HISD says threat of violence made to school district

New York City police Chief William Bratton said his city’s schools had received a nearly identical threat as Los Angeles but it was quickly deemed not credible.

But in biting criticism, New York Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said the schools shutdown in Los Angeles was “totally, totally uncalled for”. The district expects a “normal school day” on Thursday, and is encouraging parents to send their children to their regularly scheduled classes. “We’re still going forward with school on Thursday because at this time we don’t consider it to be a viable threat”.

So who’s right? Former Chief Medical Officer of Homeland Security Dr. Alexander Garza, who is now Associate Dean for Public Health Practice at Saint Louis University’s School of Public Health and Social Justice, visits Fox 2 News in the Morning to discuss the responses from both school districts. In Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, a school evacuated students after a bomb threat was made by phone, also on Monday. If you cancel classes, the bombings will take place regardless, and we will bring our guns to the streets and offices of Los Angeles, San Bernardino, Bakersfield, and San Diego. “We have bombs hidden in lockers already at several schools”.

More information is emerging about why the two districts reacted so differently to the same threat.

Brian Levin, a California State University criminologist, said he could not recall a school district the size of Los Angeles ever shutting because of a threat.

“It’s what they (terrorists) want, whether it’s a prankster or a terrorist, they want to instill fear”, Bratton said, according to The New York Daily News.

Students arrive at the Ramon C. Cortines School of Visual and Performing Arts in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, Dec 16, 2015.

Victor Asal, chairman of public administration at the State University of NY at Albany, said the decision both districts made was reflective of their respective experiences.

“Los Angeles doesn’t have that same kind of experience”, he said.

“It is very easy in hindsight to criticize the decision based on results that the decider could never have known”, Beck said.

The decision to cancel school, which cost the district an estimated $29 million according to the Los Angeles Times, left parents scrambling to make alternate arrangements for their children.