Callaway County Sheriff’s Office

 · SHERIFF’S STATEMENT ON TIKTOK CHALLENGE CONCERN December 17, 2021, 12:19 AM——-Starting Thursday afternoon and now into the late night (early Friday morning) hours, our agency has received many inquiries as to the nationwide (not local specific) TikTok challenge of violent acts to occur at schools on December 17. Please know, there is no known threat to any of our local schools. Of course, bad acts can happen without provocation or explicit warning. Being a parent myself of children in our county school system, I definitely appreciate any concern, just as you. As a reminder, a primary fundamental reason for having our School Resource Officer (SRO) program is to not only be of a reactionary response (when it’s too late), but to also provide proactive and preventative support to our local schools prior to some emergent situation. This vague, yet concerning, TikTok challenge has merely reinforced that concept as, like all school days recently, our SROs have already been working diligently to correspond with students and staff, recognize situations that may be brewing (and be the catalyst for some type of violent act or confrontation), and constantly assess intelligence while too assessing school specific safety plans (there is no one “cookie cutter” approach to every school building in the county). Point being — we sincerely believe by having SROs in our county districts, we can hopefully provide a preemptive protection resource. Our SROs know the buildings inside and out, know who belongs there, are cognizant of each building’s safety plans/procedures, and so on……. Can something bad still happen? Yes. Are we doing what we can though to stop it? Absolutely!Even in the absence of any known local threat to our schools, it’s cumbersome we recognize in today’s society, such social media type challenges being disseminated can spark a really bad idea, especially when a certain date is meant for such bad act to come to fruition. Rest assured, all SROs or their immediate supervisor will be in their respective buildings (or on campus) tomorrow. Patrol deputies have been asked to provide supplemental visibility and support in their assigned patrol zones. We too will honor any requests for assistance from the Fulton Missouri Police Department and Holts Summit Police Department at their respective schools within city limits. As always, regardless of the situation, citizens are strongly encouraged to report any suspicious activity, persons, etc. I am most confident in the ability of our school administrators and my deputies to make appropriate decisions to keep our children safe, including my own. Thank you for the continued community support.Your Sheriff,Clay Chism