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3News Investigates: Nearly 300 calls for police service to Bedford High School since August 2021

Parents and safety experts have criticized the district's response after what police called a 'non-credible' threat shut down schools for days.

BEDFORD, Ohio — Bedford City School students returned to the classroom Thursday, three days after the district shut down following an online threat.

According to the Bedford Police Department, a 14-year-old freshman made the threat, hoping to cancel school.

3News Investigates questioned the district’s response and examined the number of times police have been called to Bedford High School.

It’s a growing concern across the nation: Violence in schools.

Bedford City Schools are not immune but there is criticism surrounding how the district is responding.

3News Investigates has found Bedford police have been called to the high school a total of 285 times since August of 2021.

According to police records we obtained, a high volume of calls for service to the school were for minor incidents such as:

  • Alarm drops for a total of 65 times
  • Traffic stops for a total of 39 times.

For more serious incidents, the numbers drop significantly:

  • Records show seven calls for assault
  • Five calls for fights
  • Four calls for threats
  • One call for sexual offense
  • One call for a weapons offense

You can review the full list of calls for service below:

“Every threat needs to be treated seriously investigated thoroughly,” the President of National School Safety and Security Services, Kenneth Trump said. “That does not automatically equate to a school closure or a school evacuation. It's rare to see schools close, especially for multiple days, and particularly when the threats acknowledged as not being a credible threat. Only in rare cases where it's deemed by law enforcement to be a credible threat.”

Bedford police confirmed a 14-year-old freshman threatened the high school Sunday and Monday, resulting in the three-day closure for the high school.

All schools in the district were closed Tuesday and Wednesday for teachers and staff to “adjust and review,” according to a statement from the district.

“We're not reinventing the wheel. The best practices are established to as on threat assessment and not automatically locking down,” Trump said. “When adults need to regroup, they should be grouped and ready to go before a threat ever happens.”

The decision came one year after the former Superintendent Andrea Celico sent students back to remote learning for a month after two violent incidents happened in a 48-hour span.

Two months later, Celico resigned as Bedford superintendent. Then-assistant superintendent, Cassandra Johnson, filled the role.

Johnson did not respond to 3News Investigates’ request for an interview Thursday.

The last board meeting of the semester will take place Thursday evening at district headquarters, where it’s likely parents will express outrage and concern for the cancellation of school.

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