WAVE Safety and Security 03-04-16

ANNOUNCEMENT

Please remember
that we use the same
announcement for
Active Shooter and
Lockdown!

EMERGENCY DRILL “ATTENTION, WE HAVE A 9-1-1
SITUATION OCCURRING, PLEASE
REMAIN IN A SECURE LOCATION
OR MOVE TO A SECURE AREA 
IMMEDIATELY AND LOCKDOWN”

Please make that announcement
twice!

All forms should be Remember, before you hold the drill
completed using call the Long Branch Police and let
Google Forms them know you will be conducting
an Emergency Lockdown Drill and
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1-tHR- call them back when it has com-
T2Lmv_PtqtoFXynyzOdOkS2ypQPHh- pleted. 732-222-1000.
pVkuQllPk/prefill
DO YOU
KNOW THE

DRILL?

A 12-year-old girl is high-profile case over what constitutes or menacing? What exactly do the pop-
facing criminal charges a threat. ular dancing girl or grinning pile of poo
for using certain emoji. emoji actually mean — if anything —
Such thorny questions are likely to only when appended to a message? Emoji
She’s not alone. increase with the recent announcement have no set definition and their use can
that Facebook was rolling out a series vary from user-to-user and context-to-
February 27, 2016 of five face emoji users can select to context.
The Washington Post react to posts in lieu of its ubiquitous
“like” button. “You understand words in a particular
The smiley face, heart, praying hands way,” said Dalia Topelson Ritvo, assis-
and other “emoji” have become the way “Emoji are new enough that people are tant director of the Cyber Law clinic at
millions of Internet users playfully punc- finding their footing,” said Tyler Schnoe- Harvard Law School. “It’s challenging
tuate their texts, posts and messages, belen, a linguist and founder of a com- with symbols and images to unravel
but for one middle schooler the icons pany called Idibon. “Almost all of these that.”
brought the police to her door. cases have emerged in the past couple
years. They are all going into fresh legal Ritvo said that some of these issues will
The 12-year-old from Fairfax, Va., has territory.” likely play out in the Fairfax case.
been charged with threatening her
school after police said she posted a Emoji are icons of faces, hand ges- It began on Dec. 14, when a resource
message on Instagram in December tures, fruits, animals and other items officer at Sidney Lanier Middle School
laden with gun, bomb and knife emojis. that can be embedded in text. They are in Fairfax was made aware of the
It read in part: often used to indicate the tone of a mes- threatening Instagram post and others,
sage, add emphasis or are shorthand according to a search warrant.
Killing for things or ideas.
The officer began interviewing students
“meet me in the library Tuesday” Emoji shot to popularity in the United and sent an emergency request to ob-
States after Apple included an emoji tain the IP address of the user associ-
keyboard on its iPhone in 2011. The ad- ated with the Instagram account. The
vertising company Swyft Media esti- investigation led to the 12-year-old, who
As emoji and their relative the emoticon mates 6 billion emojis and other was also a student at Lanier. The Post
have rocketed from web slang to the pictograms are sent each day and a re- generally does not name juveniles ac-
unofficial language of the Internet age, port by an Internet startup Emogi found cused of crimes.
the case is one of a growing number 92 percent of the online population uses
where authorities contend the cartoon- the icons.
ish symbols have been used to stalk, That rise has led to challenges.
harass, threaten or defame people. And
that has left the police and courts Police are trying to judge just how seri-
wrestling with how to treat a newly pop- ous to take threatening messages using
ular idiom many still dimly grasp. emoji, which are most often deployed in
a light-hearted manner. Attorneys have
A grand jury in New York City recently argued over whether emoji should be
had to decide whether repre- presented to juries as evidence. Ex-
sented a true threat to police officers. A perts say the biggest problem is simply
Michigan judge was asked to interpret determining in court what a defendant
the meaning of a face with a tongue actually intended by sending a particu-
sticking out: :P. Emoji even took a turn lar emoji.
in the Supreme Court last year in a
Is a winkie face emoji ironic, flirtatious

