Father Claims Security Officer Tried to Frame Son for School Bomb Threat
The father accuses Allied Universal Security of negligent hiring, and failing to properly train and supervise the officer.
Image via Adobe, by Flex_Point_Security
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina – The father of a 16-year-old male Myrtle Beach High School student is suing Allied Universal Security, claiming one of the company’s security officers tried to frame his son for making a bomb threat against the campus.
The incident happened in late March. According to Horry County Schools, Coty Allen Kennedy, 20, was arrested on March 24 after he confessed to fabricating the hoax threat and presenting it to the school administration, reports WPDE. The officer was charged with making a bomb threat and conspiring to threat.
According to Craig Cook’s lawsuit, the Myrtle Beach Police Department said Kennedy wrote a note threatening to “Blow up the School” and placed it on the floor near his son, reports WRAL.
Cook goes on to allege that his son was questioned by school administrators about the note for more than an hour without his parents being present. The lawsuit claims his son was repeatedly urged to confess to making the threat, reports WMBF.
Cook accuses Allied Universal Security of negligent hiring, failing to properly train Kennedy, and failing to properly supervise him. The lawsuit claims Kennedy was known to engage in “inappropriate” behavior with students, such as vaping in the restroom, reports WMBF.
Kennedy was previously employed by Phoenix Security Solutions but was terminated in May 2022, reports WRAL.
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About the Author
Robin Hattersley, Editor-in-Chief
Robin has been covering the security and campus law enforcement industries since 1998 and is a specialist in school, university and hospital security, public safety and emergency management, as well as emerging technologies and systems integration. She joined CS in 2005 and has authored award-winning editorial on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, crime trends, the Clery Act, Title IX compliance, sexual assault, dating abuse, emergency communications, incident management software and more. Robin has been featured on national and local media outlets and was formerly associate editor for the trade publication Security Sales & Integration. She obtained her undergraduate degree in history from California State University, Long Beach.
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I’ve been with agencies where training was less than adequate. Utilizing my previous training, I made suggestions to supervision to help train newly snskilled and veteran officers. My suggestions were not accepted and incidents involving officers failing to take proper action continued. I had to leave the agency for fear of my personal safety.