~ Herring is urging Congress to pass the EAGLES Act, which aims to reduce school shootings through local, state, and federal cooperation ~

RICHMOND (April 27, 2021) – Attorney General Mark R. Herring is urging Congress to pass the EAGLES Act, a national program to prevent targeted school violence. The legislation, named after the mascot of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School where 17 people were killed on February 14, 2018, would expand the U.S. Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) with a greater focus on school violence. Attorney General Herring joined a bipartisan coalition of 40 attorneys general in sending the letter to Congress.

“We have lost too many young lives to school violence in this country and we cannot be complacent with this status quo – something must change,” said Attorney General Herring. “Taking on the school violence epidemic will take a comprehensive approach that should include important initiatives like commonsense gun control measures, a focus on mental health and treatment, as well as the passage of the EAGLES Act that will expand the NTAC to have a greater focus on preventing school violence. Our children should never fear going to school or feel unsafe there and we must make it a top priority to do all we can to protect them and provide a safe, comfortable learning environment.”

 

The Act’s safe school initiative contains research and training components, allows dissemination of evidence-based practices, and authorizes the NTAC to work with state and local officials to develop research and training.

In the letter to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Attorney General Herring and his colleagues write, “It is unfortunate we have to turn to the threat assessment expertise of the Secret Service in order to keep educators and students safe at school, but gun violence in schools has become all too commonplace.”

NTAC was created in 1998 to provide information on threat assessment to the Secret Service and those who work in criminal justice and public safety. NTAC started studying targeted violence in schools after the Columbine High School Shooting in 1999 which led to the establishment of school threat assessment programs.

Joining Attorney General Herring in sending the letter are the attorneys general of Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, N. Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

# # #