Greg Abbott relaunches iWatchTexas app to report criminal and terrorist threats

Texas Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Department of Public Safety on Tuesday unveiled iWatchTexas, an app that makes it easier for the public to report suspicious activity. The campaign features an ad starring the legendary action movie actor Chuck Norris. The goal of iWatchTexas is to identify all types of threats, including criminal, terrorist or school security-related threats.

iWatchTexas was launched in June 2018 after a shooting was reported at Santa Fe High School in Texas.

"There is nothing more important than keeping our schools and communities safe," Governor Abbott said. "Parents, teachers and students deserve to feel safe going back to school this fall, and who better to help spread the message about the iWatchTexas reporting system than 'Texas Ranger' Chuck Norris," adds Abbott. "If you see something, say something and together we can protect our children, teachers and communities."

An app to prevent tragedies in schools

According to the newspaper El Mañana in September 2021, thanks to iWatchTexas, an attack was thwarted. A community member saw suspicious postings on social media involving a teenager in San Patricio County, and reported the unusual activity through the app. The Texas Department of Public Safety and law enforcement agencies in San Patricio County investigated the postings, which revealed that the young man had killed his family and was also planning an attack at his school.

Governor Abbott in June of this year ordered the Texas Education Agency and the state's Higher Education Coordinating Board to to expand and accelerate their efforts to promote the ability to report suspicious activities known to students, staff and families through the iWatchTexas reporting system.

These measures are being implemented in the context of the return to school that has already begun to take place in Texas and after the events that shook Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, in which 19 children and two adults lost their lives at the hands of a gunman.

Precisely because of the Uvalde massacre, the governor decided to invest 5 million to establish a long-term Family Resiliency Center in Uvalde County, to serve as a hub for community services, including access to critical mental health resources, as well as provide 1.25 million dollars to Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District for trauma-informed counseling, crisis intervention and outreach.