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School weapons hotline draws complaints
Only seven calls made at $14,285 apiece; critics say it's easier, faster to just call 911
By KELLY WELLS
[email protected]
Last Updated: May 27, 2003
A $50,000-a-year state-run hotline set up so students can anonymously call authorities to report weapons in schools has received just seven calls in the nearly two years it's been around - and five of those were pranks.
As a result, lawmakers from both parties say they will make a push to end the program because it's something the cash-strapped state government can no longer afford.
The state Legislature approved the hotline after the Columbine High School shootings and other school shootings around the nation. Those who backed the hotline said it would give students who heard their classmates make threats or who saw guns in schools a way to anonymously alert authorities.
Calls made to the hotline from anywhere in the state are answered at the Dane County 911 Center, which was hired by the state Department of Justice in 2002 to run the program. When a call comes in, a dispatcher alerts police in the caller's area and the Justice Department. If the calls come in during a school day, school administrators are also immediately notified.
But state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) said none of the seven calls the hotline has received so far has been legitimate, and five of them were pranks.
Lazich unsuccessfully attempted last week to get the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, which is now working on the 2003-'05 state budget, to kill funding for the hotline.
Lazich said the hotline is not only "wasteful spending" but also is flawed because calls to the number are handled by Dane County. If an emergency situation involving weapons in a school arose, callers would get a much quicker response by calling their local police, she said.
Lazich also pointed out that many people may not know about the hotline but nearly everyone knows about 911.
Although the finance committee rejected Lazich's motion to end funding for the program, she said she would continue to push for its elimination.
State Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) also said he would raise the issue when the Assembly takes up the budget. Pocan last week gave the weapons hotline his "Golden Turkey" award, which goes to "the worst bill, agency action, governmental waste or other political development each month in Wisconsin."
"As we face a record deficit, the Joint Finance Committee turned down a chance (last) week to cut $100,000 from the budget to get rid of the terribly failed experiment of a special weapons hotline," Pocan says in a press release, noting that each call that came in cost the state $14,285. Students should simply use 911, he said.
Among the finance committee members who voted to retain funding for the hotline was Rep. David Ward (R-Fort Atkinson). Ward said that although only a handful of calls had come in to the hotline, it was still an important option to have available to students.
Ward once served on the Fort Atkinson School Board, which expelled a student for having a gun in his school locker for a full day. Ward said it was "common knowledge" among students that the gun was present, but none of the youths reported it immediately.
Although the situation passed without incident, Ward said, the gun easily could have fallen into the wrong hands.
"I just think the more opportunities out there for kids to report things, the better," he said. "I guess you can never be too safe or too cautious."
From the May 27, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Only seven calls made at $14,285 apiece; critics say it's easier, faster to just call 911
By KELLY WELLS
[email protected]
Last Updated: May 27, 2003
A $50,000-a-year state-run hotline set up so students can anonymously call authorities to report weapons in schools has received just seven calls in the nearly two years it's been around - and five of those were pranks.
As a result, lawmakers from both parties say they will make a push to end the program because it's something the cash-strapped state government can no longer afford.
The state Legislature approved the hotline after the Columbine High School shootings and other school shootings around the nation. Those who backed the hotline said it would give students who heard their classmates make threats or who saw guns in schools a way to anonymously alert authorities.
Calls made to the hotline from anywhere in the state are answered at the Dane County 911 Center, which was hired by the state Department of Justice in 2002 to run the program. When a call comes in, a dispatcher alerts police in the caller's area and the Justice Department. If the calls come in during a school day, school administrators are also immediately notified.
But state Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) said none of the seven calls the hotline has received so far has been legitimate, and five of them were pranks.
Lazich unsuccessfully attempted last week to get the Legislature's Joint Finance Committee, which is now working on the 2003-'05 state budget, to kill funding for the hotline.
Lazich said the hotline is not only "wasteful spending" but also is flawed because calls to the number are handled by Dane County. If an emergency situation involving weapons in a school arose, callers would get a much quicker response by calling their local police, she said.
Lazich also pointed out that many people may not know about the hotline but nearly everyone knows about 911.
Although the finance committee rejected Lazich's motion to end funding for the program, she said she would continue to push for its elimination.
State Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Madison) also said he would raise the issue when the Assembly takes up the budget. Pocan last week gave the weapons hotline his "Golden Turkey" award, which goes to "the worst bill, agency action, governmental waste or other political development each month in Wisconsin."
"As we face a record deficit, the Joint Finance Committee turned down a chance (last) week to cut $100,000 from the budget to get rid of the terribly failed experiment of a special weapons hotline," Pocan says in a press release, noting that each call that came in cost the state $14,285. Students should simply use 911, he said.
Among the finance committee members who voted to retain funding for the hotline was Rep. David Ward (R-Fort Atkinson). Ward said that although only a handful of calls had come in to the hotline, it was still an important option to have available to students.
Ward once served on the Fort Atkinson School Board, which expelled a student for having a gun in his school locker for a full day. Ward said it was "common knowledge" among students that the gun was present, but none of the youths reported it immediately.
Although the situation passed without incident, Ward said, the gun easily could have fallen into the wrong hands.
"I just think the more opportunities out there for kids to report things, the better," he said. "I guess you can never be too safe or too cautious."
From the May 27, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