The search warrant states the girl ad- attorney said the case was one of over- Elonis, in the persona of a rapper,
mitted to authorities she posted the reach by law enforcement. Fred Pratt posted graphically violent lyrics about
messages on Instagram and did it said he’s seen other clients use emoji killing his wife on Facebook. His wife
under the name of another student. She the same way. said she interpreted the posts as
was charged with threatening the threats, but Elonis argued they were fic-
school and computer harassment. A “I think something is definitely lost in titious.
spokesman for Fairfax County schools translation,” Pratt said of the police in-
said the alleged threat was deemed terpreting the teens’ emoji use. “These He indicated in some posts the lyrics
“not credible.” kids are not threatening cops, they are were art or therapy. In others, he fol-
just trying to say, ‘I’m tough.’ It’s postur- lowed posts with the emoticon (a rela-
The girl was scheduled to make her first ing.” tive of the emoji) of a face with its
appearance in juvenile court on the tongue sticking out: :P. Elonis argued
charges at the end of the month, but it Other cases have brought up an even the pictograms proved the posts were
is unclear whether the case has been more basic question: Should emoji jests.
resolved since the hearings are not even be considered as evidence?
open to the public. The justices ultimately sided with Elonis
A strange scene played out at the fed- and tossed out his conviction, in a ruling
Authorities have not released a motive eral trial of the man accused of running that made it harder to prosecute people
in the case, but the girl’s mother said the online drug market, Silk Road, last for threats made on the Internet. Emoji
the girl posted the messages in re- year in New York City. As a prosecutor are likely to get close scrutiny when
sponse to being bullied at school. began reading an Internet post to the they pop up in similar cases going for-
court, Ross W. Ulbricht’s attorney ward.
“She’s a good kid. She’s never been in raised an objection.
trouble before,” the woman said. “I don’t Bradley S. Shear, a Maryland attorney
think it’s a case where there should Ulbricht’s attorney said the prosecutor who specializes in Internet issues, said
have been charges.” had omitted mention of a smiley face the issues surrounding emoji and the
emoji that punctuated and imparted legal system will only proliferate.
Ritvo said the girl’s message sounds meaning to a sentence. Afterward, the evidence in cases.”
threatening, but prosecutors and the judge instructed the jury to take note of
judge will have to sort out whether the the emoji in the posts, saying they were WAVE
bomb, gun and knife emoji indicated a part of the evidence.
desire to threaten the school, simply Safety and Security News
anger, or something else entirely. Even so, there is still no set protocol in
the courts for how — or even if –they Produced by the LBPS
Other cases have run aground on simi- should be presented to juries. It’s an Security Department
lar distinctions. issue that the legal system will likely be 540 Broadway, LB, NJ, 07740
sorting through in the years to come. 732-571-2868, Ext. 40911
Last year, a New York City teen was
charged with making a terrorist threat In some cases, judges have been Walter J. O’Neill, Jr
after posting a message on Facebook asked to interpret the meaning of emoji
that read “N—a run up on me, he gunna and emoticons (relatives of emoji made District Public Safety Liaison
get blown down” followed by a police of- with traditional keyboard characters), in- [email protected]
ficer emoji and three gun emoji pointed cluding the Supreme Court. Anthony
at the icon’s head. Elonis, a Pennsylvania man, argued
that his conviction for threatening his
A grand jury later declined to indict estranged wife via Facebook should be
Osiris Aristy, 17, on the charge and his overturned in a case decided last year.

HOMEGROWN VIOLENT Homegrown Violent Extremists (HVEs) the countries in which they are born,
EXTREMISTS IN THE are individuals inspired by foreign ter- raised, or reside. In 2015, HVEs
USA, 2015 rorist organizations and radicalized in demonstrated an ability to operate in
New Jersey and throughout the United
States while connecting with like-
minded individuals online and acting in-
dependently from organized terrorist
groups. Since late 2014, a variety of
radical groups such as the Islamic State
of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and al-Qa'ida in
the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) have en-
couraged HVEs to attack in their home
countries.

The graphic to the left provides insight
into the 75 individuals classified as
HVEs in the United States in 2015, lay-
ing out their actions, group affiliations,
and more.

Special ed student
scalded by coffee:
Was school liable?

Picture this: A special ed student spills
a pot of hot coffee on himself and suf-
fers second-degree burns. Was this
negligence?

A school board could not be held liable
for a student’s injury because it wasn’t
caused by dangerous conditions in the
classroom, an Ohio appeals court held.

