From the Harford County Sheriff’s Office:
(March 31, 2011, Bel Air, MD) – Three juveniles involved in placing bomb threat calls to five area Harford County Public Schools – Bel Air Middle School, Bel Air High School, Fallston High School, Southampton Middle School and Patterson Mill High School on Monday, March 28, 2011 have been arrested and charged for their involvement in what was deemed to be a hoax. A search of all involved schools on Monday determined that there were no suspicious devices planted at any of the facilities.
Utilizing a variety of investigative techniques, members from the Harford County Sheriff’s Office, Bel Air Police Department, and the Harford County Public School’s Office of Safety and Security were able to determine the identity of the juveniles who placed the calls. They were charged and arrested before noon on Thursday, March 31, 2011 and have been released back to the care and custody of their parents. The juveniles involved in this crime are all female students of Bel Air High School, ages 14-15, who reside in the Bel Air/ Forest Hill areas.
The juveniles have been charged with five counts of disturbing school operations, a misdemeanor and five counts of making a statement/rumor as to a destructive device CR 9-504 (b). This is a felony, which if charged and found guilty as an adult could face penalties of up to $ 10,000 in fines and 10 years imprisonment.
come on says
Why would they wanna do this? The important question.
AbingdonTeacher says
Kudos to the HCSO, BAPD, and HCPS for tracking these deliquents down so quickly!
Ron Chapman says
Way to go law enforcement. Do me a favor and tally up what it cost the county to respond to the events, cost for evacuation, and cost for auxiliary emergency services, etc. Once you get that figure I’m sure you’ve got some great free taxpayer community service summer hires! Bomb threats are not a joke and command vast resources.
Someone who knows says
If they were adults the would be charges with domestic terrorism and be looking at major jail time! It’s not a joke to the cops and kids that spent most of their day dealing with it! I’m sure the kids that stood outside in their gym uniforms in the cold for an hour would love to find out who these criminals are! Just a thought from someone who does not understand!!!
lock em up says
lock em up look how much time and money was spent on this bull crap
Observant... says
Good work HCSO and BPD! Hopefully they learn a lesson..
Not From Here says
With technology today, I wondered how someone could get by with making that many calls and someone not have some kind of caller ID or other way to trace the calls. I am glad that it was resolved quickly and was a prank. And I am glad that it wasn’t my kid who showed such a gross lack of judgment…that day.
native says
Glad they were caught.
spencer says
What an absolute lack of judgment. I realize many things parents and Teachers say fall on deaf ears, and I realize that pre-frontally an adolescent is challenged to think about consequences “in the moment”. However, this is scary because the consequences are harsh, and if they are charged as adults, way harsh. Not every teenager gets away with their pranks, and life is not a movie where bad behavior is just something to retell and laugh about. I feel bad for these very young girls because they just lost their childhood. Make it right girls, you can have a good life by doing the right thing not the destructive. Accept the consequences, and the next time, THINK! If something seems really funny and out-there, it probably will turn out badly. Don’t twitter away your life, it is so not worth it. And, as a general note, this is the kind of irresponsibility that comes from the hero worship of people like Charlie Sheen and Chris Brown. We give accolades to idiots, increase their Fame, and our children grow to believe that breaking rules is just another day at the beach
concernedmom says
I agree with your comment regarding worshiping people we shouldnt, I just dont understand why your comment gives the feeling of “oh these poor kids”. They have done something very destructive, irresponsible and costly. No one is perfect we all make mistakes these kids need to definately have very harsh consequences so that they will be able to make wiser choices when they become adults.
HCPS Teacher says
AMEN SPENCER!!!! I could not agree with you more!!!!
Colin says
Let’s not forget the real culprit here, bad parenting. The parents of these girls have failed. I don’t want to here pyscho babble about adolescents having a hard time with understanding consequences. Children that fear what will happen if the do something stupid make better decisions. Let’s make these parents responsible financially for there off springs poor decisions.
Tom Brandis says
Colin, even good parents can have kids that make poor choices. Although, more times than not, bad parenting is the underlying issue.
I feared both of my parents while growing up, but yet, I too made some poor choices.
