Orange County law enforcement officials said Tuesday they are closely monitoring the emailed threats to Los Angeles Unified School board members that prompted a shutdown of the district’s schools, and while there are no threats locally, security was stepped up at many campuses.
“We are monitoring the situation and there are no threats to Orange County or Laguna Beach,” Laguna Beach police Sgt. Tim Kleiser said. “We have been in communication with the local schools in Laguna Beach and officers have increased patrols near the schools.”
In Garden Grove, Capt. Ben Stauffer said, “Our campus officers are aware of it and monitoring, but normal operations are continuing.”
In Brea, police had a “more visible presence with motorcycle and patrol officers at our schools” and the plan was to do the same as students were let out of the day, Lt. Darrin Devereux said.
Irvine and Westminster police posted nearly identical statements to their Facebook accounts.
“The Irvine Police Department is monitoring the situation in Los Angeles, and there are no known threats to any Irvine schools. As a precaution and to comfort students, parents, and teachers, IPD will have an increased presence around Irvine school campuses today.”
In the city of Orange, police were made aware of the threats, “but it was business as usual,” Lt. Fred Lopez said.
In Fullerton, “We are maintaining a visible presence in and around the schools in addition to providing extra patrols,” according to Sgt. Kathryn Hamel.
Orange County sheriff’s Lt. Jeff Hallock and Buena Park Cpl. Bret Carter said there were no changes in patrolling in their agencies.
Huntington Beach Officer Jennifer Marlatt said there are no known threats in her city.
“Our School Resource Officers notified all the schools in Huntington Beach and surrounding school districts in Fountain Valley and Westminster to ensure they were aware of the initial threat,” Marlatt said. “The officers are resuming their normal school duties and responding to school-related calls. They are doing a patrol check of schools in their area when not assigned a call.”
— Wire reports