Seven-year-old Jacob Moss was en-
rolled in a special needs school run by
the board. The ruling doesn’t specify the
impairment Jacob suffers, but it notes
he had an IEP to reduce problematic
behaviors – including running from
staffers. The IEP provided a 1:1 aide to
stay with Jacob at all times.

During a lesson, Jacob ran from his But Jacob’s mom failed to provide any complaint.
aide toward the kitchen area of the evidence that showed:
classroom. The aide caught up with Defense attorney Ed Perry entered a
Jacob as he approached the counter. 1. it is inherently dangerous to have a denial of the charges, and a magistrate
coffee pot in a special ed classroom ordered that the suspect remain in juve-
However, he pulled free and grabbed nile detention pending a hearing April 5.
the handle of a full pot of coffee from a 2. the kitchen area of the classroom Perry and the boy's supporters declined
coffeemaker. The aide tried to take it, was negligently designed, or to comment afterward.
but Jacob struggled – and spilled the
coffee on his chest. 3. the kitchen area of a classroom There was no indication whether pros-
should be closed off when instruction is ecutors might seek to move the case to
An ambulance took Jacob to a nearby occurring elsewhere in the classroom. adult court.
hospital, where he was diagnosed with Because Jacob’s mother failed to show
second-degree burns. the injuries were due to a “physical de- The Associated Press doesn't generally
fect in the classroom,” the exception did name juveniles charged with crimes.
Jacob’s mom filed a personal injury not apply, the court held.
claim against the board, the district, the
teacher and the aide. So the board was entitled to immunity.
The case was remanded.

The board asked the court to dismiss Moses v. Lorain County Board of Men- Authorities allege the boy fired at stu-
the claim. It refused, and the board ap- tal Retardation, No. 15CA010767, 2016 dents Monday in a cafeteria used by
pealed. WL 233705 (Ohio Ct. App. 1/19/16). high schoolers in Madison Township,
near Middletown. Two students were
Generally, school boards are immune Boy's Hearing Gives No shot and two others were hurt, possibly
from personal injury suits – but excep- Clue on Ohio School by shrapnel or while running away, au-
tions apply. One is the public buildings Shooting Motive thorities said. The injuries weren't con-
exception. sidered life-threatening.
March 1, 2016
Jacob’s mom said this one applied be- ABC News & Associated Press In a recorded call, a 911 caller reporting
cause leaving a “pot of hot coffee on an the shooting immediately identified the
unprotected countertop in the kitchen A 14-year-old boy accused of shooting suspect by name. Breathing heavily, the
area of the classroom” was a negligent students in a school cafeteria entered unidentified caller told a dispatcher: "He
design flaw. She said the board the juvenile court equivalent of a not- just pulled out his gun and started
should’ve closed off the kitchen area guilty plea at a Tuesday hearing that of- shooting."
when students weren’t using it. fered no clues about the motive that
investigators say they know. Sheriff Richard Jones said he's aware
of a motive but wasn't ready to release
The boy is charged in Butler County it.
with attempted murder, felonious as-
sault, inducing panic and making terror- Students were eating in the cafeteria
istic threats. With his ankles shackled, when the shooting happened around
he sat silently during the brief hearing 11:30 a.m., Jones said. Afterward,
and kept his head down, reading the classmates described a chaotic scene
where they weren't sure what was hap-
pening at first.

