Greensburg, PA – While we navigate another school year, we continue to see an alarming trend of school threats across Westmoreland County.

As the chief law enforcement officer in the county, I would be remiss if I did not address the investigative aspect of someone making these threats, and the repercussions that follow.

The safety and well-being of each and every resident in the county is my paramount concern, and I hold that in the highest regard.

While we are confident every law enforcement agency and school district are equipped to respond to these threats, as the district attorney, I want to ensure that our police agencies work collaboratively together to assess and thoroughly investigate every incident.

To that end, I assigned a county detective as a school safety liaison to help streamline communication with our office as an added resource.

Not only do these threats disrupt the educational experience, but they exhaust valuable resources, cause unnecessary stress and cause panic among the community and our children.

This is an issue that plagues communities across the country, and we will follow a zero-tolerance policy here in Westmoreland County.

Social media has exacerbated how these threats are developed and shared.

I strongly urge parents, guardians and community members to speak to their children about the seriousness of making these threats or sharing them without proper reporting.

I ask students and parents to remain vigilant and monitor your child’s social media presence.

It is my duty to follow the law and criminally charge any juvenile or adult who makes a threat against a school district, whether it is deemed credible or not.

I encourage anyone with concerns or information about potential threats to report them immediately to your local law enforcement agency, school district or Safe2Say so that the proper authorities can respond swiftly and effectively.