Police take precautions following alleged threat

Officers were on duty at Manalapan H.S.; no trouble reported BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

Officers were on duty at Manalapan H.S.; no trouble reported
BY KATHY BARATTA Staff Writer

MANALAPAN – For three days last week, Manalapan’s law enforcement agency maintained what was described as an “increased police presence” at Manalapan High School, Church Lane.

At one point the “increased police presence” included several members of the Manalapan Police Department’s Manalapan Emergency Response Team (MERT).

Freehold Regional High School District Superintendent of Schools James Wasser said the incident that resulted in the stepped-up police presence – the second such incident in as many weeks – bears out the necessity for a full-time police presence to be maintained in all six FRHSD buildings by way of a School Resource Officer (SRO).

An SRO is a regular uniformed member of a municipality’s police department who is posted at the high school during school hours. At the present time there is an SRO assigned at Manalapan, Marlboro and Howell high schools; however, Manalapan’s SRO is presently serving in Iraq.

On March 12, 13 and 14, Manalapan police officers were stationed at the high school following a reported threat of a shooting that was said to have been overheard by a parent and subsequently relayed to school authorities, according to Manalapan police Sgt. Paul Seetoo.

Seetoo said the alleged threat, which was reported to police on March 11 at the end of the school day, was a subject of discussion that was overheard by at least four other individuals who were interviewed by police.

According to a press release issued by Manalapan police Lt. Lloyd Drucker on March 12, a parent heard a student speaking about rumors that a shooting was going to take place at the building on March 12.

The press release said Principal Jeff Simon called police at about 4 p.m.March 11 after he received a call from “a parent of a student who had overheard (another) student speak of a shooting that was going to happen in the school on Wednesday, March 12.”

Seetoo, who spoke with a reporter on March 14, said that by coincidence the MERT was going to be conducting a training exercise at police headquarters on March 12 and it was decided to deploy the six MERT officers to the high school on that school day.

Seetoo said that during an investigation, officers were able to speak with four students who corroborated that they had heard the rumor which had been circulating, warning that a shooting was planned. However, he said the information that was given to police was vague and never pointed to any particular individual.

“We never tracked it to its source,” Seetoo said.

During the week of March 3 a Manalapan High School student was charged by police with making terroristic threats and creating a false public alarm.

Asked if the two incidents were somehow related, Wasser said, “That’s what we are still trying to determine.” He said it was “interesting that the message was very similar,” even if authorities did not find anything written anywhere during the March 11 incident.

In the previous incident that left a juvenile being charged by police, the word “massacre” was written on a classroom blackboard. In addition, a teacher overheard the student who admitted writing the word talking and saying that he and his friends were “planning the bloody massacre of Manalapan.”

Wasser said he is still “trying to figure out for myself whether or not it (the March 11 incident) is a copycat thing, an extension of the one we caught, and then before you know it, it becomes rampant.” He said he is concerned that students in other FRHSD buildings could copy the type of incident reported at Manalapan.

Although the investigation revealed the two Manalapan incidents not to be related, Seetoo said, “Based on the threat the previous week, even though the incidents were separate and believed to be unrelated and the student (who made the threat during the week of March 3) had been removed from the school, given that the source of the second threat (March 11) was unknown and not yet identified, the decision was made to keep the police presence (at the high school) until March 14.”

Wasser said he believes both recent incidents at Manalapan are proof of the necessity for all six FRHSD schools to have an ongoing police presence in the building by way of an SRO. Freehold High School, Freehold Township High School and Colts Neck High School do not have an SRO.

Manalapan’s SRO, Patrolman Jonathan Suydam, was a daily presence at the high school for the past seven years until he was deployed to serve on active duty in Iraq several months ago.

Wasser said one of best things about having an SRO in the school is that the police officer gets to know the students and the students get to know the officer and, more importantly, to trust him.

Referring to the two recent incidents at Manalapan as an example, Wasser said, “With an SRO, you have the opportunity to nip something like this in the bud,” because, according to the superintendent, the opportunity presents itself for the officer to hear something before it takes off as a rumor, feeding itself to the point where it cannot be ignored and needs to be dealt with, all the while creating anxiety for students, parents and staff members, as well as creating extra costs.

“The (SRO) officers have an inside track as to things that are going on and prevent it from happening. That’s my reason to have it – to be proactive,” Wasser said.

Members of the FRHSD Board of Education have recently discussed the possibility of placing an SRO in the three buildings that do not have one, but no decision has been reached at this point.

According to Seetoo, onMarch 12 there were six MERT police officers at the high school. On March 13 the police presence consisted of two MERT officers and four regular patrol officers. OnMarch 14 only one patrolman was left to maintain the police presence.

Seetoo said the three-day vigil cost the police department $2,000 in overtime stemming from the fact that over three days, some officers from the midnight shift (11:30 p.m. to 7:30 a.m.) went right over to the high school to stand a post. Seetoo said some of the same officers stayed on duty until the end of the school day.

Wasser said even though the March 11 threat turned out not to have any “legitimacy,” given the nature of the threat, having the stepped-up police presence was a precaution necessary to afford the security needed by parents, students and staff members.

Wasser said he understands that any proposal, such as the one for an SRO at the three high schools that don’t have one, that comes with any extra cost is going to be looked at with some skepticism by elected officials and taxpayers because “everybody’s under the gun with state aid figures,” but, he said, “in this day and age you’ve got to have it (the SRO).”