NASRO advising SRO’s to communicate with school staff about ‘swatting’ surges

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (WBRC) - Some area school resource officers are warning parents and students about “swatting.” Those are basically fake 911 calls and they can be dangerous. According to reports, they’ve already happened at some Alabama schools.

The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) has advised school resource officers to initiate conversations with school administrators, staff, and faculty about the surge in “swatting” calls targeting schools.

Mo Canady, executive director for NASRO, said they are talking about lights and sirens and expediting getting to that situation.

“We’re getting a call that indicates to us that someone is shooting people, injuring them, killing them, who knows what else, and we’ve got to get there, so that’s a big deal,” Canady said.

Canady said this can also cause trauma for students and staff going through situations like these. Which is why it’s important for SRO’s to communicate with administration, faculty and staff about being prepared for these incidents.

“What teachers need to be doing, how they need to be instructing students in terms of where they need to be positioning themselves, or whether they need to exit the classroom,” Canady said. “Also adding to that for the teachers to be able to communicate to administration and the SRO that there is a problem in their classroom.”

In these hoaxes, the SRO needs to be able to quickly diagnose the situation and determine whether or not it is a false call.

The Hoover City school system sent emails to parents and guardians informing them that they are aware of this trend against schools and have zero tolerance for such activity.

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