Last Tuesday's shooting at Socastee High prompted us to revisit a program we've profiled before, one aimed at preventing crime in schools. Nearly 15 years ago, a Dillon preacher came up with the "Crime Block Drop Box."
There are four such boxes in Socastee High School, where a student is accused of shooting at a school resource officer. Police are investigating posts on a Twitter page that hinted at the events to come. Many have questioned why no students who read the posts came forward.
Today, we visited South Florence High School, where four Crime Block Drop Boxes exist. The man behind the program, Reverend Larry Williams says, "These boxes are crime boxes. They're not snitch boxes."
The boxes allow students to secretly and anonymously inform police about a crime. Rev. Williams came up with the idea more than a decade ago, and the boxes are now in schools across the Pee Dee and Horry County. He detailed a crime prevented by the drop boxes. "In one of the schools, in the Dillon County area, there was a young man sitting in class with a 22 caliber pistol in the back of his coat. Someone wrote his name down, deposited it into the box, and the resource officer went in, pulled him down, searched him, and found the gun."
The assistant principal at South Florence High, Felix Jordan, says they've gotten valuable information in the past that has allowed them to stop events or activities from happening.
Williams says not all schools are making the most of the boxes, though. He says the boxes will work if administrators work the boxes, and students can't leave tips if they don't know the boxes exist. "These boxes have got to be talked about. They have morning shows. They can come on and talk about them. These boxes are to be checked periodically. This is where the awareness comes in to let the students know."
South Florence High School Resource Officer Danny Brown checks the boxes on a regular basis. But he says many students still come see him, face to face. "The main thing as far as one on one with them. They may let me know - 'I did put some info in the crime box.'"
Rev. Williams believes the boxes can potentially protect students and save lives, if they're used. "Our children can not get a good education without a safe school."
Rev. Williams hopes the boxes will one day be in every school in the state.