A sheriff's deputy stationed in the school Drescher was expelled in 2014 for the Court to interpret “willful” to include stu-
had just been in the cafeteria, Jones final six weeks of her junior year. She dents who act with “careless disregard”
said. said she left the knife in her purse by and to decide a threat needs only to be
accident after doing chores on her possible - not probable - to meet the
The students who were shot were 14 boyfriend’s farm. It was found during an law’s endangerment threshold.
and 15 years old and were taken to a announced locker search.
hospital where they were in stable con- Drescher is now a student at Minnesota
dition, investigators said. Last year, the appeals court ruled that State University, Mankato, and does not
the district should not have expelled plan to attend the Supreme Court hear-
The school, which had practiced for Drescher because she didn’t willfully vi- ing, her attorney said. If the expulsion is
such an event, immediately went into olate school policy and didn’t endanger reinstated, Jepsen said it could hurt
lockdown, said Madison Local Schools herself or others. Drescher if she decides she wants to
spokeswoman A.J. Huff. transfer to a new college or continue on
Drescher’s attorney, Andrea Jepsen, to graduate school.
The district canceled classes and ex- calls the decision a win not only for her
tracurricular activities Tuesday. Classes client, but also for “a lot of kids who suf- The high court also will consider written
were to resume Wednesday. fer disproportionately from wrongful dis- arguments filed by several state educa-
missals.” tion organizations supporting the school
Minnesota Supreme district’s position.
Court to hear school The school district appealed. In a state-
knife expulsion case ment, the district said the appeals court Jepsen does not expect a ruling for
ruling “sets a dangerous precedent that weeks or months.
February 28, 2016 limits the ability of school districts
The Washington Post across the state to proactively address Child left at school leads
the presence of weapons on school SC deputies to discover
WELLS, Minn. (AP) - In a case with property.” apparent murder-suicide
statewide implications for school disci-
pline policies, the Minnesota Supreme Drescher’s attorneys contend that be- February 19, 2016
Court will hear oral arguments Monday cause she had forgotten the knife was WSOCTV.com
about the overturned expulsion of a in her purse and didn’t intentionally
southern Minnesota high school student bring it to school, the act was not willful. Columbia, S.C. - Richland County sher-
who accidentally brought a pocket knife And because the knife was in her purse iff's deputies who were asked to check
to school. in her locked locker, it did not pose any a home after no one picked up a child
real danger, her attorneys argue. at a school found what appears to be a
United South Central Public Schools in murder-suicide.
Wells is appealing after the state Court The district is asking the Supreme
of Appeals overturned the expulsion of Deputies say it appears a woman was
Alyssa Drescher. The Supreme Court’s killed by her estranged husband, who
decision could influence school suspen- then killed himself.
sion and expulsion policies across Min-
nesota, The Free Press of Mankato Officers say no one came to pick up the
(http://bit.ly/1QFkvZM) reported. couple's six-year-old child from school
Wednesday afternoon. Deputies say no
one responded when they knocked on
an apartment door.

Officers who went inside found 34-year- Police said no students were present at on Tuesday.
old Stephanie C. Wallace dead from a the time of Nowling's arrest, and he said
gunshot wound. The body of 32-year- the school district cooperated with the He said a similar video was posted on
old Keith Wallace was also there. investigation. He said authorities had Facebook.
earlier searched Nowling's home and
Investigators have not determined what had found drugs, including Oxycontin, Student vs. Teacher at my old
sparked the shooting. Hydrocodone and marijuana. He said school Pine Forest! smh, We have
two people were arrested at Nowling's
Southern Indiana teacher home: Harold Kemp, 42, and Zackie got to do better!!!
arrested with meth in White, 31, whom Goodin described as pic.twitter.com/XiDQCDRzSj
class friends or acquaintances of Nowling.
— KidLaPrince (@KidLaPrince)
February 26, 2016 Goodin said police then went to Nowl- February 24, 2016
INDYSTAR, part os USA Today ing's work after learning she was possi-
bly in possession of a controlled Morrison said he was unable to discuss
A Southern Indiana elementary teacher substance. the incident beyond confirming it hap-
was arrested Thursday at school, and pened.
authorities said she had drugs with her "We're hammering a lot of drug dealers
at the time of her arrest. and drug users in this county the last Sgt. Sean Swain, a Sheriff's Office
four or five months," Goodin said Thurs- spokesman, also confirmed the video is
Laura Nowling, 47, a teacher at Austin day. from Tuesday's altercation at Pine For-
Elementary in Scott County, was est.
booked into the Scott County Jail on He said Thursday's arrest was fairly
charges of possession of meth, posses- routine Ricky O'Briant, the safe school coordi-
sion of a controlled substance, main- nator at Pine Forest, was breaking up a
taining a common nuisance and Fight between student, fight at the school, Swain said. No
possession of marijuana. adult caught on video at charges have been filed, Swain said.
Fayetteville high school

February 26, 2016
FoFayobserver.com

Video posted on a social media site by
a former Pine Forest High School stu-
dent shows an altercation between a
student and a school employee, officials
with the school system and Sheriff's Of-
fice have confirmed.

