Threat Resources

NEW Blog on Threat Assessment, Violence Prevention, and Safety

2011-01-04T00:31:00.000-07:00

We started a new blog on threat assessment, violence prevention, and simple safety strategies. This blog is a product of our new partnership, SIGMA Threat Management Associates (check out our new website!). We will be using our new blog to post the latest on threat assessment, current event analysis, and common sense safety tips. We will post links to these new posts here...and more information can be found on our new Facebook page. Let us know what you think!

Cyberbullying gets Punished

2010-07-01T09:41:00.006-06:00

Kudos for Nevada: A new Nevada law -- which takes effect today -- makes it a crime for students through 12th grade to bully someone through electronic means - including by cellphone texts or email. Most of the enforcement of the law will occur through school discipline, although it gives police and prosecutors in Nevada a new tool to address the problem with stronger penalties beyond school punishment. The law's sponsors, state Senator Valerie Wiener and Assemblywoman Bonnie Parnell, introduced this legislation in part to prevent tragedies like the one of Brandon Myers, a fifth grader in Missouri who committed suicide after being the victim of continual bullying and cyberbullying. Nevada's new law underscores that bullying is NOT "just kids being kids" - and recognizes that even when bullying occurs remotely (e.g., by email or texting), it can have tragic consequences. Nevada lawmakers should be commended for taking a proactive approach to prevent bullying and violence among students.

Back to blogging....finally!

2010-06-26T23:16:00.005-06:00

Before getting back to some substantive blogging, I want to apologize for my prolonged absence. As some of you know, I was involved in a political campaign for the past 15 months and barely had enough hours in the day to continue to run my company and handle my current case consultations (which continue to increase....is the still-bad economy to blame for more people threatening?), and then added campaign-related work - including some significant security concerns -- on top of it all. Now that the campaign is over, I am happy to report that I am back to blogging and can also say that I learned quite a lot along the way. I'll share some of that in the next few posts. So thank you for your patience. I look forward to sharing more thoughts on threat assessment and of course to hearing from you.

This Week In Threat Assessment

2010-04-02T22:01:00.004-06:00

There have been several threat assessment and targeted violence items in the news this week. In case you missed them, here are some of the highlights:

The FBI and Department of Homeland Security reported this week that to date, more than 30 U.S. governors have received warning or threat letters from an extremist group, telling the governors to step down or they would "be removed." The extremist group, who call themselves the Guardians of the Free Republic, has information posted on its website about its goals and intended course of action, including complaints about the IRS and taxes. The letters have prompted more security at various capitol buildings around the country, including in Nevada's capitol, Carson City. Although the reason for the added security is unfortunate, I am in favor of these capitol buildings enhancing their security. It is something our public officials most certainly deserve - and these days seem to need.

In other news, an associate professor at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania returned to campus and to teaching this week, after having been suspended for posting statements on Facebook about wanting to kill students. The professor, Gloria Gadsden, claimed the statements were intended as jokes and were meant only to amuse her family and friends. She was cleared by a psychologist before being allowed to return to teaching. According to an article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, several students became angry and stormed out of her classroom when they saw that Gadsden had returned. Gadsden says she regrets ever joining Facebook, as well as the statements she posted.

And in California, a Humboldt County superior court clerk was arrested after she threatened to bring a gun to the courthouse and start shooting people, including Judge Timothy Cissna. The clerk, Shirley Rosa, is 51 and has been on medical leave from her job at the courthouse since October. She allegedly made the threats to a co-worker last week, and was arrested a few hours later without incident.

Trying Kids as Adults?

2010-02-18T23:01:00.003-07:00

I came across an interesting opinion piece on CNN.com today. It provides some compelling arguments on the merits of trying minors in juvenile court rather than adult court, even for serious offenses. This is a tough issue - and certainly can be an emotional one - centered as it often does around the notions of culpability, retribution, and ultimately the possibility for rehabilitation. If we don't think serious juvenile offenders can be rehabilitated, then they might as well be tried and sentenced as adults - or so the argument goes.

One interesting bit of data that my colleagues and I uncovered when we studied school shootings and interviewed school shooters around the US was that many of those who carried out school shootings in the 1970s and 1980s were tried and sentenced as juveniles, whereas most of those who carried out school shootings since the 1990s have been tried and sentenced as adults. There was one school shooter who declined our request to interview him because he served his time as a juvenile and was released at age 21, the records of his case were expunged, and he has since gone on to become a husband, father, and prominent member of his community. I recognize this is only one example - but it certainly underscores the possibility for rehabilitation in at least some cases. The opinion piece by Robert Schwartz, co-founder of the Juvenile Law Center, lays out far more compelling arguments, including the latest findings from child and adolescent brain development that provide strong evidence that juveniles cannot reason the same way adults do. Just some food for thought.

Alabama Shooting: New Developments

2010-02-16T21:49:00.009-07:00

If you've blinked in the past few days, you may have missed some of the odd developments and twists in the investigation into Dr. Amy Bishop's rampage shooting at the University of Alabama at Huntsville. For a good overview of the shooting incident, I recommend Scott Jaschik's article in Inside Higher Ed, in Sunday's edition of USAToday. Jaschik provides a great review of the shooting, where Bishop allegedly killed three fellow professors and wounded two others and a staff member, all from the University of Alabama Biology Department where Bishop worked. Although Bishop's motives for opening fire on a staff meeting remain unknown, various colleagues and others have speculated that the shooting might be related to Bishop initially being denied tenure, successfully appealing her case, and then having her appeal overruled by the university's administration.

But wait, there's more. In recent days it has become evident that Bishop had engaged in seriously troubling behavior - and in some cases criminal or potentially criminal behavior - over a period of several years. Since Sunday, several significant details about Amy Bishop's life and examples of her previous concerning behavior have emerged at an impressive rate. An article in today's New York Times provides a good summary of the recent developments, including the following:

In 1986, Bishop (then aged 20) shot and killed her brother, Seth Bishop (then 18) at their family home. The shooting was eventually ruled an accident, although recent news reports suggest differing recollections by those involved in the investigation as to why it was ruled an accident. Today, FoxNews.com went so far as to question whether Congressman William Delahunt (D-MA) may have been involved in getting Bishop released to her parents and the shooting ruled an accident when Delahunt was the local District Attorney and Bishop's mother was on the school board.
In 1993, Bishop and her husband, James Anderson, were both questioned in the investigation into an anonymous pipe bomb that was sent to the home of Dr. Paul Rosenberg, one of Bishop's colleagues at Children's Hospital in Boston. Colleagues recalled that Bishop was worried she was going to get a negative job performance review from Rosenberg. According to a recent interview with James Anderson, he said both he and Bishop were eventually cleared in the investigation.
In 2002, according to today's Associated Press article, Amy Bishop was arrested and charged with assault for punching a woman in an International House of Pancakes (IHOP) restaurant. According to the AP article, Bishop reportedly became irate when she discovered the other woman got the restaurant's last booster seat and repeatedly yelled "I am Dr. Amy Bishop!" Bishop was sentenced to probation for the assault.
An article on abcnews.com reports that in recent interviews with Bishop and Anderson's neighbors, several described Bishop as a woman who often got into "nose-to-nose" confrontations and arguments with neighbors over such benign issues as allowing an ice cream truck to sell ice cream to children in the neighborhood.
And in an interview this weekend, Bishop's husband said that Bishop recently went to a firing range with a handgun that she had borrowed from a friend, although Anderson had forbidden Bishop from keeping the gun in the house. Anderson described Bishop as being "cagey" about exactly where she got the gun.

As with other shooting rampages, the full accounting of the incident is likely months away. Expect more details to emerge in the coming days and weeks.

Professor Held in Campus Rampage Shooting

2010-02-13T00:48:00.007-07:00

It happened again today - another rampage shooting on a college campus. But this time it appears to be a female professor who carried out the attack.

