BUFFALO — "You have to treat every one like it's real."
The spokeperson for the Buffalo FBI office is talking about threats posted online about a pending attack on a school.
"Everything stops. For the local police for the State Police and for the F-B-I. It’s bomb dogs. It’s vetting that threat. The F-B-I running database checks. And for schools and teachers and administrators, it’s time away from teaching kids,” says Maureen Dempsey.
And the vast majority of those texts, social media posts and emails threatening violence are false.
In Western New York, Dempsey says the FBI sees a 400% jump in false threats immediately following tragedies like the school shootings in Santa Fe, Texas and Parkland, Florida.
Mostly, the origin of the fake threat is a young adult or a teenager.
"They maybe want to have a day off of school or a couple hours break or just seek revenge on a school
district if they have a beef with it or maybe gain notoriety,” says Dempsey.
But the hoaxes drain the FBI and other police agencies of time and resources. And now the agency is trying to make the public more aware of the dangers of false threats.
This week it launched a public awareness campaign #ThinkBeforeYouPost. And the FBI wants to remind everyone that posting a threat real or fake is a federal felony punishable by up to five years in prison.