Alabama state troopers take extra precautions to ensure school safety

SHELBY COUNTY, Ala. ( WIAT ) — Parents and their students may notice the presence of Alabama state troopers at their schools this week.

The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency cites an uptick in threats to schools following the Apalachee High School Shooting in Georgia. From investigating online threats to patrolling at schools, officials say school safety is a priority more now than ever.

“On the screen is an example of a Snapchat threat that was communicated to another state,” said Rachel Salter, an intelligence analyst for the Alabama Fusion Center. “So this did not happen here in Alabama but this is something similar that we would get here, reported here to the Fusion Center.”

Salter said there’s been an uptick in school shooting threats through social media within the past week.

“What people don’t realize is that these companies are monitoring everything we post,” she said. “They will report it to law enforcement so we can start that investigation and get local law enforcement, state law enforcement, or federal law enforcement out knocking on their door.”

These statewide investigations have caused state trooper cars to pop up at schools statewide. Col. Jonathan Archer with ALEA directed troopers to make their presence known around schools.

“Troopers are parents. We have friends that are educators, we’ve got kids that play football,” Archer said. “And so, we are just as concerned about school safety as everyone else is.”

Archer said this will help rural areas of the state that may lack law enforcement presence.

“We may or may not have any credible threat, but it may be unusual for folks to see Alabama trooper cars in school parking lots,” he stated. “We want them to know we are there as partners, we’re there to collaborate.”

Salter said citizens can collaborate by reporting tips to law enforcement as soon as they notice something concerning.

“We encourage them to report it — and not repost it — because that can garner additional fear and also slow down a law enforcement investigation when it comes to finding the origin of that threat,” said Salter.

Archer said young people need to be responsible for what they say on the internet. Otherwise, they might get a visit from law enforcement.

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