‘Hoax threats,’ ‘swattings’ continue to rise, joining real threats as disturbing trend for Chicago-area students
CHICAGO — Bogus threats at schools in the Chicago area have left students and staff anxious and law enforcement on high alert, part of a troubling nationwide trend that began in September, experts say.
The threats, besides being disruptive and extremely stressful, can produce “swatting fatigue,” or “threat fatigue,” experts say, and have hit various suburbs and at least one Chicago public school in the last few weeks. They turn into a waste of resources for law enforcement, and can cost in the six figures, according to experts.
The FBI’s Chicago office received about 84 reports of “incidents,” meaning reports of some type of school-centric threat, whether founded or unfounded, between October 2021 and September 2022, said FBI spokesperson Siobhan Johnson. Between January 2023 and March 3, they have received approximately 10 incident reports per month, Johnson said.
If reports continue at this rate, it would be a hike of about 42%.
According to school safety expert Kenneth Trump, there are two broad categories of school-related threats: swatting threats — prank calls that attempt
