Identify and Address Threatening Behaviors in Your School

 

Discover Threat Assessment and Reporting Resources to Prevent Targeted School Violence

Studies show that prior to an act of violence, most attackers behaved in a way that made others concerned, and oftentimes other people knew about the attacker’s plan.

Reporting on a variety of threatening or concerning student behaviors and other suspicious activities provides authorities and school personnel with the information they need to stop violence before it occurs. To address these potential threats of violence, schools should establish a reporting system that is continually monitored and allows for anonymous reporting, as well as form a threat assessment program, or a multidisciplinary group process, to evaluate these reports. These efforts can significantly reduce violence, including mass casualty attacks, and create safer and more secure school systems.

Resources and Tools SchoolSafety.gov is home to resources, strategies, and tools the kindergarten through grade 12 (K-12) academic community can reference to support the implementation of threat assessment and reporting initiatives at schools. Featured resources include:

• Enhancing School Safety Using a Threat Assessment Model: An Operational Guide for Preventing Targeted School Violence (Department of Homeland Security) – Guidance from the U.S. Secret Service provides actionable steps schools can take to develop comprehensive targeted violence prevention plans.
• Averting Targeted School Violence: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis of Plots Against Schools (Department of Homeland Security) – This recently released U.S. Secret Service report, which examines 67 averted plots to conduct a school attack, identifies key findings and commonalities across potential targeted violence incidents.
• School Safety: Research on Gathering Tips and Addressing Threats (Department of Justice) – New research suggests that schools should have a systematic and coordinated approach in place to gather and process information on threats, respond appropriately, and document the response.
• Addressing the Risk of Violent Behavior in Youth: Know the Signs of Youth Violence and How to Identify and Reduce Risk in Schools (Department of Education) – This presentation, created by the National Center on Safe and Supportive Learning Environments, is designed to help teachers and school personnel identify behaviors and other signs that could result in youth violence.
• Ohio School Threat Assessment Training (Ohio Attorney General) – This series of training videos combines best practices from government agencies, and helps schools team up with other community members, such as police officers and mental-health advocates, to prevent targeted violence.

Visit SchoolSafety.gov to access threat assessment and reporting resources and guidance and follow @SchoolSafetyGov on Twitter for additional school safety updates.