[WikiEN-l] School shooting threats

[Fred Bauder]

> (cc'd to Foundation-l because of para 3)
>
> School shootings are extraordinarily high profile events, nearly always
> followed by investigations of warnings and foreshadowing events -  where
> blame is cast in a wide net on anyone who failed to notice what, in
> hindsight, was a "clear sign." Often these "clear signs" are only clear
> at
> all in hindsight, because as human beings we interpret what we see based
> on
> what we have seen in the past and few of us have encountered threats from
> children that turned out to be very serious.
>
> Wikipedia is in a unique position to suffer from the recriminations
> associated with school shootings, and our role is only going to become
> more
> widespread and high profile as time goes on. Threats made on Wikipedia
> have
> the characteristics of being written, indelible, and traceable to a
> specific
> computer (given the right resources). Additionally, threats on Wikipedia
> are
> *seen* - this is key, because few threats of violence on Wikipedia get
> past
> recent change patrollers and watchlists of attentive editors. So, when a
> school shooting threat is posting on Wikipedia it is time stamped,
> indelible, traceable and seen more or less immediately.
>
> The question, then, is what if any moral imperative does this impose on
> us?
> And if some of us feel compelled to report such instances to the police,
> and
> others do not, what if any should the extent of policy be on this issue?
> Personally I can't agree to any Wikipedia policy that mandates or
> punishes
> behavior off-wiki. On the other hand, I do think a policy that encourages
> all editors to report specific school threats to AN and (when willing and
> possible) to the police is workable and a good idea. Frankly, I'm
> surprised
> and I'm sure many others would be as well to learn that there isn't
> already
> such a Wikipedia policy. At a minimum, we should have a policy of
> forwarding
> all such threats to the Wikimedia Foundation for "official" action if
> necessary.
>
> This issue is distinct from the issue of threats of self-harm, suicide or
> harm to public figures. While vague threats to celebrities and "I'ma kill
> Joe, he's a dickwad" are often reverted and ignored as simple and
> unserious
> vandalism, school threats have a unique nature in public sentiment and
> require a unique position in policy. I'm writing this to the two lists
> because its an issue that deserves a higher profile discussion than on a
> proposed policy page (already nominated for deletion) with a couple
> editors
> who think the policy is trying to force people in calling the cops when
> they
> don't want to.
>
> Nathan

These often come to oversight, so I see them and have reported a couple.
I am always aware of the absurdity of bringing the full force of the law
down on a 13 year old who is probably just fooling around. I haven't made
long distance calls if there is no email address on the school's website.
I generally make a report to the school, to its superintendent and to the
security officer. In the Los Angeles case there was no email addresses on
the website, so I didn't contact them, but there was a notice on the
administrator's noticeboard and someone did call.

I guess our policy should always be to call the school and the local
police. There is a slight possibility of a real threat not being picked
up.

Fred