff’s Department, and Federal partners. The response from these groups is immediate, but it does take time for them to clear buildings when a hoax call is made. That takes them away from other calls for service that arise across the city.
Safe+Sound Iowa, which launched last year as part of the governor’s School Safety Bureau, says it receives about 30-40 anonymous tips about school safety issues every month. WHO-TV reports lawmakers say they want to increase the punishment for those who make them. A bill, HF 2165, introduced in the Iowa House in January aims to create harsher punishments for those making swatting calls.
Currently in Iowa, charges for swatting calls are either a simple misdemeanor or serious misdemeanor, depending on the severity of the false report. If the bill becomes law, anyone who makes a false report that includes a specific criminal act to a public safety entity they will be charged with a Class D Felony. Those criminal acts include:
- A forcible felony
- Intimidation with a dangerous weapon
- Terrorism
- Unlawful possession of biological agents or diseases
- Arson
If a false report includes any of the aforementioned acts and results in someone being injured or killed, the charge will increase to a Class C felony.
The bill passed out of a house committee in January and will now go to the house floor for debate.