Tennessee’s Office of Homeland Security received nearly 350 reports of school threats across the state since the beginning of the school year, many of which were reported through the SafeTN app.
The SafeTN app, which launched in 2019 and was revamped a few years later, not only allows users to anonymously report possible threats and concerning behavior, but it also offers resources for those struggling with mental health. Every threat report that comes through the app and other channels is investigated by officials.
When a threat comes in, a multidisciplinary threat assessment team, which every school district is now required to have thanks to a new state law, immediately begins an investigation. The team works with other groups, including local law enforcement, to determine whether the threat is credible, or if the person who made it has a real capability and intent to carry out the act.