The most recent story in The New York Times offers several details of the shooting - which took place at the University of Alabama at Hunstville -- that make this incident sound similar to other campus and workplace shootings. According to the Times article and to the latest update on abcnews.com, the alleged shooter was Dr. Amy Bishop, a biology professor at the University of Alabama at Hunstville. Dr. Bishop had previously been denied tenure, appealed the tenure decision, and learned earlier today that her appeal has also been denied. One colleague noted that Dr. Bishop had recently talked intensely about her grievances about the tenure process.

The most recent news reports list three killed and another three injured in the attack. The three individuals killed were all fellow biology professors, including the chair of the biology department. The three individuals injured included two other biology professors and a professor's assistant in the department. No students were injured or killed.

Since the Virginia Tech attack in April 2007, more and more colleges and universities have developed campus threat assessment teams to identify persons on campus that may pose some harm and to intervene before harm can occur. Yet many of these institutions remain concerned only about threats from students. The shooting at the University of Alabama reminds us that threats can come from campus employees as well as from students - and that colleges and universities are workplaces as well as learning institutions. Fortunately the principles of campus threat assessment can be used just as well to identify and reduce potential harm from faculty and staff, as they can be to address the same concerns from students.

For more information on campus threat assessment, please see The Handbook for Campus Threat Assessment and Management Teams, available on Amazon.com and here.

Dogs Help Struggling Youth

2010-01-15T23:44:00.003-07:00

And now for some good news: A program for troubled youth and several animal rescue agencies have teamed up to help each other. Best Friends, the nationally-known animal refuge in Utah, featured an article in their newsletter this week about a program in Chicago that was having a positive impact on "throw-away" teens - kids who had been convicted of some illegal activity and sentenced to a juvenile facility and who had little family involvement while in the residential facility. This program involved these teens with rescue dogs who were up for adoption. The program gradually introduces the teens to the dogs and to basic dog training techniques. The kids enjoyed working with the dogs so much -and the dogs responded to the training so well - that the first round of dogs were all adopted soon after training was over. The program has continued with both general and advanced training available for kids interested in the program. By all accounts, those kids who have participated have benefited too - deriving satisfaction and a sense of self-worth from doing things that helped the dogs get adopted, and from simply bonding with the dogs as well. Amid all the rampage shooting stories in the first few weeks of 2010, this story is a welcome change.

Threats to Judges - A Nationwide Review

2010-01-10T00:58:00.004-07:00

In the wake of this week's shooting at a federal courthouse in Las Vegas, the U.S. Marshals Service - which is responsible in part for protection of federal judges and courts - will conduct a nationwide review of courthouse security. The review is timely - not only because of this week's courthouse shooting -- but because the U.S. Department of Justice just released a report showing that the number of threats to federal judges and prosecutors have more than doubled in the past six years. The report also concluded that there were a number of deficiencies in the way the U.S. Marshals Service currently handles threats to judges and prosecutors.

It was only a few years ago that the U.S. Marshals Service was advised by the U.S. Department of Justice to stop using an automated software program to evaluate threats to judges and instead to develop and implement a behavioral threat assessment process. Given the rise in threats to federal judges and prosecutors, it is good the Marshals had already started to move toward implementing a threat assessment process. Those familiar with the Darren Mack case (Mack killed his ex-wife and shot the judge who oversaw their divorce), for example, may recall that Mack engaged in several typical warning signs - including threatening communications to the judge - that could have been detected in a threat assessment case.

For more information on evaluating threats to judges - and a great case study of a U.S. Supreme Court threat - click here see our chapter on preventing violence to judicial officials and courts. This chapter originally appeared in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences.

St. Louis Shooting at ABB Plant

2010-01-08T00:24:00.003-07:00

It happened again - just three days after the courthouse shooting in Las Vegas. This time it was a disgruntled 51-year old employee who had been in an ongoing legal dispute with his employer - ABB Group - over his pension. The employee, Timothy Hendron, killed four before killing himself inside the plant. According to the latest news reports, Hendron and other employees filed a lawsuit against ABB Group, a Swiss company, in 2006 for undisclosed and unreasonable fees related to their pensions. Apparently Hendron had recently told neighbors and friends that he felt he was being retaliated against at work because of the lawsuit.

As with other targeted shootings, it will be interesting to see what warning signs or clues may have preceded this attack. Did Hendron's behavior raise concerns among his co-workers or supervisors? Did he talk about wanting to do harm to anyone at ABB? Were there Internet postings about his grievances toward ABB? Did anyone know that Hendron was suicidal?

In these tough economic times especially, these shootings are no longer a surprise. But they are not inevitable. Businesses can get training for their supervisors in behavioral threat assessment - or get help from outside consultants - to be able to look into reports about troubling behavior, threats, grievances, or other concerns in the workplace - and ultimately to be able to help employees who may be struggling.

Courthouse Shooting in Las Vegas

2010-01-05T01:07:00.004-07:00

Yesterday a gunman opened fire in the federal courthouse in Las Vegas, NV, killing security officer Stanley W. Cooper - a retired Las Vegas Metro police officer -- and wounding a deputy U.S. Marshal before being killed by federal marshals after he fled across the street from the courthouse. Although the news reports still provide only minimal details, my impression so far is that this incident of targeted violence will follow a pattern similar to previous rampage shootings. Current news reports (with an eyewitness video) tell us that the shooter was Johnny Wicks, a 66-year old Las Vegas resident whose Social Security benefits had been cut and who had sued the Social Security Administration as a result. Apparently Wicks' case had been thrown out of court in September 2009, three months prior to his shooting.

The fact pattern preceding today's courthouse shooting sounds similar to the fact pattern in the hostage situation in Edmonton (Canada) in October 2009, where an injured worker opened fire on the Canadian workers' compensation offices after learning that his workers' compensation benefits would soon be cut (see my blog post from October 26, 2009 for more information). As in the Edmonton situation - which fortunately ended peacefully -- I would not be surprised if we eventually learn that the Las Vegas courthouse shooter had been suicidal prior to carrying out today's shooting. And as in the Edmonton hostage situation, I would not be surprised if the Las Vegas courthouse shooter had seriously concerned or worried various people in his life in advance of the shooting. And like in the Edmonton hostage situation, I would not be surprised if we learn that the Las Vegas courthouse shooter communicated his intentions to carry out his shooting in advance of doing harm - perhaps threatening the judge who handled the case, telling others he was going to seek some form of retribution, or even posting something on the Internet. More to come in this case...

Shooter's Father Held Accountable?

2009-11-28T02:22:00.005-07:00

In a fascinating legal development in rampage shootings, German authorities have charged the father of a school shooter with 15 counts of manslaughter for failing to keep his legally-registered guns secure. An article on BBC.com details the charges and summarizes the case, where 17-year-old Tim Kretschmer took his father's guns into his former school and killed 9 students and 3 teachers at Albertville secondary school on March 11, 2009. After leaving the school, Kretschmer commandeered a car, drove 25 miles, then killed two more people in a nearby town before turning the gun on himself as police approached. The charges allege that Kretschmer's father was negligent in his storage of his weapons -- even though they were legally registered - so that Kretschmer was able to get his hands on his father's gun and a large amount of ammunition as well.

As far as I know, the parents of U.S. school shooters have never been charged with any charges that encompassed some negligence or responsibility for their children's school shootings. It will be interesting to follow the trajectory of this case as it develops in Germany.

Safety Tip: Watch for Abduction/Car-Jacking Attempts

2009-11-16T00:59:00.003-07:00

An article in today's Reno Gazette-Journal describes an attempted car-jacking in Reno, where a woman put her kids in the car and, leaving the keys in the ignition, left the vehicle to lock up her business. The would-be car jacker jumped in the car and started to drive away with the woman's children in the backseat. Fortunately for everyone involved, the woman's boyfriend was able to get in the car and plead with the car-jacker to let the kids out. A short time later, the car-jacker crashed the car into a low wall and fled on foot. The kids and boyfriend suffered only minor injuries.

