Creating a sense of trust within an education setting so community members feel comfortable reporting concerning behaviors is a key component to stopping potential incidents and keeping campuses safe, according to panelists at CSBA’s Nov. 21 webinar, “Spotting the Signals: Understanding behavioral threat assessment.”
Sweetwater Union High School District Superintendent Moises Aguirre explained that having an anonymous reporting system in place is critical, as is establishing positive adult-student relationships since students are often the first to observe questionable actions at school or on social media.
The district’s Safety and Security Director John Czajkowski added that messaging around reporting should make it explicitly clear that sending a tip isn’t going to convict someone, rather it gets more eyes on a situation to provide interventions as appropriate.
What is behavioral threat assessment?
It is “best described as the art and science of using behavioral indicators to identify early signs of targeted violence and then to prevent that violence from happening,” said Lauritz Austensen, a special agent with Homeland Security Investigations.
The proactive, evidence-based model is designed to consider context as well as all available data points, including documented and anecdotal information on a person to form a complete and accurate picture of who they are.
“Some people who make threats actually do pose a threat, but a lot of people who pose a threat never make threats, in fact the majority of them don’t,” Austensen said. “Most people who actually intend on acting violent don’t actually directly articulate their intent, but they do show it through their behavior.”
The assessment process, which should be heavily documented, includes ongoing monitoring.
While behavioral threat assessment can be beneficial in many environments, it is especially important in K-12 schools because of the population they serve. Young people aren’t as equipped as their adult counterparts to navigate the challenges of life as their brains are still developing, and they may not have coping skills yet.
Austensen added that threats and acts of targeted violence usually are born of a combination of unmet needs, a lack of organic resilience and disconnection from those who could provide support. These factors result in grievance, which if left unaddressed can snowball into a safety issue but is generally solvable early on.
Part of the process is differentiating between momentary frustrations and more worrisome patterns. Czajkowski, who contributed to CSBA’s Safe Schools Toolkit, detailed the primary categories of non-prohibited behaviors, which include communication (intentional and unintentional cues expressed verbally or nonverbally like through drawings or storytelling); alarming ideations that can result in intense expressions or a sense of moral outrage; and evidence of preparation (such as an extreme amount of time spent gaining knowledge about weapons, for example).
Those investigating cases should be mindful of any biases they may have and ensure they don’t impact findings, Czajkowski noted.
Implementing behavioral threat assessment teams
As stated by Superintendent Aguirre, teachers and school staff are among the best resources local educational agencies have available to them, as they know students and interact with them regularly.
Depending on the size and staffing levels of various schools and LEAs, Czajkowski said that a campus-level behavioral threat assessment team can consist of a principal as the point person with an assistant principal acting as a case manager with support by school psychologists, counselors and resource officers.
A district-level team, responsible for supporting schools, may have safety and security or risk management staff act as case managers with help from their peers in student support services, special education, mental health, human resources and legal.
Aguirre said that their work also includes partnering with public safety agencies for their expertise. He sees district leadership as responsible for trusting schools’ findings but doing due diligence to verify the information presented and apply any additional resources for the most holistic view possible.
Sweetwater Union HSD Board President Adrian Arancibia said that trustees should believe in the processes they have put in place to keep schools safe and that protocols are being followed. Their role also includes providing the support and/or funding leadership needs to fully recognize their endeavors. Should an incident occur, board members can help identify strong and weak spots in their strategies.
Panelists noted that situations can escalate quickly through social media and that having consistent messaging and utilizing appropriate, thoughtful communications practices to inform the community is essential. Aguirre said their district keeps response templates handy.
Resources
“If we focus all our energy on response, we miss the opportunity to prevent the problem in the first place,” Lauritz said, noting that as uncomfortable, time consuming and expensive it may be to address potential threats as they arise, it pales in comparison to the implications of a worst-case scenario.
He advised LEAs to reach out to their local Federal Bureau of Investigation field office to connect with its behavioral analysis unit as well as the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals. Fusion Centers, which are state-owned and operated centers that receive, analyze, gather and share threat-related information between government and private sector partners, and California’s State Threat Assessment System are also available to LEAs.
Czajkowski recommended that LEAs reference the U.S. Secret Service’s operational guide for preventing targeted school violence.
Additionally, LEAs can view the Safe Schools Toolkit chapter on behavioral threat assessment here.
