Tom Horne, Arizona’s superintendent of public instruction, announced plans to use additional funds to increase the number of armed officers in schools. The decision follows a rise in threats to school campuses both in Arizona and nationwide.
Horne stated, “One of my biggest fears is that an armed maniac gets on a school campus and causes a devastating tragedy to happen. There has been a notable increase in threats to campuses in Arizona and nationwide, and that makes it more important than ever to do all we can to provide armed officers at schools. I am pleased that our department has identified $15 million in state school safety carryover funds that will be made available as soon as possible.”
The Department of Education has requested the state Department of Administration waive the six-week public notice requirement for grant application requests. If approved, this waiver would expedite the grant process, allowing schools to apply for an officer starting Oct. 21. Awards would be granted through the State Board of Education by December, enabling schools to have officers on campus by January.
A recent Situational Awareness Bulletin from the Arizona Counter Terrorism Information Center (ACTIC) reported receiving 177 school threats from Jan. 1 to Sept. 3. From Sept. 4 to 24, ACTIC received over 130 additional threats. Among these reports were 88 shooting or weapons-related threats, eight bomb threats, and eight general threats. Other reports were duplicates or unrelated generic threats.
Investigations have resulted in nine arrests over the past three weeks. Nine other threats are under investigation while 38 have been closed as non-credible.