This safety tip may seem obvious but it's worth a reminder, especially as the holiday season approaches: Don't leave your keys in the ignition. Especially with your kids in the car. Instead, do whatever you can to make yourself a more difficult target: Park in a well lit area, near lots of foot traffic/stores. Ask someone from the store to help carry your purchases to your car, so you are not alone and not loaded down with bags. If there is someone loitering near your car, turn around and go back in the store - and wait until the person leaves or until someone can escort you to your car. And as you approach your car, take note of your surroundings. See who is around you. Glance under the car as you approach to see if anyone is there. Glance in the backseat. If anything looks odd, turn around and go back in the store and get help. And don't worry about looking overly-anxious if you do. Personally, I'd rather be alive and thought to be a bit of a worry-wort, than dead and remembered as (foolishly) brave.

Suggestion for the Army: Establish Threat Assessment Teams

2009-11-07T23:01:00.003-07:00

The rampage shooting by Nidal Hasan at the Fort Hood army base was a textbook case of targeted violence (see earlier Threat Resources blog post on 07 NOV). Nasan had raised concern among several people -- including co-workers and law enforcement -- for recent troubling behavior. He was also known to be facing multiple losses and appeared to be increasingly desperate about his upcoming deployment. Having a threat assessment team on base could have given his co-workers and others a place to report their concerns. Similarly, a threat assessment team that learned about Nasan could have reached out to law enforcement and discovered his recent Internet postings and the concern they generated within the law enforcement community.

My point here in not to serve as a Monday-morning quarterback, declaring with 20/20 hindsight what should have been done. Rather, I want to encourage the U.S. military to give serious consideration to establishing behavioral threat assessment teams to guard against future threats. The purpose of establishing a behavioral threat assessment team is to have the ability to identify, investigate, assess, and reduce risks from within - from soldiers, family members, and others not typically seen as "enemies." Establishing behavioral threat assessment teams on bases and in field units would give the military the ability to address a wide range of concerning, threatening, and odd behavior - and to be able to identify emerging problems, before they become explosive or deadly.

Establishing behavioral threat assessment teams would also help to re-assure families of soldiers that something is being done to ensure their loved ones' safety - off the battlefield as well as on. Having threat assessment teams in place also offers family members a place to report concerns of their own.

The high rate of suicide in the U.S. military argues even more for building a threat assessment capacity - as behavioral threat assessment can be used to prevent suicide as well as harm to others. The U.S. military does an excellent job of force protection in guarding against threats from the outside. Adopting threat assessment processes -- and getting training on behavioral threat assessment from professionals with demonstrated experience assessing and managing threats -- would go a long way toward helping our military guard against threats from within -- and help address suicide concerns at the same time.

Fort Hood Shooting: A Textbook Case

2009-11-07T22:27:00.002-07:00

What a week - first the rampage shooting by a U.S. soldier, where Nidal Hasan killed 13 and wounded 30 at Fort Hood, the army base where he was assigned. From what news accounts have reported so far, Hasan's shooting at the Fort Hood army base in Fort Hood, Texas was a textbook case of targeted violence. An recent article in The Washington Post provides a great synopsis about Hasan and what was known about him before his attack. Nasan's pre-attack behavior looked quite similar to so many of those who have engaged in assassination, stalking, workplace shootings, school/campus shootings, and other acts of targeted violence.

Like many other attackers, Hasan had a serious grievance before his attack - in this case, it was his deep opposition to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was also juggling multiple losses. He has tried repeatedly to obtain a discharge from the army but was unable to do so. And he was about to be deployed to serve in the Iraq war.

Like so many other attackers, Nasan had concerned multiple people around him prior to his attack: in this case, these included co-workers at the medical facilities where he worked were reluctant to refer patients to him -- even though he was a psychiatrist specializing in traumatic stress (arguably a sought-after speciality in today's military) -- because of his odd behavior and interactions. And he had also raised concern among law enforcement for a recent Internet post where he compared suicide bombers to kamikaze pilots, and praised their actions as honorable.

Like so many other attackers, his recent behavior also suggested that he was suicidal prior to his attack. He had been giving away his possessions (although some attributed that to his deployment) and he had not mentioned his impending deployment with his aunt even though he's exchanged email with her recently. This last point may indicate that he had planned out his attack for a while (typical of attackers in targeted violence) and never intended to get to the point where he would be deployed. It is quite possible that Nasan hoped to be killed in the course of his attack or planned to kill himself as part of it. These are things we won't know until law enforcement and military police interview him.

In the case of Nasan - as in so many other attacks -- it seems that no one had all of the facts about what Nasan had been thinking about and planning to do. But Nasan had raised serious concerns among several people for odd behaviors and praise of suicide bombers. This type of concerning behavior is exactly the type that a threat assessment team can investigate, evaluate, and decide whether some intervention was necessary to reduce the likelihood of harm.

SafetyTip: Do You Know Where Your Blackberry Is?

2009-11-05T00:52:00.004-07:00

I just saw a fascinating article about a new application for Blackberry phones that can turn your Blackberry into a surveillance device. An article in The Washington Post highlights the fact that your Blackberry can be used against you to track your conversations and listen in on your surroundings. Fortunately there are some critical flaws in the application's design: namely that the application must be installed on your Blackberry before it can work and that it leaves a noticeable icon on the Blackberry's screen. So either the would-be spy will need to get their hands on your Blackberry and install it, or they need to find a way to convince you to install it.

Some simple tips to protect you from this application: Keep your Blackberry in your possession at all times; periodically check for new/unknown icons; and don't click on any executable files that are emailed to you. Simple things we already know to do to keep our computers safe - but a good reminder to take the same precautions with our Blackberrys and other smartphones.

Hostage Situation Ends Peacefully

2009-10-26T00:30:00.002-06:00

Last week a gunman, Patrick Clayton, entered the Workers Compensation Bureau offices in Edmonton, Alberta (Canada) and took several people hostage at gunpoint. The facts of this situation mirror those we typically see in rampage shootings and other incident of targeted violence: he was facing multiple losses, had a grievance, was suicidal, and wanted to call attention to his problem. One of the initial articles in the Edmonton Journal relayed the details - the gunman, Clayton, had an existing claim at the WCB for having been injured on the job and had an ongoing dispute with the WCB over whether he was well enough to return to work. Three months before this incident, he told his neighbors (and possibly others) that he was thinking about killing himself. He was in the middle of a bitter custody battle over his 6 year-old son. And he recently had been told his workers compensation benefits would soon end.

One fascinating aspect to this case was the reaction of the hostages to the gunman. According to reports that came out after the incident was over, the hostages had listened to Clayton's story and his goal to call attention to his situation, and helped him craft emails to local media. Some have credited this reaction by the hostages - and expert work by the trained hostage negotiators - with helping to resolve this incident without any bloodshed or injuries.

I happened to be in Edmonton at the time this hostage incident unfolded, in town to provide threat assessment training to a college in Edmonton (see the 26 OCT blog post). I was interviewed by several media outlets regarding the WCB hostage incident, including the Edmonton Journal, Metro News (Canada), and a live interview on Alberta Prime Time, a province-wide television program.

Jaycee Dugard Investigator Honored

2009-09-11T01:15:00.004-06:00

On Tuesday the town of Brentwood, CA honored one of its residents, Officer Allison Jacobs, for her critical role in solving the kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard from South Lake Tahoe 18 years ago. An AP article in the San Jose Mercury News provides some details on how Jacobs, who is an officer with the University of California, Berkeley police department, followed up on a concern from fellow UC Berkeley employee Lisa Campbell that Phillip Garrido and his two young daughters acted strangely when they visited the UC Berkeley campus on the previous day. When Officer Jacobs acted on Campbell's initial observation that something wasn't quite right, she found out that Garrido was a registered sex offender and contacted Garrido's parole officer regarding his concerning behavior and the fact that he had children with him.

