EAST PROVIDENCE — Responding to a rash of recent threats made about potential attacks on elementary schools throughout the region and in the state, the East Providence Police Department made its presence known and felt at those buildings Wednesday morning, Oct. 8.
No schools in the city were specifically targeted, but both academic and law enforcement officials weren’t taking any chances. Various media outlets reported earlier in the week elementary schools in Johnston, Warwick and Cranston had received anonymous threats of violence. In those places, several parents were reluctant to send their children off the class, preferring to keep them at home.
In East Providence, patrolmen and detectives were on site for the start of classes Wednesday, hoping to alleviate the fears of parents, teachers and students.
“We had no specific threats made in East Providence or in fact the East Bay, however times have changed. It’s a different world as we all know, so it’s gotten to the point where we have to take these kinds of things much more seriously,” EPPD Chief Chris Parella said of his department’s reaction to the situation.
Chief Parella instructed Deputy Chief Major William Nebus, patrol commander Captain Bruce Kidman and Lieutenant Ray Blinn, the school security liaison, to coordinate and implement the EPPD response, which began Wednesday and will continue for the time being.
“We had a heavy presence at the schools this morning, ” Chief Parella said Wednesday. “We want the parents and the children and the staff to feel safe. We’re going to continue to address the matter because who knows? It’s a delicate balance. We don’t want to act and create panic, which is often the aim of these types of threats in the first place. We don’t want to overreact, but we also don’t want to underreact either. We just want to positioned in a place where we can respond anywhere and at any time we’re needed.”
The alleged threats in Rhode Island mirror those made throughout New England over the past week. Schools and colleges in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire received almost a dozen threats combined, causing buildings to be evacuated or schools to be closed. Chief Parella noted one school’s computer system was hacked sending users to a radical Islamic site. Others received bomb threats and also threats of beheadings like those done to hostages by the militant group ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria).
“It’s very concerning,” Chief Parella added. “It used to be that places like the United States and the United Kingdom didn’t deal with this, but with ISIS doing what they’ve done and attempting to recruit people here, we have to take this seriously.”