While hoax shooting calls that have swamped universities across the country do not describe a true threat in progress, the panic and trauma these calls create are real.
This hoax started on Aug. 21 and targeted universities across the country, including ones in Pennsylvania such as Villanova University and Pitt. It simply involves calling up a police department near a university or the school’s own police department to report violence that isn’t happening.
Even if the calls are fake and the threats of violence are unfounded, Point Park Chief of Police Jeffrey Besong said every call must be treated as though they’re real.
Christine Secilia, coordinator of the undergraduate criminal justice program and a former police officer, said these calls need to be treated like they’re real out of an abundance of caution and safety.
“Police authorities must be contacted immediately,” Secilia said. “They have trained personnel and technologies that can help them determine the value and reliability of the threat.”
According to Besong, the Department of Education sent new training videos to the department on what signs to look for in case a call may be a hoax. These include if a call comes into a direct phone line to a specific officer, a desk phone or a general 911 line.
“If a student is calling in that there’s an active shooter on campus, they’re not calling my extension,” Besong said.
Additionally, Besong said calls about a threat, whether it’s an active shooter or a bomb threat, need to be specific. He said dispatchers consider what can be heard in the background along with how the caller’s voice may sound while speaking.
No matter the circumstances, Besong said the police department’s protocol is to send a PointALERT notification to relay information taken from a call to everyone enrolled in the mass notification system.
While Point Park has never received any hoax calls describing a shooting threat, the problem shows no signs of going away. According to the Associated Press, close to 50 college campuses have received calls which led to a police response in “recent weeks.”
Even without any false calls occurring yet, Besong said he and his agency are still prepared to follow the protocols and procedures officers are trained for.
The campus’s small size also makes checking the legitimacy of such a call easy, according to Lt. Matthew Mays.
“If there’s truly an active shooter, there’s going to be signs,” Mays said. “And if things aren’t adding up, then you probably have a hoax or something similar to a hoax.”
If a legitimate shooting threat requiring a police response were to happen on Point Park property, Besong said the university has several different agencies that would respond if needed. Pittsburgh Police, Allegheny County and the Sheriff’s department along with both Pitt and Duquesne University’s police departments can all respond to an event on Point Park’s campus, according to Besong.
Regarding PointALERT notifications, Besong said getting accurate information is one of the most important parts of having what’s needed to send an alert in the first place. However, having little information won’t cause delays in sending a notification to the campus community or sending an officer to check a reported crime.
