Safe2Tell School Safety App May Go Nationwide

COLORADO SPRINGS, CO – Safe2Tell, a school safety app and website that lets students report school threats, was developed in Colorado Springs by a police detective after the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.

The app now has a chance to expand nationwide, introduced by bipartisan legislation by U.S. Congressman Mike Coffman, a GOP representative representing Aurora, and Connecticut Democrat James Himes, who represents the City of Newton,where the Sandy Hook Elementary shootings took place.

The app has been in use in Michigan, Nevada, Wyoming and here in Colorado, where it is administered under the Colorado Attorney General's office.

The Safe2Tell app and website provide a 24/7 monitored presence by law enforcement so students can "anonymously report anything that concerns or threatens you, your friends, your family or your community," the website says.

After the Parkland, Florida school shootings Feb. 14, 2018, Colorado AG Cynthia Coffman reached out to her counterpart in Florida, Attorney General Pamela Bondi to offer Safe2Tell to schools and law enforcement agencies in that state.

As U.S. school violence becomes more visible, students, parents and teachers in Colorado have been using the app. Since 2004, Safe2Tell has received over 42,000 calls, web tips and mobile app reports, and that number is growing.

“It’s one of those things we need in schools for students to feel physically and emotionally safe,” Susan Payne, the director of Safe2Tell Colorado, and a former officer in CSPD told the Colorado Springs Gazette.

At least 21 states have asked for technical assistance since the Parkland, Florida school shooting, Mike Coffman said in a press release. Michigan, Wyoming, and Nevada have adopted a version of Colorado’s ‘Safe2Tell’ model.

The proposed legislation would allocate $25 million for each fiscal year from 2019-2023 for ‘Safe2Tell’ grants, administered by the state. In Colorado, the Safe2Tell program is operated by trained Colorado State Patrol communications officers that work around the clock.

"We are confident that exporting the ‘Safe2Tell’ model— which has saved lives in Colorado, will help make all schools a safer place for all children,” Mike Coffman said.

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