Posted on 09/17/2024 8:45:22 AM PDT by grundle
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Florida's Atlantic Coast said he's tired of the hoaxes targeting students, disrupting schools and sapping law enforcement resources
A Florida sheriff fed up with a spate of false school shooting threats is taking a new tactic to try get through to students and their parents: he's posting the mugshot of any offender on social media.
Law enforcement officials in Florida and across the country have seen a wave of school shooting hoaxes recently, including in the wake of the deadly attack at Apalachee High School in Winder, Ga., which killed two students and two teachers.
Volusia County Sheriff Mike Chitwood on Florida's Atlantic Coast said he's tired of the hoaxes targeting students, disrupting schools and sapping law enforcement resources. In social media posts Monday, Chitwood warned parents that if their kids are arrested for making these threats, he'll make sure the public knows.
“Since parents, you don’t want to raise your kids, I’m going to start raising them," Chitwood said. "Every time we make an arrest, your kid’s photo is going to be put out there. And if I can do it, I’m going to perp walk your kid so that everybody can see what your kid’s up to.”
Chitwood made the announcement in a video highlighting the arrest of an 11-year-boy who was taken into custody for allegedly threatening to carry out a school shooting at Creekside or Silver Sands Middle School in Volusia County. Chitwood posted the boy's full name and mugshot to his Facebook page.
In the video, which had more than 270,000 views on Facebook as of Monday afternoon, the camera pans across a conference table covered in airsoft guns, pistols, fake ammunition, knives and swords that law enforcement officers claim the boy was “showing off" to other students.
Later, the video cuts to officers letting the boy out of a squad car and leading him handcuffed into a secure facility, dressed in a blue flannel button-down shirt, black sweatpants and slip-on sandals. The boy's face is fully visible at multiples points in the video.
“Right this way, young man,” an officer tells the boy, his hands shackled behind his back.
The boy is led into an empty cell, with metal cuffs around his wrists and ankles, before an officer closes the door and locks him inside.
“Do you have any questions?” the officer asks as he bolts the door.
“No sir,” the boy replies.
The video prompted a stream of reactions on social media, with many residents praising Chitwood, calling on him to publicly identify the parents as well — or press charges against them.
Others questioned the sheriff’s decision, saying the 11-year-old is just a child, and that the weight of the responsibility should fall on his parents.
Under Florida law, juvenile court records are generally exempt from public release — but not if the child is charged with a felony, as in this case.
Law enforcement officials across Florida have been tracking a stream of threats in the weeks since the 2024-2025 school year began. In Broward County, home to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, officials said last week they had already arrested nine students, ages 11 to 15, for making threats since August.
"For my parents, to the kids who are getting ready for school, I'm going to say this again," Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony said at a press conference, “nothing about this is a laughing or joking matter.”
“Parents, students, it's not a game,” he added.
Now let’s see them do it for 11-year-old non-white criminals.
Excellent move by this judge. He’ll probably get blasted for it, but it is a good solution to a tough problem.
Hello, these kids don’t care about that s***. The more they get their faces out there the happier they are.
Did you see all the guns and swords and other weaponry that little 11 y/o Boy was showing off? Incredible, if it actually was in his possession. This is needed. Parents need to keep up with videos their kid posts, if those videos involve issuing threats and brandishing actual weapons.
FAFO
Since the perp is only 11, in this case I’ll say FAFO = fool around, find out.
Gimme that old-time policing
Gimme that old-time policing
Gimme that old-time policing
It’s good enough for me
Their parents won't either if a pic and/or a perp walk on social media is the worst that LE can do.
Yes, please.
PROUD OF THIS SHERIFF
A CLONE OF SHERIFF JOE ARPAIO???
“It’s fun to do bad things.”
>>Their parents won’t either if a pic and/or a perp walk on social media is the worst that LE can do.
Exactly. The Sheriff should be forcing the parents to repay the cost of investigating these hoaxes; THEN they might choose to parent their spawn.
kids today don’t give a rats hairy @$$ about anything, so this won’t do anything but make them more popular and in some cases maybe cause more incidents. Parents are the ones that need to take the full force of public shame.
Both need to.
The kid is making his own decisions, too.
But make the parents pay the legal costs.
The parents too!!!!
I think the origins of the media uniting to not show photos of a criminal and to block his race from the story was first started for black criminals 50+ years ago
Lucky kid! The only thing I had at his age was the slingshot and a folding knife. I had to wait until 12 to get the bb gun, and 15 for the 22 Glenfield Marlin bolt action (which I still own 52 years later).
Before the media went far left, news reporting was about telling you who did the crime, it was the information that people needed and wanted, sort of the whole purpose of the crime news.
.
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