Were it not for Lisa Campbell telling someone about her concerns about Garrido's behavior, Officer Jacobs would have had no reason to look into Garrido's background. And were it not for Officer Jacobs' initiative in following up on Campbell's brief report, Garrido's parole officer might never have discovered that Garrido had children living with him - and likely would never have determined that the children's mother was Jaycee Dugard, who had been kidnapped and held captive by Garrido for 18 years. This case offers a compelling example of how a simple act of reporting a concern over troubling behavior can lead to a crime being solved, a family reunited, and harm prevented to other children. Bravo to Officer Allison Jacobs and to Lisa Campbell!

Grandma Threatens School

2009-09-05T15:46:00.002-06:00

From the Now-I've-Heard-Everything file comes a story on msnbc.com about a 51-year-old grandmother who called in an anonymous bomb threat to her grandchildren's elementary school. The call resulted in the school's immediate evacuation. Apparently the grandmother did not have permission from her daughter to visit her grandchildren at the school. No word yet on what the grandmother thought she might have accomplished by phoning in the threat. It will be interesting to watch this story unfold.

New Investigative Tool for Campus and School Threats

2009-09-05T00:04:00.011-06:00

Hello again and welcome to Fall. After a higher-than-normal workload of threat cases (blame the downturn in the economy), I finally have some time again to devote to this blog and to sharing new developments in threat assessment and violence prevention. It's good to be back.

The first news I have is that following the demise of JuicyCampus.com, several new campus and school gossip web sites have emerged to take its place -- just in time for the start of the school year. A recent article in the Chronicle of Higher Education describes the launch of a few of these sites -- including CampusGossip, CollegeACB, and PeoplesDirt (which includes sections of high school gossip as well as some campus gossip). The Chronicle article provides a good overview of these sites, and a good recap of the rise and fall of JuicyCampus.

Although many campus administrators, educators, parents, and students have -- understandably -- been highly critical of campus/school gossip sites, I have found them to be a helpful investigative tool for any threat cases I work involving colleges or schools. I can quickly and easily search these sites to see if a particular institution, student, or professor/teacher is mentioned. And any posts about a particular person (be they a threatener, target, or third party) can give me a better understanding of the situation at hand and/or interpersonal disputes or grievances that may be relevant.

If the posts turn out to be bogus, it is still informative to know that the person in question has been targeted publicly. And yes, the posts are anonymous - but that doesn't detract from the utility of their content. Although I don't know for certain, it may be possible for local or campus police to gain access (through formal procedures such as search warrants/subpoenas or even informal relationships) to identifying information about otherwise-anonymous posters if there is a potential risk to public safety. They can certainly try, in any case.

Even when my searches on these sites fail to yield any hits on specific names of threateners or victims - as often happens - the information posted about the particular campus/school can still offer a different perspective on the institution's climate or culture than I get just from talking with administrators or faculty. As long as these sites are around, we can at least leverage their content for some good investigative and preventive work.

Safety Tip: Fake Babysitting Ad Ends in Murder

2009-04-06T16:23:00.008-06:00

Incident
This past week Michael John Anderson was sentenced to life in prison for killing Katherine Ann Olson. According to an Associated Press article, Anderson "lured" Olson to his house with a fake online ad looking for a babysitter. Olson, 24, answered the ad, which Anderson posted on the web site Craigslist.com. When she arrived at Anderson's house, he shot and killed her. Prosecutors said that Anderson lured Olson to his home because he wanted to know 'what it felt like to kill.'

Analysis
This terrible tragedy underscores the importance of checking out anyone you meet on the Internet, but the same goes for any classified ads in the newspaper or displayed in your local grocery store. The need to be vigilant is especially true for women. When answering an advertisement - whether for a babysitter, a cheap sofa, or a date -- it is important to ask probing questions, check references where possible, and use the buddy system. Bring a friend with you to check out that sofa or babysitting job. A large male friend can be particularly useful for such excursions (plus he can help carry the sofa). And if a potential job involves going to someone's home - for babysitting, mowing the lawn, etc. - you are just as entitled to check out your potential employer as they are to vet you. Ask for names and contact information of people who have worked at their home before - and then call those people and ask about their experiences. Be sure to ask whether they still do work there -- and if not, why not.

For dates, you can be more discreet but still be safe. First, always meet the person in a public place, such as a restaurant or a bar. Don't let ever let someone you don't know pick you up at your home. And remember, no matter how long you may have been communicating with this person online and by phone, this is still somoene you don't know. Nor should you agree to meet the person at their home - even if they argue that it's on the way or claim they have no means of transportation. If they get pushy, take that as a big red flag and forget the date altogether.

Once you choose a public place to meet, tell a few friends where you are going and ask one or two of them to drop by and make sure you are ok. Your date doesn't have to know they are there; your friends can sit and have a drink at the bar and just make sure you look safe. Or you can develop a subtle hand signal to let them know you're okay. And if you're going to change locations, send your friends a text message to let them know where you're going and how long you'll be there. At the end of the date, say goodbye at the restaurant or bar and get in a cab by yourself; or wait until your date has gone before walking to your car. If you feel unsafe for any reason - or if your date gets pushy about driving you home or walking you to your car, that's a big red flag too. Go back into the restaurant and ask them to call you a cab, or ask the bouncer at the bar for help. And you can always call that friend to come pick you up. Just offer to return the favor some day.

Above all, trust your intuition when meeting someone you don't know - whether through a online ad, newspaper classified, or grocery store homemade sign. If any part of the situation feels wrong - even if you can't put your finger on why -- chances are high you're right. Get out of there quickly and safely and don't go back for any reason. If you forget something like your purse or cellphone, you can always ask a friend to go back with you.

School Stops Bullying and Helps Bullies

2009-03-15T15:56:00.004-06:00

There is a great article on abcnews.com today about how one school in Ely, Nevada tackled a very tough bullying problem with impressive results. The problem had gotten so bad at White Pine Middle School that students were opting to attend a different school 40 miles away, and many who stayed were miserable. After an analysis, the school figured out that the same eight students were behind most of the bullying. The school tackled the issue by working directly with the bullies to find out what personal problems were behind their aggressive and tormenting behavior. The school found ways to help address the bullies' problems, which stemmed largely from problems at home, and were able to dramatically improve the school's overall climate. Students who had left to attend the other school returned because they felt safe again.

Addressing and eradicating bullying is important for several reasons. First, the experience of being bullied can create severe problems for victims, including depression, anxiety, and thoughts of suicide. Second, we know from research that the majority of students who have carried out school shootings felt bullied by others before their attacks - so addressing bullying may well help stop other problems. Finally, we know from other research that bullies often score the highest on tests for depression. Therefore, finding ways to address bullies' problems - as White Pine Middle School did - can help erase the problem for good. The story is a great example of how schools can tackle the problem of bullying head on - and without necessarily having to spend a lot in time or money to do so. White Pine Middle School should be applauded for a job well done.

Classic Warning Signs in Germany School Shooting

2009-03-12T15:40:00.006-06:00

Incident
On Wednesday, Tim Kretschmer, a 17 year old boy, returned to the high school where he'd graduated last year and opened fire, killing nine students and three teachers at his former school in Winnenden, Germany. According to an article at TimesOnline, it now appears that Kretschmer also shot a man, believed to be the gardener, outside of the psychiatric clinic where he's been sent for treatment months earlier. Several media outlets, including the New York Times and the Washington Post, have reported that Kretschmer was being treated for depression last year and had been referred to a clinic in Winnenden, but stopped going for treatment after only a few sessions. After killing the man outside the Winnenden psychiatric clinic immediately after his attack at the Albertville school, Kretschmer then commandeered a car, taking the driver hostage, and shot and killed two other individuals at a car dealership in a nearby town before killing himself. This attack came a day after a highly-publicized rampage shooting spread across two towns in southern Alabama (see "AL Shooting Planned, not Impulsive" below, posted on 03.11.2009).

