While we’re glad to see a bill for restitution coming from the
Gilroy Police Department for the cost of responding to the
phoned-in shooting threats at Gilroy High School, we’re also
disappointed.
While we’re glad to see a bill for restitution coming from the Gilroy Police Department for the cost of responding to the phoned-in shooting threats at Gilroy High School, we’re also disappointed. We’d hate for anyone to think that $17,765 is anywhere close to the total price tag for the stupid prank that sparked nearly a three-hour lockdown at GHS last month.
That $17,765 represents only the GPD’s cost to respond to the phoned-in threats to shoot a GHS teacher, which, thankfully, turned out to be a hoax. But it in no way represents the total tab. For starters, both the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department and the California Highway Patrol have declined to seek restitution.
In addition, the Gilroy Unified School District has not made a decision on whether to seek restitution. When the wasted staff time and lost state funds from students who didn’t return to school after the lockdown was lifted are tallied, the final number ought to be a stunner.
We understand the CHP’s reasoning in declining to seek restitution for its part in responding to the threat of an active shooter on the GHS campus.
“That’s part of our service that we provide, part of our law-enforcement duties,” CHP spokesman Tom Marshall told reporter Peter Crowley.
We do pay taxes for these services to be available, but the CHP is missing another important point. When already scarce resources are used for half-witted hoaxes, there are fewer resources available to respond to legitimate emergencies.
And, having an accurate assessment of the cost and the fear that they’ll have a six-figure bill to pay ought to serve as a deterrent to anyone else thinking about copying the stupid stunt.
We urge the GUSD, the CHP and the Sheriff’s Department to tally the cost of the incident and seek restitution. It will help to make the community whole and make copycats think again before pulling a similar moronic prank.
