Police patrols to remain outside schools in Nottinghamshire over 'school wars' trend
Police say the trend is 'scare mongering'
Police say they will keep high-visibility patrols outside schools across Nottinghamshire as posts on the online trend 'school wars' continue.
Officers have described the posts as 'scare mongering' with a number of Nottingham schools mentioned. The trend encourages children from different schools to fight each other.
In a joint statement from Superintendents from the city and county Chris Pearson and James Woolley, said:
“We know the impact these online posts are having on our local community especially concerned parents.
“We have a full policing plan to deal with this issue, and the high visibility patrols across our schools and the wider area are designed to reassure and are there only as a precaution.
“We do not anticipate for these scare-mongering posts to be acted upon, but we are ready if they do.
“There were reports of an incident in the Ashfield area yesterday, where students from the same school gathered outside the grounds.
“I want to be really clear - this was a dispute between two pupils at the same school and there were no injuries, and the incident was controlled and deescalated.
“It was not related to School Wars.
“I want to take a moment to encourage people to ignore these posts and not give them any further ammunition by responding or sharing them.
“They are designed to divide our community and cause nothing more than fear and anxiety.
“Anyone who acts on these posts will be dealt with robustly. We simply won’t tolerate it. We want pupils and parents to feel safe within their communities and will act on any intelligence we receive.”