MAINE, USA — When it comes to "swatting calls," or making hoax calls to 9-1-1, the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) said school resource officers (SROs) can play an important role.
These types of "swatting call" situations have happened in several states across the United States since September, including in Virginia and Colorado.
Mo Canady, executive director of NASRO, said officer protocols and policies can vary between schools. Canady has served as executive director of NASRO for more than 10 years.
Canady said, generally speaking, in a situation like what happened on Tuesday in Maine, where a call was made to police departments, the SRO is already on the scene and able to investigate the threat at the school.
"In these particular cases of false[ly] reported school shootings, one of the big values of having the SRO is for that officer to be able to more quickly diagnose and determine if this is a real situation or if it's a prank call, unfortunately, or a swatting call," Canady said.
Canady added it is also beneficial for SROs to be on-site to quickly determine the threat and to act accordingly.
"We've got to initially respond as if this is a real event. And again, our approach most school resource officers will tell you in no uncertain terms, that if there's a shooter in that building, they're going after the shooter. They've got to stop it because we know the history of what happens if we don't do everything we can to stop it," Canady said.
Lt. Matthew Gagne with the Sanford Police Department said Tuesday that SROs can also help to communicate with students about why there may be a police presence at their school.
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