Behavioral Threat Assessments & Safety Challenges with Active Shooter Threats
From behavioral threat assessment to addressing common challenges in response to an active shooter threat, if one does manifest, this session will examine those concepts and how they can be applied in practice.
Following the introduction of House Bill 605 in North Carolina, the presentation will examine how the concept of behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) can be applied in practice to avert acts of targeted violence in schools, drawing on experience in Virginia and Pennsylvania where the public K12 system mandates the establishment of Threat Assessments Teams in schools. The speakers will explore common challenges encountered in preparing for and responding to acts of targeted violence in schools including:
How threat assessments form a vital part of a holistic prevention plan before violence strikes, and how failure to integrate these can create lost opportunities for early intervention on an individual’s ‘pathway to violence’.
What schools think will happen in a violent critical incident versus what first responders will actually be doing, and providing a clear example of why interagency coordination during preparedness planning is essential.
Understanding the value of, and creating, a “risk-ready mentality" where early identification and intervention are achievable and provide an alternative to a more defensive posture where physical security or a fortress mentality are dominant, but which can, in itself, undermine efforts to create a positive school climate which is the foundation of safe and secure schools.