Analysis
From the information that is emerging about this attack, it appears that Kretschmer showed several classic warning signs that most previous school shooters showed prior to their attacks. In the Safe School Initiative -- the joint U.S. Secret Service/U.S. Department of Education study of school shootings that my colleagues and I conducted -- we discovered several major findings that were common among most school shooters. So far, news reports about the investigation indicate that Kretschmer's behavior was similar to that of previous school shooters in several key areas. Below are listed some of the major findings of the Safe School Initiative and how Kretschmer's behavior compares:

Safe School Initiative Findings:

School shootings are rarely impulsive. Instead, they are typically thought out and planned in advance.
So far several articles have reported that Kretschmer carried over 250 bullets on him when he entered the school and started his attack. This suggests possible planning for a large-scale attack. It will be worth watching to see if the police investigation yields any more specific information about planning.

School shooters often tell others about their ideas or plans for harm in advance of their attack.
Initial reports indicated that Kretschmer had warned of his attack in a chat room post six hours before his shooting. A teenager from Bavaria reported to his father that he has received a post from a boy in Germany about his plans to go back to his former school carry out an attack. In the post Kretschmer also reportedly said that he was sick of life. More recent reports, however, say that authorities have become concerned about the veracity of the posts and think they may be fake. Even if these posts turn out to be fake, I would not be surprised if the investigation eventually reveals that Kretschmer talked about his intentions with others - or posted them somewhere - in the days and weeks before Wednesday's shooting.

School shooters rarely direct threats to their targets in advance of doing any harm.
In the reports so far, there has been no mention of Kretschmer threatening anyone he targeted prior to his shooting. It is possible that the investigation will reveal that Kretschmer threatened some of this targets before the shooting - but I believe it is more likely that investigators will find communications with OTHER people - rather than any potential targets - about the harm he intended to carry out.

Most school shooters had considered or attempted suicide prior to their attacks. Many had been experiencing desperation or despair.
Several news reports have mentioned that Kretschmer was being treated for depression, and that he had terminated his treatment after only a few sessions. He also killed himself in the course of his attack. In addition, in Kretschmer's alleged the chat room post he was reported as saying that he didn't want to live anymore. Even if it turns out that the post was fake or did not exist, the fact that Kretschmer had been diagnosed with depression is in keeping with most previous school shooters.

Most school shooters had access to and had used weapons prior to their attack.
Kretschmer's father was a member of a local gun club and Kretschmer was reported to have frequented the club for target practice with his father. In addition, Kretschmer's father is reported to have owned at least 15 weapons that he kept at the family's home, nearly all in a locked cabinet. Reports also indicate that the handgun that Kretschmer used in his attack was the one gun that his father kept unlocked in their home.

Many school shooters felt bullied, persecuted, or injured by others prior to their attacks.
From the note that Kretschmer's allegedly posted in the chat room six hours prior to his attack, he indicated that he felt that everyone laughed at him and no one recognized his potential.

As the investigation unfolds, it will be interesting to see if other facts come to light that suggest Kretschmer's situation was like that of previous school shooters. Specifically, it will be worth watching to see if people in Kretschmer's life had been seriously troubled by or concerned about his behavior prior to the shooting. It will also be worth watching to see if Kretschmer communicated with anyone else (besides the chat room post in question) beforehand about his plans for the shooting. Finally, it will be interesting to see if investigators find that any other peers or friends of Kretschmer's were helping Kretschmer with his plans, or were daring him to go through with the attack. In the meantime, our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families in Winnenden.

AL Shooting Planned, not Impulsive

2009-03-11T15:19:00.005-06:00

Incident
On Tuesday Michael McLendon, a 28-year old who recently quit his job, carried out a rampage shooting across two small towns in southern Alabama, killing 10 people including several family members.

Analysis
From the evidence that is emerging, it was clear this was a planned shooting, rather than an impulsive act. According to Wednesday evening's update on MSNBC.com, a list found at McLendon's home indicated he had targeted several of those individuals and other entities as well, including two companies where he used to work, several former co-workers and supervisors, and his mother's former employer. Those listed were people McLendon felt had wronged him. In the latest update on MSNBC.com, the Coffee County District Attorney, Gary McAliley said. “It’s obvious to me he had planned doing this kind of thing and had for some time."Authorities also said the amount of ammunition that McLendon had suggested he may have intended to kill far more people than he did.

This analysis is a preliminary one, as information about McLendon and his attack is just beginning to emerge. It will be interesting to see what other pre-attack concerns may emerge as the investigation unfolds. Many workplace and rampage shooters tell other people about their plans for attack in advance - whether in person, on Web sites or in chat rooms, or even through videos posted on the Internet. In addition, many concern multiple people around them by engaging in very troubling or disturbing behavior before they ever do harm. And many are suicidal before carrying out their shootings. As the investigation progresses, it is possible that we will learn more about McLendon and about the behaviors he showed prior to his rampage shooting.

Twitter Users Help Solve School Threat

2009-03-07T16:56:00.009-07:00

If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend an article in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch about how some crafty and persistent work by several Twitter users helped solve an anonymous school death threat in St. Louis, Missouri earlier this week.

Incident
It all began with an Internet search that a teacher in Virginia asked her husband, Jeremy Boggs, to run for a class she was teaching the next day. Reading a Wikipedia entry from the search, Boggs found a threat posted in the middle of the Wikipedia text, that said in part "I'M GOING TO SHOOT EVERYONE AT THAT (expletive) SCHOOL...ESPECIALLY KATRICE NOBLE" (quoted from the St. Louis-Post Dispatch article). Boggs used Twitter -- the social networking service that limits users to posts of 140 characters only -- to ask friends and colleagues whether he should do anything about the threat. The Twitter responses - or tweets, as they are called -- told him he should report the threat, both to Wikipedia editors and to the police.

But which police to call? The threat didn't specify a school or town, only Katrice Noble. Through the cooperation of several individuals on Twitter over the course of several hours -- and communicating using only 140 characters at a time -- these Twitter users were able to determine that Katrice Noble heads a charter school, Lift for Life Academy, in the St. Louis area. They then tried notifying Noble's school and the local police but weren't able to reach anyone because it was late at night. Finally, one Twitter user in Ohio was able to reach police in her area, who were able to reach Noble in St. Louis. Eventually the police and school officials were able to identify the student that posted the threat and determined that it was done as a prank. The school re-opened without incident.

Analysis
I think Boggs and his fellow Twitter users deserve a huge round of applause for their sound judgment in deciding to report the threat -- and even more importantly for their persistence in doing so. It took some digging for them to find out the school with which Katrice Noble was affiliated, its location, and the police department that served the area. And then it took several attempts and a fair amount of time for the Twitter group to reach someone who could help. They didn't stop even after leaving phone messages with the school and with local police. The Twitter group kept at it until they were sure that someone in law enforcement knew about the threat and would handle it from there.

What's important to recognize here is that people often don't report threats or troubling behavior, even though they should. In the Secret Service / Department of Education study of school shootings, one of our major findings was that prior to most shootings, other people knew about the shooters' plans beforehand, but never told anyone. There are a lot of reasons why people don't report threats that they hear, or tell someone about troubling behavior they observe. Decades of research on "bystander apathy" have shown time and again that most people fail to do something to help, such as call the police - even when a crime occurs right in front of them (for more on bystander apathy, click here). In the case of not reporting threats, these reasons can range from thinking the person is just joking, to thinking someone else is better equipped to know what to do, to fearing some consequence (like becoming a target themselves) if they try to do something to help (see the Secret Service/Department of Education Bystander Study for more information on why some students have reported threats while others have not).

But it is clear that there was no bystander apathy in this case. The Twitter users who helped stop the school threat did all the right things. They gave Boggs good advice after his initial query -- that he should report the threat because it is better to be safe than sorry. But Boggs and the Twitter group then went above and beyond to make sure law enforcement knew about the threat. I hope that people will remember this story of the Twitter group if they are ever in a position to report a threat or troubling behavior. In most cases, it won't be so difficult to pass along information to someone who can help. But even when it is difficult, the Twitter group showed us just how important it is to continue to try.

