AUSTIN (WBAP/KLIF) – Texas Governor Greg Abbott sent a letter on Tuesday directing Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath, and Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board Commissioner Harrison Keller to expand and accelerate their efforts to promote the ability to report suspicious activity known to students, staff, and families through the iWatchTexas reporting system.
The directive comes in the wake of last month’s elementary school massacre in Uvalde that left 19 students and two teachers dead.
“One recommendation provided by the Secret Service to stem the tide of school violence is for individuals who witness alarming behavior to report it to the appropriate authorities so that interventions may occur before a mass attack is carried out,” reads the letter. “The State of Texas began to implement this recommendation after the tragic attack in El Paso on September 5, 2019, when I issued Executive Order GA-07, relating to the prevention of mass attacks. We must accelerate these efforts to build a network of schools that are well-versed in suspicious activity reporting. That requires redoubling our efforts on the important work outlined in GA-07 and providing a robust rollout of the iWatch program that reaches communities and school districts across the state. To achieve that goal, I am directing DPS, TEA, and THECB to enhance and expedite your efforts to make widely known and easily accessible the ability to report suspicious activity known to students, staff, and families into iWatch. Efforts should include working with the state’s eight fusion centers and with all school districts to teach students, staff, and families about Texas’s suspicious activity reporting program, known as iWatchTexas. Reporting concerning behavior is a key component of intervention strategies to keep schools safe, and it is only through our joint efforts that we will succeed.”
iWatchTexas is a partnership between communities and law enforcement that makes it easier for the public to report suspicious activity in the state, including criminal, terroristic, or school safety-related threats.
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