This episode is the story of a former SWAT sniper and veteran cyber-crimes detective who has turned heartbreak into a repeatable playbook for stopping school threats before they become tragedies. Detective Rich Wistocki is here to show us that we all have more power to keep kids safe than we think.

This isn’t an episode filled with harrowing tales; this is a celebration. A celebration of courage, of training, and of all the ordinary people in this world who choose to act. We are all capable of being that person for someone else, and today’s interview/article will give you what you need to do that confidently!

Creating A Safety Net: One YOU Are A Part Of!

If you’re a parent, grandparent, educator, student, or simply a good neighbor, guess what: you’re part of the safety net, whether you meant to be or not. The good news? You don’t need a badge or a tech degree to help. All you need is awareness, a few simple steps, and the will to use them. That’s what Rich brings—clarity that replaces fear with agency.

When we recorded this conversation, it was August 13—the very first day of school for many districts. Minutes before our call, an SRO (school resource officer) Rich trains rang him: their school had just received a bomb threat. Within two hours—using the exact methods Rich teaches—the team identified the student and got him into custody and headed toward mental-health help. 

First day of school—first save of the year. This is not theory; it’s muscle memory built on training.

Rich knows this landscape deeply; over decades in law enforcement and cyber-crimes, he’s studied the research, worked the cases, and trained thousands of officers. The patterns are clear: most incidents don’t come out of nowhere.

Leakage is real. In the vast majority of cases, students post online about their intentions before acting. That trail is findable.

This is a mental-health problem before it’s a crime problem. Many kids who make threats have trauma histories. Intervening fast isn’t about punishment; it’s about safety + care.

Systems fail when information is siloed. If school administrators don’t loop in SROs and local police, everyone is flying blind. When they work in lockstep, odds change.

So how does Rich’s system actually work? He calls it a three-phase playbook:

• First, stabilize and support the student. With the right legal tools, officers can identify a suspect within hours, not weeks, and that speed keeps kids safe and steers the student toward evaluation and help.
  
• Second, confirm intent with evidence. Teams obtain account data from social platforms—Discord, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, you name it. Done correctly, this reveals whether the student was “just kidding” or actively preparing.
  
• Third, secure dangerous items. Only after confirming intent do officers seek a search warrant to remove weapons or bomb-making materials.

What struck me most is how compassion stays at the center of all of this. Detective Wistocki says:

“We are not “catching bad kids.” We’re interrupting a crisis in a way that protects everyone—the would-be victims, the school community, and yes, the student who made the threat. Many of these kids are hurting, traumatized, or utterly lost.   

“The playbook works because it marries empathy with decisive action.“

See Something, Say Something…Report Something.

Most of us have heard the first two words (especially if you’ve spent a lot of time on public transit.) Rich adds the third to really drive it home: report—and he teaches a five-part checklist that anyone can use in five minutes:

1. Screenshot everything. Posts, DMs, images, videos—capture the whole conversation.
   
2. Capture the source. A clean shot of the handle, username, phone number, email, or gamertag.
   
3. Don’t report to the app (yet). Abuse reports can cause evidence to be deleted before police can preserve it.
   
4. Write a short statement. Six to eight sentences about what you saw: where, when, and how it made you feel.
   
5. Make two copies. Print the evidence and save it to two USB drives. Hand them to the SRO or police.

It sounds daunting, but it’s really just common sense once you hear it; and remember: that third verb—report—is the bridge between a “weird gut feeling” and a genuine prevention.

Adults often miss what’s hiding in plain sight. “Leakage” online might look like a lot of things: boastful posts about weapons, ominous phrases like “don’t come to school tomorrow,” or shrines to past shooters. Sometimes it’s fan art, song lyrics, or chat-room banter—but the patterns are there, and they escalate when peers respond with fear…or egg it on.

Schools also play a huge role in preventing tragedies before they start: They need clear agreements with local law enforcement about who calls whom and when; They need administrators who don’t hesitate to involve SROs; and they need staff trained in those five steps we learned earlier so that a student’s report turns into action while the digital trail is still warm.

That’s where community courage matters—because in almost every case, somebody saw something: A classmate, a parent, a teacher. The tragedy comes when the dots aren’t connected.

This isn’t about creating paranoia or suspicion; it’s about learning to see threats with clear eyes and respond with both compassion and decisiveness. It’s about keeping kids safe while also steering a struggling teenager towards help before it’s too late.

Your Five-Minute Role

Wondering how you can help? Here’s what you can do, right now:

• Talk to a teen you love about Reporting. Frame it as brave—it’s only “snitching” if nobody would have gotten hurt.
  
• Save the five steps in your phone notes. Be ready to reference them if something surfaces.
  
• Ask your school if their administrators and SROs have been trained in digital evidence preservation.
  
• Share this episode with one educator and one parent who are natural connectors in your community.
  
• Protect your worldview. Don’t live in fear; live prepared. Courage grows with practice.

Why I’m Hopeful

Rich isn’t dealing in slogans or soundbites; he’s training thousands of officers and administrators every year, and seeing measurable, repeatable results. That’s exactly the kind of goodness I love to celebrate: ordinary people, following a clear plan and keeping kids safe.

We change the world through ever-widening circles. Each person who learns these five steps and shares them becomes part of a circle of prevention and care—and those circles really, truly matter.

So if you’re craving proof that your actions matter, start here. Have a listen, save the five steps, and be the reason a school day stays beautifully ordinary.

• Website: Cyber Safe Schools
• Rich’s Cell:  (630) 461-0044
• Email Rich: [email protected]

If this conversation leaves you wanting more, don’t miss Rich’s first interview with me: Episode #221, “Concerned About Children’s Cyber-Safety? We’re on the Case.” In that episode, he pulls back the curtain on how predators reach kids through online gaming, social media, and apps that most parents barely realize exist. More importantly, he gives families concrete steps to shut down those risks fast—tools every parent, grandparent, teacher, or coach should know. It’s an eye-opening (and surprisingly empowering) guide to keeping kids safe in the digital age.

• 00:00 – Intro & Welcome
• 04:50 – School Shooting Stats
• 08:05 – A Bomb Threat in Real Time
• 20:50 – Teaching Students to “See, Say, and Report”
• 26:39 – Why Mental Health, Not Guns, Is the Core Issue
• 43:45 – Break
• 46:00 – Warning Signs Adults and Peers Miss
• 57:10 – Faith, Purpose, and the Path to Real Prevention
• 1:03:19 – What You Can Do