APPLETON, WI (WTAQ) – An Appleton Police captain weighs in on the national school safety discussion.
When it comes to the best way to thwart a plan to wreak havoc in a school, Captain Todd Freeman tells WTAQ’s Mid-Morning News “it’s about the trust that when somebody has information to share that he or she feels at risk for sharing, that they trust their local police department to bring that information forward.”
Locally this past week, there was also a school threat in Kiel and a fake gun found in a Seymour classroom.
In both cases, students reported the concern.
“Perhaps the message is getting through that things that kids learned about or speculated or had a funny feeling about, perhaps now they feel comfortable because of that work on relationships (with police) bringing that (information) forward.”
Freeman also stresses the importance of helping people with mental health concerns.
“As we’re learning about last month’s tragedy in Florida, (there were) what appears to be many missed opportunities. It’s as good as the people making the decisions (are at) working with the information they have.”
Local authorities reportedly ignored countless mental health concerns regarding alleged Florida school shooter Nikolas Cruz, who is charged with killing 17 people during a February 14 shooting rampage at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
