Ivy Plus Associates

Can Educators and Police Predict the Next School Shooter?

/ Active Shooter Incident, Threat Assessment / By

This is an interesting article regarding the ability to stop school shootings. The information comes from the first ever National Summit on K-12 School Safety and Security hosted by the DHS – Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

According to the US Secret Service, a demographic profile of school shooters doesn’t exist but soon-to-be gunmen exhibit signs that can be identified prior to attacks such as a fixation on violence or a history of depression.

Many schools are creating Threat Assessment Teams which include school administrators, mental health officials, and police officers but these teams are causing concern for civil rights groups that believe this approach could misidentify struggling students as future gunmen and unnecessarily push them into the juvenile justice system.

In a letter to the Education Department last year, a coalition of 50 student civil rights groups warned that the adoption of threat assessment in schools is β€œπ‘™π‘–π‘˜π‘’π‘™π‘¦ π‘π‘’π‘ β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘” π‘šπ‘Žπ‘›π‘¦ π‘β„Žπ‘–π‘™π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘› π‘œπ‘“ π‘π‘œπ‘™π‘œπ‘Ÿ π‘Žπ‘›π‘‘ π‘β„Žπ‘–π‘™π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘’π‘› π‘€π‘–π‘‘β„Ž π‘‘π‘–π‘ π‘Žπ‘π‘–π‘™π‘–π‘‘π‘–π‘’π‘  π‘œπ‘’π‘‘ π‘œπ‘“ π‘ π‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘œπ‘™, π‘–π‘›π‘‘π‘œ π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘ π‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘œπ‘™-π‘‘π‘œ-π‘π‘Ÿπ‘–π‘ π‘œπ‘› 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒.”

The Assistant Chief of the Secret Service Threat Assessment Center said that β€œπ‘†π‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘œπ‘™π‘  𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 π‘‘π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘–π‘›π‘–π‘›π‘” π‘›π‘œπ‘‘ π‘œπ‘›π‘™π‘¦ π‘œπ‘› π‘‘β„Žπ‘’ π‘π‘’β„Žπ‘Žπ‘£π‘–π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘™ π‘‘β„Žπ‘Ÿπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘ π‘Žπ‘ π‘ π‘’π‘ π‘ π‘šπ‘’π‘›π‘‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘π‘’π‘ π‘  𝑏𝑒𝑠𝑑 π‘π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘π‘‘π‘–π‘π‘’π‘  𝑏𝑒𝑑 π‘Žπ‘™π‘ π‘œ π‘œπ‘› π‘‘β„Žπ‘–π‘›π‘”π‘  π‘™π‘–π‘˜π‘’ π‘–π‘šπ‘π‘™π‘–π‘π‘–π‘‘ π‘π‘–π‘Žπ‘ π‘’π‘  π‘€β„Žπ‘–π‘β„Ž β„Žπ‘Žπ‘£π‘’ β„Žπ‘–π‘ π‘‘π‘œπ‘Ÿπ‘–π‘π‘Žπ‘™π‘™π‘¦ π‘π‘’π‘Ÿπ‘šπ‘’π‘Žπ‘‘π‘’π‘‘ π‘Ž π‘£π‘Žπ‘Ÿπ‘–π‘’π‘‘π‘¦ π‘œπ‘“ π‘ π‘β„Žπ‘œπ‘œπ‘™-π‘π‘Žπ‘ π‘’π‘‘ π‘π‘Ÿπ‘œπ‘”π‘Ÿπ‘Žπ‘šπ‘ .”

Ivy Plus Associates believes in a balanced approach to the Threat Assessment Process and has been offering a course to Law Enforcement, Public Safety Departments, and School Officials on understanding unconscious bias. The course will provide a broad-level understanding of unconscious bias, including its evolutionary purpose and the interpersonal problems it can cause. Mastering this information will help Police Officers,Β  Security Professionals, and School Staff identify their own personal biases and how they may impact their official duties.

Contact us for more information.

Can Educators and Police Predict the Next School Shooter?