A new report from TDR Technology Solutions highlights how much money it costs taxpayers for swatting calls to schools.
Swatting calls are fake calls that are made to schools and deemed not credible.
Don Beeler is the CEO of TDR Technology Solutions, a company that tracks how much money swatting threats are costing taxpayers nationally.
Beeler says Florida saw more than 1,500 swatting threats last year. The report estimates that Florida saw $65 million in losses and $8 million in lost instructional time. TDR gets their numbers from school districts, law enforcement, and media reports.
On Monday, Boca Raton Community High School was the target of a possible swatting call. Beeler says incidents like this can end up costing taxpayers tens of thousands of dollars.
"The numbers are staggering. There are various actions that schools take. They can have a lockdown, secure in place, we calculate for each different type of threat," Beeler said.
Not only are swatting incidents expensive, they can take a toll on the mental health of students, teachers, staff and parents.
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Frank Frangella is the chief of safety and security for the Martin County School District, and says these types of threats take away important resources from the community in the event of a real emergency.
Frangella says don't even think about making a fake threat to any school because you will get caught and will be punished to the full extent of the law.
"This is really serious. It is not a joke. We are going to go after them, and if we find out it is fake we will prosecute you to the fullest extent of the law. We are going to respond like we would any other 911 call to make sure that we are safe and that are staff students are safe," Frangella said.
