Just after 10 a.m. on Monday, March 27, three children and three adults were killed in a school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville, in a scene that has become all too common in the United States.
As that tragedy was unfolding three states away, a room full of law enforcement professionals and school administrators had just settled into a training session at the Collin College Public Safety Training Center (PSTC). The topic? Identifying potential threats and stopping school violence before it starts through cyber investigation.
Presented by Rich Wistocki, a retired police detective from Naperville, Illinois, the seminar drew officials from as far away as Lufkin ISD, with law enforcement officers from colleges and school districts throughout the North Texas area. Wistocki credits the training with helping prevent 37 incidents of school violence in just the past year.
The key, Wistocki said, is being vigilant and taking all threats seriously. According to a 2021 United States Secret Service study called “Averting Targeted School Violence,” 75 percent of school shooters over the last 20 years have told a classmate, people in an online group chat, or posted about their intent to cause harm to students, staff, or around the school. The phenomenon is called “leakage,” and it can be used to identify potential bad actors before they commit violence.
While many students neglect to report that leakage for fear of being labeled as a snitch, it should not be ignored when it is brought to a school’s attention. While well-meaning administrators might brush such posts as bravado or say “They don’t mean it. That is just who they are. They are having a bad day. They always say that stuff,” because they don’t want to cause trouble for the student or worry the school body, ignoring the posts can lead to harm to the school or the posters themselves.
Wistocki said that stopping violence begins with identifying that leakage, and he encourages school administrators to work with trained school resource officers (SROs) as soon as it is reported.
An SRO or other law enforcement officer can investigate the post by gathering evidence and submitting it to the social media company where the person posted, a feature of the Electronics Communications Privacy Act (EPCA). From there, if it meets the social network’s requirements, it may release the subscriber’s email, phone, and IP information on the posting party within hours of the request. That information, along with geographic IP location services and the cooperation of the internet service provider can identify who and where the poster is.
Further follow-up investigation is required. The poster may be having a crisis and need mental health assistance. The threat may be another person attempting to fake the poster’s identity to cause them harm. Or it may verify that the poster was indeed planning an attack on the school.
Regardless, appropriate steps can be taken to secure the school and protect everyone involved.
It is not clear at this point if cyber investigation could have stopped the March shooting in Nashville, but it does seem to be a tool for preventing some school violence. For a more in-depth look at the process discussed in the seminar, check out this article written by Wistocki or visit his website www.besureconsulting.com.
Collin College’s Public Safety Training Center regularly hosts training on a variety of topics for law enforcement officers in addition to being the home of the Collin College Law Enforcement Academy and the Collin College Fire Academy. For more information on all of the services offered at the PSTC, visit www.collin.edu/campuses/pstc.