The real problem here is that everyone in positions of responsibility in the government -- the school and the police -- feel the need to justify their existence

The real problem here is that everyone in positions of responsibility in the government -- the school and the police -- feel the need to justify their existence by doing... something. The default action of the school is to call the police, and then what? You have only 4 outcomes once the police are involved: 1) nothing, 2) citation, 3) arrest, 4) death. How many times do the police just walk away from something? That's right. So (1) isn't really an option at all. Citation? For what? They were trying, but you don't write tickets for making "hoax bombs." Killing a scrawny 14-year-old kid is extreme, even for the most jaded cop, so that leaves (3), arrest. Then the legal system has to justify IT'S existence, and, well, we know how this goes. Then the ACLU has to get all up in it, and probably CAIR, and the Justice Department. All because everyone has abandoned their common sense and replaced it with fear and deference to the State since 9/11. Thanks, Bush AND Obama.