Thread: E-mail warns of school violence on Cinco de Mayo

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/1545872.html

E-mail warns of school violence on Cinco de Mayo
Police on three local campuses increase security amid parents' fears. Similar rumors circulate every year.
By Melissa Milios
Daily Breeze

Los Angeles School Police are stepping up security on three local campuses today in response to a widely circulated e-mail message predicting racial gang violence on Cinco de Mayo.

Lt. Stephen Dodson, who oversees Los Angeles Unified schools in the South Bay and Harbor Area, said similar rumors circulate every year.

"We have not been able to substantiate or corroborate this rumor at any level," Dodson said. "Almost every school in the district has been hearing them."

Recent violence between black and Latino students at Jefferson High School and racial altercations in November at Jordan High likely were sparking fear, Dodson said.

Still, as a precaution Narbonne and Carson high schools will each have a second armed officer on campus today and Gardena High School's three armed officers will be supplemented by extra patrol officers before and after school and during breaks.

"I think visibility is a strong deterrent, that's why we're putting all our officers on the streets tomorrow," Dodson said.

Gardena High School Principal Russ Thompson said he had fielded several calls from concerned parents, but he told them all "we're going to have a regular school day.

"In fact, we're going to have a Cinco de Mayo assembly, similar to one we had during Black History Month," Thompson said. "It's about respecting other cultures. I think we'll be fine."

Starting Monday, Dodson said, Banning, Carson and Narbonne all will have a second officer assigned to their campuses full-time under a beefed-up Safe Schools Plan devised after a 15-year-old student was killed outside Locke High School in South Los Angeles.

Cinco de Mayo celebrations are marred by gang violence throughout the state.