It's not often that we hear good news stories like this - perhaps because prevented attacks and people doing the right thing are not as "headline grabbing" as the bad things that happen every day. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has done a great service in sharing this Good Samaritan story.

Attack Averted by Parents' Tip

2009-03-05T21:18:00.004-07:00

Incident
Police in a suburb north of Atlanta, GA today arrested two students at Woodstock High School and detained a third for questioning after receiving a tip that one of the students brought a gun to school and planned to do harm. According to an article on CNN.com, the older of the two arrested students, Forrest Busby, brought a revolver to school and hid it in the ceiling of one of the school bathrooms. In a search of his home, police found an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Mini-14 assault rifle, along with 200 rounds of ammunition. Police also found 6 marijuana plants in Busby's closet; he is being charged - among other things - with possessing a weapon on school grounds, carrying a concealed weapon and manufacturing and distributing a controlled substance. The other boy that was arrested is 15 years old and is being handled as a juvenile, so his name has not been released. Three schools in the area - Woodstock HS, Woodstock Middle School, and Etowah High School - were all put on lockdown after police received the tip and before the arrests were made.

A more comprehensive article on the incident appeared this evening in the online version of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. It describes how the tip first got to the Cherokee County police: from a phone call from the parents of the 15-year old who was arrested. Apparently their son had run away from home and taken a pistol and two assault rifles from their home when he left. Those were the weapons the police found less than 10 hours later hidden in the ceiling of the school bathroom and in Busby's home. Quick action by the police determined that the runaway boy had gone to Busby's house.

Analysis
Although it has not been articulated in news articles so far, police apparently had reason to believe that the 15 year-old and/or Busby might bring those weapons to Woodstock HS, and worked quickly to stop whatever plot might have been in the works. As with many averted attacks, we may never know what exactly was planned - if anything. But the combination of a child who has run away from home, with weapons, and then shows up at a classmate's house was enough to make the police take preventive action. If this case is like other school shootings and averted attacks, then a search of the boys' rooms, computers, and email/chat accounts may eventually reveal ideas or plans to do harm at the school - and possibly other who may have heard rumors of a plot. But because of concerned parents calling the local police -- and a rapid police response to assess the threat and determine the location of the boys and the weapons -- the local authorities were able to act quickly and make sure no harm occurred. The media has provided detailed coverage on the incident and on parents' reactions and their communications with their children throughout the lockdown. My hope is that some of the news articles will focus on how the system worked in this case to prevent a potential tragedy. The more news positive coverage we can give to people who do the right thing by reporting concerns, the greater chance we have at encouraging others to do the same thing in future situations.

WEBINAR: Campus Threat Assessment Teams

2009-03-01T13:54:00.004-07:00

On April 21, 2009 (2pm-3:30pm ET), Dr. Gene Deisinger and I will provide the web-based training seminar, "Threat Assessment Teams: Creating Teams and Managing Threats." This webinar, which is being hosted by Paperclip Communications, is designed for those working in higher education settings but is also appropriate for anyone interested in threat assessment teams and their functioning.

We will discuss how to create an effective multi-disciplinary team on campus; how to identify students or employees of concern and determine whether they pose any threat; and how to intervene to stop potential violence and provide assistance to persons in need. We will also talk about the roles and responsibilities of individual team members, sample agendas for team meetings, and strategies for maximizing communications -- to the team, among team members, and from the team to the campus community.

This webinar is appropriate for student affairs officers, judicial affairs officers, human resources and employee assistance personnel, legal counsel, campus law enforcement, administrators, counseling center staff, and anyone else interested in or responsible for campus safety and/or student and employee welfare. For more information or to register for the course, please click here.

Threats to Celebrities and Politicians in the US and the UK: Getting Mental Health Involved

2009-02-27T22:48:00.013-07:00

This week an article in a Scottish newspaper provided an interesting overview of the Los Angeles Police Department's (LAPD) Threat Management Unit, and the work they do investigating and intervening with celebrity stalkers (click here for the article). It provides details on several well-known and fascinating stalking cases, including individuals who have stalked Steven Spielberg, Madonna, and Britney Spears. The article also mentions a similar, though much newer, unit in London that was created to investigate and intervene with stalkers and threateners of Britain's political leaders and members of the royal family. The unit, called the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, has studied thousands of cases of individuals who have written to British politicians or members of the royal family.

An earlier article on the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre described their research and investigative work in more detail, including research they have done on attacks against European politicians. This earlier article also offers summaries of some fascinating cases of individuals who have stalked and attacked European policitians and royalty - cases that are arguably lesser known in the US. The Fixated Threat Assessment Centre's research - and their investigative work - sound quite similar to that of the U.S. Secret Service, and in particular the Secret Service's research on assasinations and attacks on U.S. public figures, politicians and celebrities alike. (For more information on the Secret Service research, click here).

One fascinating aspect of the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre is that it is funded in part by Britain's Department of Health, largely because over three quarters of the cases studied involved significant mental illness. From the earlier article: "'This is an area where the interests of security and public health overlap,' [David] James [who co-directs the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre] says. 'We're not just providing protection: we're helping to find care and treatment for those whose lives are being destroyed by untreated mental illness.' Some of the patients first identified by FTAC, James says, are now leading 'functional and relatively normal' lives."

This quote echoes a little-known aspect of threat assessment work in the law enforcement arena - whether it's carried out by the LAPD, the US Secret Service, the UK's Fixated Threat Assessment Centre, or others: the primary goal of threat assessment is prevention. It's typically not about arrest or prosecution. Unless the person in question has already attacked, arrest and prosecution usually don't offer effective long-term preventive solutions (although arrest may be an important short-term solution when an attack appears imminent and the person in question needs to be contained). The sentences or punishments for issuing a threat, and even planning an attack, are often quite short. Instead, achieving long-term prevention typically means uncovering and addressing the underlying problems (like mental illness, multiple major losses, or desperation/suicide) that are driving the person's throughts and plans of violence in the first place. Having easy access to tools that can address those personal problems -- such as quality, affordable mental health care -- can make threat management far more effective. The UK format - involving the Department of Health with the work of the Fixated Threat Assessment Centre - is one worth watching. It may proved to be an effective model for mental health intervention in similar cases in the US, Canada, and other countries.

New Stalking Statistics

2009-02-25T23:53:00.003-07:00

A news piece this week on msnbc.com offered a great snapshot of recent statistics on stalking in the U.S. The article summarizes a report from the US Department of Justice, released in January, on the number of stalking cases in America in 2005 and 2006 (this is the most recent years these statistics are available; it typically takes a while to assemble statistics like this). The Justice Department reported that over 3 million people in the United States were stalked during a 12 month period in 2005/2006. That is a large number. It is equivalent to everyone in a medium-sized city. The report also underscores that the majority of victims - around 75% - know there stalkers, typically from a past relationship.

Personal Safety Tip
The article mentions some technologies that have helped stalkers pursue their victims, including the wealth of information available on the Internet. One quick personal safety strategy is to conduct a Google search - or a Cuil.com search - on your name on a regular basis. There was one stalking case a number of years ago where the stalker detailed his pursuit of his victim, including his plans to kill her, on a web site he created. All of the information about his plans and her victimization was posted online for anyone to see; but the police handling the case never thought to run this woman's name through a standard Internet search. As a matter of personal safety, run a search on Google or Cuil every month or two and see what the results say. Take the time to page through all the results, if possible. And don't forget to check the tabs with images as well as text. It's good to know what others can find about you if they want to. Check back again soon for more personal safety tips.

