PA Safe2Say Program Receives 32,000 Tips During 2024-2025 School Year

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday announced that the state’s Safe2Say anonymous reporting program received more than 32,000 tips during the 2024-2025 school year

Sunday said at a press conference at the Carlisle Area School District that the statewide program received increases in reports about school threats and weapons.

The program, which allows students to anonymously report safety concerns through an app, text messages or phone calls, has processed more than 185,000 tips since launching in 2019.

“The most common subject matters in the tips were bullying, cyberbullying, suicide ideation, and drug distribution,” Sunday said. “I note that we saw an increase this year with tips about threats against schools and individuals and tips regarding weapons. That tells me this program is vital and it is a trusted resource for students.”

The Safe2Say program operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with a team of analysts who intake information from anonymous tipsters.

Special Agent Brittany Klein, the program’s director, explained that approximately 90 percent of tips come from students reporting situations either at school or at home.

“This year we have trained over 520,000 students on the Safe to Say program,” Klein said. “We offer a variety of training models for our schools to make sure that the training is easy for them to release to all of their students.”

The program has seen increased requests for in-person training sessions, which Klein noted leads to more complete and actionable tips from students who previously felt uncomfortable using other reporting methods.

When tips are received, they first go to the relevant school district to confirm student enrollment and gather contact information. The intake team engages with anonymous tipsters to collect as much information as possible before passing tips to appropriate school or law enforcement agencies.

“Some of these tips are processed within seconds. Some may take a little longer depending on the information that we need to gather,” Klein said. “It takes everybody to get all that information and get that tip moving to the right place as quickly as possible.”

Sunday told reporters last week that the program has prevented potential violence through early intervention.

“We have seen intervention by school and police and recovery of weapons regarding a tip of alleged threats of violence,” he said. “We can never say for sure what would have happened in these scenarios and you never want to assume the worst, but that is how law enforcement responds to such tips.”

While false tips represent a small percentage of overall submissions, Klein said they drain resources and are investigated by local law enforcement or the attorney general’s office.

When deliberate misuse is identified, consequences may follow for the tipster, Klein said.

“Tips that sometimes appear to be submitted in good faith, that are later determined to be prank tips are investigated either through local law enforcement or by our office,” Klein said. “I think it is very important for our students to know that misuse of the system will be handled and is not tolerated.”

The program continues operating during summer months, but Klein noted a decrease in overall volume while seeing an increase in life safety-related tips that require critical response from law enforcement or additional resources.

Senator Greg Rothman, who attended the press conference, praised the collaborative approach and emphasized community responsibility in keeping students safe. “We’re teaching our students through this program that you have a responsibility to help to police and to help keep the community safe,” he said.

Sunday stressed the importance of parental involvement, encouraging families to discuss the program with their children. “

As parents and educators, we would like to think that our children and our students are sharing everything with us. But we are all not that naive to believe that that’s the reality and that is where this program can fill that gap,” she said.

The program serves all 67 Pennsylvania counties and includes public schools, private schools, and charter schools.

The Bucks County 9-1-1 center and others throughout the state have direct access to the system and can view information as it’s being entered, enabling rapid response when needed.

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