OCSO deputy develops QR codes to help students easily and anonymously report threats

FORT WALTON BEACH — Students in Okaloosa County will soon have a new way to anonymously relay information concerning potentially harmful or unsafe situations to public safety agencies and school officials.

A QR code created by Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office School Resource Officer Deputy Jeramy Dobkins will allow students to access Fortify Florida, an anonymous reporting tool, without ever having to download the app.

The Florida Attorney General’s Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the Florida Department of Education launched the Fortify Florida reporting app in 2018 with the help of students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, who named the app and helped create the logo.

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The Parkland high school was the site of a shooting on the afternoon of Feb. 14, 2018, when 17 people were killed and another 17 were injured.

Nikolas Cruz, now 22, has pleaded guilty to the murders. Jury selection for a penalty trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 4.

Students at Max Bruner Jr. Middle School, where Dobkins serves as an SRO, are plugged in to their digital devices daily, but having the Fortify Florida app on their phones is sometimes looked down upon by their peers who may see it as "snitching."

Dobkins said he began recognizing that students need a more discrete way to submit tips.

“My concern was we have to develop something that’s going to allow them to have anonymity but provide some vital information that they would probably not otherwise have a pathway to deliver, for fear of repercussions in the social environment that they’re in,” Dobkins said.

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Although delving into the digital world to create a QR code was a new concept for Dobkins, all it took was a little research.

“I just saw a need, and I did the very best I could to fill that need and put it in the most practical way so it complements what we already have,” he said.

All students have to do to access the app is pull out their smartphones and focus on the black and white QR code with their camera. Students are then automatically directed to the Fortify Florida website, where they can anonymously submit information.

“You would put in your school. It could be any school in the state.” Dobkins said. “So you type in your school and you submit the tip. You have the option of putting your information in, but you don’t have to. It’s completely anonymous.”

Dobkins said he sees the QR code being useful not only when there is a possible school threat, but in a variety of situations students face every day. Some students may not feel safe enough to come forward when they are being bullied or alert an adult when a friend has disclosed that they might hurt themselves.

“It gives one more avenue for someone to give law enforcement, school administration, someone the ability to prevent a tragedy and help,” Dobkins said.

He is designing banners containing the QR code. He plans to place them in as many areas as possible throughout Bruner.

In addition, the code may appear on papers or items submitted to parents, who also can submit anonymous tips. The Okaloosa County School District plans to adopt the QR code for other schools in the future.

Last week, School District Safe Schools Specialist Danny Dean presented Dobkins with a Certificate of Commendation on behalf of Superintendent Marcus Chambers to recognize him for his “profound innovation” and “exceptional dedication to the safety and security” of the district.

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The School District plans to share the idea with the Florida Board of Education’s Safe Schools Office. Dobkins said he hopes to see the QR code used in schools across the state, and maybe one day across the nation with a universal reporting application.

“That’s a long-term goal," he said. "But I absolutely would hope that the Florida Department of Education would look at this as a pristine opportunity to provide an anonymous apparatus for students to report on the daily concerns that most of them do not report on, especially to authoritative figures."

Dobkins said he was humbled to receive recognition from the School District, although he sees it as a daily duty. As a SRO, Dobkins said it is his job to find “new pathways” to protect children. Others in the OCSO School Resource Officer Division also are constantly looking for ways to make the community safer, he said.

“I’m just extremely grateful because I have an administration that allows me to be inspired with these ideas, to come up with and share them. They don’t stifle innovation, they empower it, This type of innovation is something that occurs on a daily basis throughout the entire unit.”

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: QR code by OCSO deputy helps students anonymously report threats