Following on from our article ‘44 Australian schools receive bomb threats in one week‘, four people have now been arrested in Queensland in connection with a bomb threat made to a Brisbane school. This threat was unrelated to the large number of threats that appear to have originated from an international source. The Brisbane Times reports that the arrests all relate to a bomb threat made to Calamvale Community College, which led to the evacuation of the school before Queensland Police determined that the threat was not credible.

Queensland schools

The arrests in Brisbane related to a threat made at 12:40pm on 3 February. This threat was unrelated to an international hoax which has targeted several countries including the US, France and Japan. The accused appeared in Richlands Magistrates Court on Monday and have been charged with:

• using a carriage service for a hoax threat;
• falsely stating a bomb was present; and
• wilful disturbance.

It is alleged that a 17-year-old girl who had recently dropped out of school before her final year ‘egged on’ her co-accused and offered to pay them $20 to place the call. The Brisbane Times reportsthat the threat was a copycat incident following the reports of multiple other schools receiving threats, and that there is no clear reason why the school in question was targeted.

The 17-year-old girl was refused bail based on the seriousness of the offences, which required 3000 students to be evacuated on a 36°C day. Two of her three male co-accused did not apply for bail. The remaining accused is out on bail and has had his case adjourned. The Queensland Police continue to work alongside Federal authorities in investigating the threats.

How should schools respond?

The Brisbane school in this case was one of 20 schools throughout Queensland that were targeted with bomb threats last week, most of which were connected with an international hoax which also targeted schools in NSW, Victoria and the ACT.

The majority of these threats occurred when the schools were sent an automated voice message which stated that there was a device on school grounds. These messages led to the evacuation of many schools around Australia, causing significant disruption during the first week of the school term. It is believed that the perpetrator of the hoax contacts schools at random to cause disruption, as many schools were evacuated immediately without waiting to determine whether the threat was credible.

The Canberra Times has reported that the responses of affected schools in the ACT have been praised. The ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations vice-president Vivienne Pearce said that, whilst the situation was frustrating given the disruption, it was well handled by schools, the police and the education directorate. This praise has been echoed in other states, as the emergency plans for schools were generally followed without any major incidents. Although it does not appear that there was any threat to the physical safety of students, incidents such as this draw attention to the need for adequate security measures to be in place in schools, including physical measures. Whilst fences have been used with success to protect schools from vandalism, there has also been a recent trial of CCTV cameras in two Queensland schools.

The installation of CCTV cameras can be controversial, as discussed in our article How CCTV can improve school security and potentially avoid a tragedy. However, although they may carry benefits from protecting against crimes committed on or around school grounds, the cameras would be ineffective in stopping threats like those discussed above. The fact that there have been no public requests made for additional security within schools indicates that most teachers and parents view the bomb threats as a inconvenient disturbance, rather than a genuine threat to the safety of the school community.