KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — Knox County District Attorney General Charme Allen said her office gets three to five calls daily from police about threats against schools. She said as threats have become more serious, so have consequences.
In July, the state legislature increased the punishment for making threats of mass violence on school property or at a school-related activity to a Class E felony. The code states that "mass violence" is any act that could lead to serious bodily injury or the death of two or more people.
Allen said her office has seen an increase in cases over the years.
"It's out of control. We really saw a spike in the spring of last year. Then when school started this year we kind of had a lull, but since the first two weeks have been over, we have shot back up to that really high call volume," Allen said.
She said juveniles who are convicted face indeterminate release. They would be committed to the Department of Children's Services Juvenile Justice Division for six months or more. During that time, they would go through mental health evaluations and therapy and they would be held in custody. In addition to that, she said those with a license would lose it for a year and those without one could be delayed for a year.
She said the first step after a juvenile is charged is an assessment.
"They do things like determine the threat level, determine the suicidal level of these kids, determine the mental health level of these kids. They also determine whether or not these kids actually have access to a gun. Whether or not their parents are supportive," Allen said.
A local attorney, Marcos Garza, said he has also seen the rise of cases. He's practiced for over 20 years but he said the past few years have had the biggest change.
"We get more and more cases like this that come into the office and I'm not sure that there are more threats, but I do think it does reflect society taking more of an interest or taking these sorts of threats more seriously," Garza said.
He said part of the change might also be that law enforcement takes every call as credible. Garza said he doesn't want to scare parents into thinking every student who makes a threat will be locked up, but they need to understand their actions have consequences.
"This is such a serious thing and whether it is a dumb joke, a really dumb joke, or whether it is serious — we have to treat them all seriously and that's why we're going to put them into custody and they're going to sit overnight or maybe a couple of nights in the detention facility until we have a mental health provider come evaluate them," Garza said.
Allen said regardless of whether a juvenile has the means to carry out the threat, the police and the juvenile justice system will get involved. She said every case her office gets will be taken seriously and prosecuted.