The state of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma School Security Institute launched a new safety app on Monday that aims to protect Oklahoma schools and communities by allowing users to report suspicious activity.
According to the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety, ProtectOK allows users to download the app for free and use it to report any suspicious activity anonymously.
OU offers a similar resource, Rave, which automatically flashes a message on users’ screens, warning the campus community of imminent danger. Rave aims to notify users immediately in the case of an emergency on campus.
In April, OU students and faculty received an alert about an active shooter on campus. A couple of days later, the incident was revealed to be a result of swatting, or when false calls are made to law enforcement in hopes of a large response.
“The threat of gun violence on our campus, the threat of a mass shooter, active shooter scenario on our campus is not fiction. It's not make-believe. It's not something that couldn't happen,” David McLeod, a social work professor and former detective, told OU Daily in April. McLeod was also a SWAT operator for six years. Now, he researches forensic social work, large-scale trauma from violence and child protection.
In August, there was a shooting at a Choctaw High School football game where the shooter killed a 16-year-old boy and injured others. A 15-year-old boy was arrested for the fatal incident.
The Choctaw shooting caused mass panic as students and officials ran and hid for safety. Two were injured running from the scene.
In the same month, there were several bomb threats across the state, including in Lawton and the Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City.
In October, the Cleveland County Sheriff’s Office and the Cleveland County Commissioners funded 17 school resource officers for all of Norman Public Schools’ elementary school sites.
Reports through the app will be sent to the proper authorities, from a school principal to law enforcement, according to KOCO.
This story was edited by Alexia Aston and Taylor Jones. Natalie Armour and Grace Rhodes copy edited this story.
