St. Landry law enforcement developing new strategies, education after recent bomb threats

St. Landry Parish law enforcement officials say they are devising new strategies and public awareness presentations which they think might help reduce the recent increase in bomb threats and threats of violence which have caused school campus evacuations and lockdowns.

Sheriff Bobby Guidroz said his deputies and safety officers are developing a partnership with the Louisiana State Police to develop more tools for investigating parish-wide school incidents and bring consequential awareness to students attending District schools.

Newly-elected Opelousas Police Chief Graig LeBlanc said during a Friday telephone interview that the department has applied for federal grant funding that will include revenues for improving school safety.

LeBlanc said in a subsequent phone interview that a female juvenile was arrested by the Opelousas Police Department Friday morning in connection with a bomb threat call made at Opelousas Junior High.

It’s been a busy week for parish law enforcement officials, who on Tuesday provided response teams to five campuses after building-level administrators received separate phoned-in bomb threats.

Last week Opelousas High was locked down for about two hours after school officials there received a phone call that an unspecified violent act was planned against persons who were on campus at that time.

Bomb threats and lockdowns have become regular occurrences at parish campuses beginning in October and school officials estimate that since that time, law enforcement has responded to at least 16 separate incidents which include the threat made on Friday at the junior high school in Opelousas.

Authorities reported that no injuries had occurred or that evidence of bombs had been placed on campuses during any of the reported incidents where lockdowns or evacuations were investigated.

Since that time two juveniles have been arrested and charged with terrorizing in connection with a bomb threat that caused a series of lockdowns at two Port Barre school campuses.

On Friday Opelousas police announced that they had arrested a 15-year-old on three counts of terrorizing for allegedly making bomb threats at Opelousas High, Northwest High, the St. Landry Parish Accelerated Transitional School, The Center For Academic Programs and a McAlister’s Restaurant located in Opelousas.

According to separate press releases issued by Opelousas police and the St. Landry Parish School District, the 15-year-old is allegedly responsible for making all of the bomb threat calls as well as another made threatening the restaurant with a bomb.

Guidroz said Thursday that state law identifies terrorizing as a felony crime, which could result in maximum penalties of at least $1,000 and possibly six months in jail.

St. Landry Parish School Superintendent Patrick Jenkins told school board members in November that he plans to pursue terrorizing charges and student expulsions in connection with any threats that target schools.

What is the law enforcement response?

Guidroz said he is planning an initiative which also involves State Police and municipal parish law enforcement that will be presented to students, school employees and parents.

“We are all partnering as members of law enforcement to visit these school sites to talk about what can happen to students who choose to make these kinds of threats and how these actions can additionally affect their parents,” said Guidroz.

The objective of the informational programs Guidroz said, is for students and parents to develop a better understanding of the consequences associated with making threats as well as the ability of law enforcement and the court system that will hold individuals accountable.

Guidroz explained that at this point students who may be planning to threaten violence or disrupt school activities fail to realize the seriousness of the potential crime they might be intending to commit.

“We plan to emphasize with our videos and presentations that the parents of these juveniles who are making threats will also be held responsible and that will include paying the costs for the officers who are responding and present at the scene in addition to the expense of having first responders,” Guidroz said.

Although he did not provide an estimate for the costs associated with investigating and responding to violent threats, Guidroz said the extra hours and costs of medical technicians and first responders are significant.

LeBlanc said the department is still examining the details of the federal grant that involves school safety.

Is it a contest?

Guidroz noted that he and deputies that provide school security to schools outside incorporated areas think that calling in bomb threats at schools has become a contest.

“I don’t know this for a fact yet, but we seem to think that it’s becoming a competition between schools, to see which of the schools can create the most threats,” added Guidroz.

The law enforcement advantage

Perpetrators, Guidroz said, may also be unaware that law enforcement potentially has the advantage when it comes to dealing with identifying bomb threat suspects.

“I don’t think these individuals who are planning to make threats realize the capabilities that law enforcement has. We have sophisticated equipment and so does the State Police which has been actively assisting our department with their technology. What we are doing right now to combat this is based on technology and with that, I think we have an upper hand,” Guidroz said.

This article originally appeared on Opelousas Daily World: St. Landry officials developing new strategies after bomb threats