September 18, 2024
Greetings,
The start of the school year is filled with first time experiences for staff, students, and parents. It is also a time to get back into our regular school routines. An unfortunate routine, that we hope one day will no longer be needed, is to share this message about the seriousness of making threats of violence towards individuals or schools.
It has become far too commonplace for comments that threaten violent acts towards schools, buildings, or individuals to appear on social media platforms, in chats, or in conversations. Fortunately, a majority of these comments are not credible and when those making the comments are questioned they often say they were “just joking”.
“Just joking” is not acceptable!
When a threat is made there is no way of immediately knowing if the threat is real or another so-called prank. We must, and do, take every threat seriously. And every threat, even those that people make as a “joke” creates a disruption to the school environment and expends a significant amount of school and law enforcement resources. Making threatening comments is a crime. Those individuals who are found making comments will be turned over to the Wayne County prosecutor’s office and subject to criminal prosecution. We ask our entire community to have serious conversations with their children regarding the very serious consequences of their actions. It is essential that we as adults act as role models and demonstrate proper use of our communication tools and platforms.
The recent tragic event in Georgia is a reminder that we all need to work together, remain focused on our surroundings, report anything out of the ordinary to local law enforcement, and keep communications open and frequent. Each school website has an online SAFE BOX that is available to report any behaviors or activity that appear to be out of the ordinary. The State of Michigan offers a similar tool called OK 2 SAY. Both of these resources are available at any time.
We are very fortunate in Dearborn to have the talents and experience of Ms. Elzayat, Dearborn Public Schools Director of Safety and Security; our district safety and security team, the dedicated Dearborn Police School Resource Officers, and the vast resources of the Dearborn Police who together, work to quickly identify and take action toward those making threatening comments toward our schools. We thank all of the Dearborn Public Schools staff and all of the hard working men and women who are part of the Dearborn Police Department for their continuous efforts to create these safe spaces for children in school.
Our community, and our schools, will continually work to create a safe environment for all ensuring Dearborn will always be a great place to live and learn. Wishing everyone a peaceful and productive school year.
Regards,
Issa Shahin
Chief of Police, Dearborn Police Department
Glenn Maleyko
Superintendent, Dearborn Public Schools
See the letter in English and Arabic
Carta de seguridad en español