Nowling has been an employee with the The Cumberland County Sheriff's Office
Scott County School District 1 for more is investigating, said Bruce Morrison,
than a decade, the district said Thurs- the safety and security director for Cum-
day. berland County Schools. Morrison said
the video, which was posted on Twitter,
Sgt. Jerry Goodin with the Indiana State shows part of an incident at Pine Forest

The goal of the safe school coordinator "We have got to do better," he said in two other similar incidents.
is to "promote a safe, orderly, and car- the tweet. The school system fired both men.
ing environment by planning and imple-
menting programs designed to reduce Wilson said in a phone interview that he COURT CASES
school violence and to engage students was referring to both the student and
in appropriate behaviors and activities the adult. The Los Angeles Unified School District
that promote character and facilitate ac- (LAUSD) has agreed to pay $320,000
ademic growth," according to the school "A student should know their place, and to the family of a student who was vic-
system's website. the teacher should also know their timized by a teacher at Portola Middle
place," he said. "The teacher is older, School.
Frank Till Jr., superintendent of Cum- so he should know better." Former history teacher Jason Leon was
berland County Schools, said he is arrested in July 2013 for allegedly hav-
aware of a fight at the school. He didn't The video shows a man wrestling a ing inappropriate contact with three fe-
know if school resource officers, which young man to the floor in what appears male students between the ages of 13
are sheriff's deputies assigned to each to be a common area. When the young and 14.
school, were involved. man gets up, he makes a move toward Leon pleaded guilty to:
the man, who yanks him down a step 1. misdemeanor battery
"I have to wait until I get a report out of and pushes him to the floor. 2. child abuse causing mental suffering,
that," he said. and
In the background, two other people ap- 3. luring a minor younger than 14.
Till said he is not involved in the inves- pear to be tussling on the floor. A gath- As part of the plea deal, he agreed to:
tigation because he has to stay impar- ered crowd is making a lot of noise. 1. forfeit his teaching credentials
tial until he receives a recommendation 2. admit himself into an alcohol treat-
after it is finished. He said he does not The altercation comes less than two ment program
know when the investigation might be months after two other school system 3. complete 60 days of community serv-
complete. employees were charged with assault- ice, and
ing students at an alternative middle
In most circumstances, the school's school. The district attorney declined to
safety department works with the Sher- release video of the incidents.
iff's Office to investigate incidents at
schools, Till said. He makes a decision Terry Van Drake, who was the safe
on whether an action was justified after school coordinator at Pauline Jones
getting a recommendation from the de- Middle School, was charged in Decem-
partment, he said. ber with three counts of misdemeanor
child abuse. Danny Mandell Pettigrew,
Laquan Wilson, who works as a video- a teacher at the school, was charged
grapher and photographer and as an then with misdemeanor child abuse.
editor at Motown in Los Angeles, posted
the video Wednesday on Twitter. He Investigators accused Pettigrew of
said he got the video from someone he grabbing a student in his class by the
knows from the time he spent in Fayet- neck and chest and throwing the child
teville. against a wall.

Wilson, who said he attended Pine For- Drake is accused of grabbing a student
est for two years before leaving his sen- by the wrist, forcefully pulling him from
ior year, said in his tweet that the video a desk to the floor and placing his knee
made him shake his head. in the boy's back. He also is accused of

3. have no unsupervised contact with called the SRO. finding of delinquency was upheld, the
minor girls during his five years of pro- court explained.
bation. “When the SRO got there, Kevin still
wouldn’t calm down,” Amy said. “Kevin Analysis: Keep lines of communica-
One family sued, alleging the school yelled ‘this is BS’ and threw his book tion with teachers
should’ve done more to protect their bag across the room. Then he was ar-
daughter. The district settled the case rested.” The teacher’s quick response – calling
to resolve the matter. the SRO right away – likely prevented
Kevin was found guilty of disorderly this situation from escalating to a
Tardy student arrested conduct for interfering with the opera- much bigger problem.
after cursing at substitute tions of a school. He was sentenced to
probation and community service. He Remind teachers to call for help when
Principal Heather Marks was pouring a appealed, asking the court to overturn students show signs of aggressive be-
cup of coffee when teacher Amy Hill his conviction. Did the court agree? havior – such as breathing heavily,
walked into the lounge and sat down. balling hands into fists, invading oth-
ers’ personal space and staring off into
the distance (often called the thou-
sand-yard stare).