Hospital shooting by fired employee

2009-02-17T21:33:00.002-07:00

This past weekend there was a rampage shooting at a hospital in Brockport, NY. The latest report indicates that the shooter was a former employee of the hospital who had been fired after only four months on the job. According to the report, he had also been fired from his previous job with another hospital after only six months employment in that position. The report also states that the shooter had been reported to local police in for disturbing behavior while he was a student in nursing school. Similar to other rampage shootings, this shooter -- at least according to current news reports -- appears to have been on multiple radar screens for concerning behavior over the course of several years.

Tragedy Averted at Ohio School

2008-10-08T17:38:00.005-06:00

Incident:
A story on the show All Things Considered on National Public Radio (NPR) caught my attention recently. It was an interview with Jeff Lyons, an assistant principal at a high school in Willoughby, Ohio who did the unthinkable -- he went toward the sound of gunshots when a student started firing a gun in his school. And by all accounts, what he did next helped stop a much larger tragedy. By talking with the boy, and sharing some of his own life challenges, he was able to convince the boy to surrender his weapon.

Analysis:
The assistant principal, Jeff Lyons, and the school principal, Paul Lombardo, took a few key steps that were critical to resolving this situation - where a student was already firing a weapon in school - without anyone getting hurt. First, Lyons said that he and Lombardo recognized that the boy was likely very troubled, and said that their 'gut' told him that the boy didn't want to hurt anyone else but probably wanted to hurt or kill himself. So they started to engage the boy in conversation. They heard from the boy that he thought life was going to be terrible for him from this point forward. The next important step Lyons and Lombardo took was to tell the boy that they cared about him and wanted to help him. Finally, when the boy put the gun to his own head, Lyons told the boy a story from his own life about a close friend who committed suicide shortly after high school, and what a tragedy that was for everyone. The boy listened, and then eventually surrendered his the gun to Lyons and Lombardo, who then walked the boy out to the police.

The efforts that Assistant Principal Lyons and Principal Lombardo took to engage this boy, and of try to establish a collaborative or cooperative relationship with him, demonstrate the power of engagement to prevent harm. Rather than confrontation, they chose cooperation - which resulted in everyone staying safe and the boy geting help. Although these men used this technique in a crisis situation, it is no less powerful in interacting with someone who has threatened or shown other concerning behavior in school, on campus, or in the workplace. Often, just having someone listen to them can defuse a potentially-violent individual.

Click here to listen to a recording of the story on NPR, or click here to read a brief description and order a transcript.

Incident Prevented through Information-Sharing

2008-09-30T23:20:00.010-06:00

Summary:
Polk Community College in Winter Haven, FL closed their campuses on September 22 in response to a threat that a 39-year-old work-study student, Randy Thurston, was going to shoot someone on campus. Thurston had been suspended because of several sexual harassment complaints against him, and then threatened to shoot one of his accusers. Read more about the investigation here.

Analysis:
This story provides a great illustration of how information about a potential campus shooting may be detectable before harm occurs -- but that the information is likely to be scattered among multiple people in small bits and pieces. In this case, campus personnel first became concerned about Thurston because of his inappropriate behavior. And although the college suspended Thurston, they didn't assume that the problem went away. Quite the contrary. They notified local police about their concerns and eventually three law enforcement agencies were cooperating on an investigation.

Finally, a therapist who was treating Thurston was allowed to share normally confidential information because Thurston had threatened someone. In the wake of the shooting at Virginia Tech, there has been a lot of discussion about laws and regulations that keep mental health professionals from being able to share information about a patient. But the fact is that every state has some type of "duty to warn" or "duty to protect" that requires mental health professionals to alert someone if their patient threatens to kill themselves or kill someone else. In a situation like this, the mental health professional does not necessarily lose their ability to treat the patient when they report a threat to police. In fact, the mental health professional can play a vital role in advising the court about options that could help reduce the threat and get the person the help they need.

Threat assessment is the process of looking for pieces of information that suggest someone is planning to do harm -- and then pulling them all together to see what picture emerges and see what can be done to prevent an attack. Nothing bad happened at Polk Community College because they did just that. The system worked.

Finland College Shooting

2008-09-23T20:43:00.006-06:00

Summary: A shooting at a trade school/college in Finland on Tuesday left a total of 11 dead, including the 22-year old gunman who was a student at the school. Read more about the incident here.

Analysis: As with most U.S. school and college shooters, this shooter showed several warning signs before engaging in his attack. He indicated he had planned the attack for several years, indicated on YouTube that his favorite videos were of the Columbine High School shootings in 1999, and posted his own videos on YouTube that showed him firing weapons and making threatening remarks to the video camera. The last incident prompted local police to question him a day before his attack -- but they said they had no legal basis for detaining him, so they let him go.

Having a threat assessment team in place helps schools and colleges identify a student's troubling or worrisome behavior before harm can occur. If a team has the right training and acts quickly, they can gather more facts and figure out if the student (or faculty member or staff member) in fact poses a threat. If so, they can develop a plan to intervene and move the student away from violent plans and toward the help they need.

JOB OPENING

2008-08-21T00:08:00.004-06:00

Here is a job announcement for a threat assessment team manager at the University of Iowa. Please follow the instructions in the announcement for submitting an application or asking questions:

Program Consultant: Threat Assessment Team Manager/mental health

The University of Iowa is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Threat Assessment Team manager. This position, in partnership with the Threat Assessment Team manager/police, will be responsible for the development, implementation, and evaluation of a Threat Assessment program. This program would include consultation with units on campus concerned about potential violence, assessment of individuals who may be contemplating aggressive behavior, and training faculty, staff and students in diffusing difficult situations and utilizing the Threat Assessment program. A license in mental health counseling or related field is required. A criminal background check will be completed prior to hire. To view additional qualifications and to apply for this position, visit the Jobs @ UIOWA website at: https://jobs.uiowa.edu/ and reference requisition # 55927 and complete the online application. The position closes on Wednesday September 24^th.

The University of Iowa prohibits discrimination in employment and in its educational programs and activities on the bases of race, national origin, color, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or associational preference. We encourage minorities and women to apply.

In the News - Columbus Dispatch

2008-07-07T06:53:00.000-06:00

From the Columbus Dispatch:

Randazzo, now president of Threat Assessment Resources International in Reno, Nev., said: "There's no checklist. But if there's a red flag, it's time to ask questions. There are behaviors that should make us sit up and take notice."

Follow this link to view the whole story.

In the News - CBS Early Show

2008-06-06T07:36:00.005-06:00

From the CBS Early Show:

"In a nutshell (bystander syndrome) is when people witness an emergency, when they witness an accident or a crime, the more people that witness, the less likely any one of them is going to do something to help," Dr. Marisa Randazzo, former U.S. Secret Service Chief Psychologist told CBS' The Early Show.

"It's counter intuitive, but what we know is that there are three steps that any bystander, any witness goes through when they see something happening and they've got to go through these three steps before they do anything," Randazzo said.

"They have to notice it's an emergency," Randazzo said. "What happens is when something like this happens people start to look around at others and see what their reaction is, and if the other people aren't immediately reacting with alarm, pulling out their cell phones, calling the police, maybe calling for help, yelling, it's easy for us to misinterpret and say, no one else looks so alarmed so maybe it is not what I think it is.

"They have to feel like they have the skills and the competence to do something. If there was a nurse or an EMT, they would have gone in because they're trained to do that. Everyone else assumes 'I don't have the training to do that,'" Randazzo said.

Follow this link to view the whole story.

TARI Particpates in College Security Summit

2008-04-15T06:58:00.003-06:00

From the Tulsa World:

...Marisa Randazzo, president of Threat Assessment Resources International, encouraged colleges instead to gather facts about particular students and draw objective conclusions from those facts, rather than from how other students have behaved.

Follow this link to read the whole story.

From the Associated Press

"They think of law enforcement as reactive and protective, but law enforcement is a key partner in prevention, in identifying whether it's students or even faculty or staff who might show some concerning behaviors early on, partnering with other parts of the campus to see what information is out there, and then working on an intervention plan to actually stop harm before it can occur," [Randazzo] said.

