The Michigan State Police and the Michigan Department of Education have established a statewide school violence hotline for the reporting of specific threats of imminent school violence or other suspicious or criminal conduct.

The toll-free school violence hotline telephone number 1-800-815-TIPS is operational 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The caller may remain anonymous and information will be forwarded directly to the appropriate Emergency Dispatch Center for action by the law enforcement agency where the affected school is located.

This hotline is not intended to replace the 911 emergency number or any other existing community operated tip lines. The establishment of this toll-free number is another option to report threats of violence on school property.

In nine school shooting incidents in the past two years, Michigan State Police say there were common factors:

• All occurred in suburban or rural schools,
• fellow students had recognized warning signs of danger, and had conveyed their fears to parents or officials, and
• the weapons came from home or from neighbors.