I believe a couple thousand hours of community service would serve these girls some good. I bet they will think twice about their decisions in the future.
Harford Teacher says
I am a teacher at one of the schools involved in the bomb threats. These girls need to understand that their actions not only inconvenienced many, but cause some serious health problems in several students and teachers. Students with special needs, individuals with weather related asthma, etc. were truly suffering in the cold. Many students were only wearing thin t-shirts; some even had flip-flops on. We had no time to grab coats.
I hope they or the parents are punished to the fullest extent. I’m tired of people giving excuses for bad behavior.
Cdev says
While I agree with your premise. I also agree with the athsma issue. Kids in flipflops with the weather the way it was that day……..That is their own fault!
Harford Teacher says
You are absolutely right! I’ve been working with adolescents for so long, I guess I’m used to their crazy “dress code”!
Harry Sax says
I like your post H.T. These kids affected the lives of literally hundreds and hundreds of people in our County.
Scott T W. says
Why is “bad parenting” to blame? Tom’s right, good parents have kids that make bad choices. I’m the father of 2 young boys instilling good values & morals, but they are also influenced by their friends & community outside of our home. Good parents do their best to ensure that the values they instilled will hold up throughout life. Many of us with good parents have made bad choices over the years. Many of us with bad parents have made good choices over the years. These girls need to accept PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY for their actions. THAT’S what is lacking in our society today.
alongthetrail says
I feel sorry for those girls, Their brains have not developed the capacity to realize if I do that , this might happen.
I went to a High School where if I pulled the fire alarm with out a fire, you would have to pick yourself off the ground after the teachers got done with you and then go home to the problems with family honor. THIS FEAR HELPED BRIDGE THE GAP UNTIL YOUR BRAINS FULLY DEVELOPED.
.
Billy Jack says
The brain of a 14 and 15 year old is developed enough to appreciate that consequences will most assuredly come their way if they are caught. They may lack the impulse control of an adult, but they were aware their actions would effect others in the building. That is why this is such a serious offense.
alongthetrail says
Sorry…… It is age 25!!!!
Sandy says
I know who 2 of these girls are. Without giving away their identities, one holds a high position in the student government. I don’t know her personally but I would think she would at least have parental support and encouragement to take on a job like this.
Another girl I do know personally and bad parenting is definitely involved although I can’t say if it is to blame or not. This parent has a mentally disabled child who, when we moved into the neighborhood, was 4 years old. He would be outside roaming the neighborhood, many courts away, completely unattended from morning till night. Many times I would see to it that he had lunch, as he just went from yard to yard, crossing streets, with no one looking out for him. He couldn’t tell me his name or where he lived or I would have called child protective services.
Later, his sister started causing trouble in our neighborhood. Many times her mother would show up at someone’s house complaining about their child as her daughter was an angel and never did anything wrong. One day she showed up at my house complaining because my son and her daughter had a texting fight. They each called the other some inappropriate names. She was ranting about how terrible my son is, how she was going to have him arrested, etc., and on and on and on. I took my son’s phone and looked at the conversation and showed her the entire conversation, as her daughter had deleted her end of the argument. Her excuse was that since my son was a boy he was the one responsible and she was going home to call the police. Of course, we never heard from the police but my son was grounded and lost use of his phone. Not long into the conversation I had with this mother, I had to ask my son to go upstairs to protect him from her, she was absolutely ridiculous and no child should be subjected to threats like she was making from an adult. I can guarantee her daughter received no consequences from her part in this inappropriate conversation between two teenagers. Her way is to insist her daughter never does anything wrong.
I can’t even imagine the way she is handling this situation. So, what do you do in a situation where at least one of these girls has never been taught right from wrong, has never had to face any consequences for her behavior, and has had everyone else blamed for everything she does wrong? It is about time she learns there are consequences for her behavior, but it’s hard for me to think it is right for her first time facing consequences to be jail time. This is really a hard one from my point of view.
Billy Jack says
FYI, Sandy. You could have called CPS to report a child without supervision and at imminent risk. You need not have a name, that would be the job of CPS to determine identity and intervene.
I am not being critical of you in any way. It seems you tried to deal effectively with this family in other ways.