Follow this link to read the whole story.

TARI joins Jim Brady, Violence Experts, Parents of School Shooting Victims at National Symposium

2008-04-03T06:23:00.003-06:00

From PR Newswire:

From shopping malls and high school hallways to our neighborhood streets, handgun violence is affecting families across the country more than ever before. Duquesne University will examine the impact of handgun violence at The National Symposium on Handgun Violence... [Speakers include] Marisa Randazzo, president and founder of Threat Assessment Resources International, LLC, which provides training, consultation and research services to assess threats and prevent violence."

Read the full release here.

In the News - Fox Business

2008-02-13T19:50:00.003-07:00

Threat Assessment Resources International announces the release of the Understanding School Shootings eLearning course:

An eLearning course to help prevent the tragedy of campus violence is now available from leading school violence expert Dr. Marisa Randazzo. "More than 240 school-associated violent deaths have occurred at educational institutions since the attack at Columbine," says Dr. Randazzo, "but research has shown that some school shootings can be prevented. The key is to make sure faculty, staff, law enforcement and parents know what to look for and what to do if they see concerning behavior."

Read the full release on FoxBusiness.com.

Online Training Now Available

2007-11-10T14:55:00.001-07:00

Understanding how these attacks have been carried out, and what behaviors school shooters typically show in advance of their attacks, is a vital first step toward prevention.

Threat Assessment Resources International in cooperation with Blue Water Partners Global has developed the Understanding School Shootings eLearning course. The course is for anyone interested in "best practices" and perspectives around these incidents and in trying to prevent school shootings. The course is designed to give you better insight into the school shootings that have occurred in the United States over the past 30 years.

Through this course, you will learn what those behaviors are and what schools, campuses, communities, and individuals can do if they observe similar behavior in a student they know.

Follow this link to learn more about our online training.

In The News - Hartford Courant

2007-11-08T05:54:00.000-07:00

From the Hartford Courant on November 8, 2007:

In most cases, according to an expert who studied 37 of those incidents, the shooters weren't sociopaths getting their violent kicks. Most were young people struggling with intense emotional pain connected to their experiences at school.

"They don't think there's any other option available to them," said Marisa Randazzo... who spoke Wednesday at Central Connecticut State University.

Read the whole story here.

Preview TARI's Online Training Course

2007-11-05T15:02:00.000-07:00

Threat Assessment Resources International has teamed up with Blue Water Partners Group to provide an online course on understanding school shootings. Brief excerpts of the training are now available online.

In the News - Cleveland Daily Banner

2007-07-19T08:42:00.000-06:00

From the Cleveland (TN) Daily Banner on July 12, 2007:

Threat assessment expert and consultant Dr. Marissa Randazzo, president and founder of Threat Assessment Resources International based in Sparks, Nev., told representatives from Polk, McMinn, Bradley and Cleveland City Schools and school resource officers that caring partnerships are vital to prevent a potential crisis in school.

Read the whole article here

In the News - Chattanooga Free Press

2007-07-13T07:07:00.000-06:00

From the Chattanooga Free Press on Thursday, July 12, 2007:

A national expert on assessing threats of school violence told a workshop of educators and law enforcement officers Wednesday to rely on information from relationships formed with students and the community instead of profiles.

In almost every school shooting, Dr. Marisa Randazzo said, someone knew in advance about the attack.

"But in virtually every case these were peers, students, friends, relatives. Rarely do adults know the attacks are going to be carried out," she said.

Read the whole article and listen to audio here.

TARI Joins Risk Solutions International in Serving Educational Clients

2007-05-04T17:38:00.000-06:00

Threat Assessment Resources International and Risk Solutions International LLC have joined forces to provide K-12 educators direct access to expertise in targeted violence. TARI's Dr. Marisa R. Randazzo will serve as a member of RSI's Expert Advisory Panel and, together with RSI, will provide school, college and university personnel specialized training in on how to assess threats and prevent violence in educational institutions.

Read more about this new partnership.

TARI joins Report-it.com on Campus Safety Project

2007-04-27T06:30:00.000-06:00

Threat Assessment Resources International and Report-it.com and have teamed together to provide threat assessment training and consulting with a bundled anonymous hotline for colleges and universities. The threat assessment training helps colleges, universities, and K-12 schools learn how to identify and assess threats and other concerning information, enabling them to determine the "next steps" in addressing a situation. With the Report-it hotline, the entire campus community, students, faculty and staff can immediately and directly alert/inform the proper school officials of concerns, risks and liabilities.

Read more about this new partnership.

FAO Schwartz Hosts Child Safety Classes with TARI

2007-04-22T18:53:00.000-06:00

Today’s children face a host of risks, whether outside the home, at school or online. Dr. Marisa Randazzo, a national expert on threat assessment and targeted violence, will teach three classes at FAO Schwarz in New York City for parents and caregivers on tools and techniques to enhance child safely and prevent harm.

The classes will cover general child safety training for parents, nannies and other caregivers on the risks children face in today’s world and strategies to reduce these risks.

All classes are held at the FAO Schwarz store in New York (58th Street and Fifth Avenue) April 24-26, 2007. Please visit the the FAO website for registration information.

Threat Assessment Resources International Unveils New Website

2007-04-22T16:27:00.000-06:00

Welcome to our new website!

In addition to information on our services for educators, business and law enforcement, you'll find easy-to-download information on threat assessment and targeted violence.

Please take a look around the site for more information on our services.

In the News - Associated Press

2007-04-21T18:32:00.000-06:00

From the Associated Press on Saturday, April 21, 2007:

There have been times in recent history when shooting sprees seem to occur in clusters. It’s a copycat or contagion effect, experts said.

“After there’s one, we see a couple more,” said Marisa Randazzo, the former chief psychology researcher for the U.S. Secret Service and co-author of a major federal study examining the common threads of 37 school shootings.

Read the whole article here.

In the News - Associated Press

2007-04-20T18:51:00.000-06:00

From the Associated Press on Friday, April 20, 2007:

A 2002 federal study on common characteristics of school shooters found that 71 percent of them "felt bullied, persecuted or injured by others prior to the attack." The report said that, "in some of these cases, the experience of being bullied seemed to have a significant impact on the attacker and appeared to have been a factor in his decision to mount an attack at the school. In one case, most of the attacker's schoolmates described the attacker as the kid everyone teased."

Mr. Cho "would almost be a poster child for the pattern that we saw," said study co-author Marisa Randazzo, the former chief research psychologist at the U.S. Secret Service. Her study was conducted jointly with the Education Department.

Read the whole story here.

In the News - USA Today

2007-04-19T19:01:00.000-06:00

From USA Today on April 19, 2007:

Killers seldom signal their murderous intentions with any one obvious warning, said Marisa Randazzo, a co-author of a 2002 federal study of school shootings.

"The challenge for schools and universities is, how do we put all those pieces into one place?" Randazzo said.

Read the whole story here.

In the News - U.S. News and World Report

2007-04-17T18:43:00.000-06:00

From U.S. News & World Report on April 17, 2007:

"This is not something new, but the intensity and frequency of the attacks have increased since the events at Columbine," says Dr. Marisa Randazzo...

"There is usually a trigger event that sets the person off on their attacks," says Randazzo. "Nearly everyone we studied is notable for their isolation. They were bullied, they were stressed, or they had recently broken up with a girlfriend. Most importantly, they didn't talk to anyone about their problems."

Read the whole story here.

In the News - CBS News

2007-04-17T18:38:00.000-06:00

From CBS News on April 17, 2007:

After the Columbine massacre eight years ago, Marisa Randazzo, then a research psychologist with the Secret Service, joined in a groundbreaking investigation into the cause of the rising number of school shootings in the United States.

"There’s usually some precipitating event," she tells correspondent Maureen Maher. "It might be a loss of status, like a public humiliation that comes from bullying. But the important thing for the shooter, it feels like a major loss. Something they can’t overcome."

Read the whole story here.