“I heard you had some trouble this Cite: In the matter of K.S.D. Drama-
morning,” Heather said. tized for effect.

“Ugh,” Amy said. “Kevin was acting up. No, the court refused to New law aims to improve
I had to call the SRO, and Kevin got overturn the conviction. safety at private schools
arrested.”

Student had ‘a bad day’

“Take me through it,” Heather said. Kevin argued that his conduct wasn’t Effective April 1, new legislation will
“What happened?” the reason Amy’s class was disturbed. provide safety and security measures
He claimed the substitute teacher who for private schools in New York City.
“Kevin walked into class about 10 min- followed him to Amy’s class was the
utes late,” Amy explained. “He warned cause of the whole thing. The city council has approved Intro-
me that he was having a bad day.” duction 65-A, which will provide secu-
Kevin further argued that Amy didn’t rity for “non-public schools with 300 or
“Go on,” Heather prodded. have to leave the class to escort him more students, giving each school at
to the office – so the educational envi- least one security officer upon request
“The substitute who’s filling in for ronment wasn’t interrupted. and an additional one for each 500
Cara’s maternity leave walked in right students enrolled.”
after Kevin did,” Amy said. “Apparently But the court refused to buy his story,
something happened between them explaining that state law outlines sev- Under the legislation, the city is ex-
right before he got to my class. eral actions that amount to “disorderly pected to provide security for about
conduct” including when a person “dis- 200,000 private school students in
“The sub asked me for Kevin’s name,” rupts, disturbs or interferes with the New York City – and the initiative’s
Amy went on. “I wrote it down, and teaching of students at any public or spending cap is $19.8 million the first
Kevin jumped up and called her the B- private educational institution.” year.
word, saying he didn’t have to listen to
her. I couldn’t calm him down so I That’s exactly what Kevin did, so the Legislation approved by a 43-4 vote

Four PG County schools ADMINISTRATION
locked down after
shooting near Michael Salvatore, Ph.D.
DuVal High School Superintendent

Kindergarten teacher February 29, 2016 Alvin L. Freeman
gets 56 years ABC WJLA Washington Assistant Superintendent

for abusing kids LANHAM, Md. (ABC7) — Prince JanetLynn Dudick
George's County Schools confirmed Assistant Superintendent
In Ohio, a former teacher was sen- that four schools were locked down
tenced to 56 years in prison after he Monday morning due to a shooting near for Pupil & Personnel Services
pleaded no contest to charges involving DuVal High School. The lock-downs
child pornography. were lifted later in the morning. Peter E. Genovese III
Business Administrator
ABC7 News reporter Brad Bell said a
Board Secretary
Elliot Gornall was a kindergarten
teacher in the Loudonville-Perrysville Nancy L. Valenti
School District.
Asst. Business Administrator
Last fall, the U.S. Department of Home- Assistant Board Secretary
land Security (DHS) received a tip that
Gornall ordered opioid pain killers BOARD OF 
through the Internet. The feds launched EDUCATION
an investigation, searched Gornall’s
home and found opioids, marijuana and Rose M. Widdis, President
other drugs. Bill Dangler, Vice President

Drug search uncovered abuse Mary L. George
Avery W, Grant
But that’s not all DHS found. Gornall’s 17-year-old boy was shot and is in crit- Michele Critelli, Ed.D
home computer held more than 300 im- ical condition. Bell said the boy has no
ages and 60 videos of child pornogra- affiliation with DuVal High School. Bill Dangler
phy – some featured his students in a Armand R. Zambrano, Jr
school restroom. According to police, the shooting oc-
curred in Lanham, Md. at Greenbelt James N. Parnell
Turns out, Gornall put a tiny camera on Road and Aerospace Road. Donald C. Covin
a plastic hook in the bathroom of his R. Caroline Bennett
F. McMullen Elementary School class- The schools that were locked down
room and used it to tape 25 students. were DuVal High, Goddard Montessori
School, Catherine Reed Elementary
Police also found 14 pairs of young and Magnolia Elementary.
girls’ underwear and a book with nude
images of children in the home