PORTLAND, Ore. -- Oregon launched safeoregon.com, a statewide tip line for school violence, in January of 2017. The line has received more than 300 tips since then.
We don’t have to look far to see the power of tips.
In Albany, Oregon a young man named Grant Acord planned to attack his West Albany High School classmates back in the spring of 2013. A student figured it out and told his mom. She called the police, and the attack never happened.
Oregon’s tip line gets a variety of information, some of it involves suicide. Manager Jodi Sherwood said in one case a student was posting on social media that he was going to kill himself.
“At the end of the afternoon somebody did report that tip to the tip line. We were able to reach local authorities who actually went and found that he was in the process of committing suicide. So we were able to save him get him to the hospital and get him the help he needed,” said Sherwood.
The website is a recognition that students often know bits and pieces of something that could be big. The site accepts text messages and emails which teens are more likely to use.
About 800 of the 1,200 schools across the state now use the site and promote it to students, making Oregon a safer place, according to Oregon State Police.
“I think the state's more prepared now. The conversations are happening across the schools and mental health is a very key partner in this, local police, as well as state police and the school safety tip line all collaborating to make our schools a safer place,” said OSP Major Tom Worth.