College & University Threat Assessment Training - February 1 and 8

In the past few weeks we've received many questions about threat assessment training for higher education institutions.  There are two training sessions coming up in early February that are open to the public: 

February 1 in San Diego CA ($300 per person).  This training is part of a multi-day conference on campus and workplace violence prevention, featuring some of the top experts in the field of threat assessment and threat management.  Please click here for more information and registration details.

February 8 in Tallahassee FL (FREE).  This training is the LAST of ten regional campus threat assessment seminars that have been sponsored by the US Department of Justice COPS Office, and coordinated by Margolis Healy & Associates throughout the US in 2009, 2010, and 2011.  Please click here for more information or to register.  This seminar is open only to personnel at higher education institutions.

If you can't make it to one of these workshops, more information on threat assessment training is available here.

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Guidelines for Posting a Comment on Current Issues in Threat Assessment & Threat Management

We welcome all thoughts and comments that are related to threat assessment, threat management, violence prevention, and personal safety - as well as debate sparked by incidents of targeted violence or other current events, as long as the commentary is related in some manner to threat assessment, violence prevention, or personal safety.  If you have a comment or reaction to one of our posts, a question you'd like to pose, or a topic that you suggest we cover, we encourage you to post a comment.

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In the spirit of Peter Romary's post, we encourage everyone who posts and comments here to be civil and respectful of all the opinions voiced. This is an important area of practice, and one that is under continual development and improvement. I encourage all of us to strive to raise the bar in the field of threat assessment and violence prevention, through our behavior as well as our work.

The Tucson Blame Game: Time To Dial Back The Rhetoric

Published in "The True Verdict" Blog, Peter Romary, a Senior Consultant for Sigma Threat Management, calls for more concern and support for victims and less speculative, inflammatory rhetoric in the wake of the recent shootings. Visit the blog here.

MORE Free Threat Assessment Training

In January and February we will be teaching two FREE, day-long campus threat assessment seminars.  These seminars are the last two that will be provided free of charge to higher education personnel through a generous grant from the U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office.  The last two seminars will be held in Phoenix, AZ (on January 11) and in Tallahassee, FL (on February 8).

If you haven't had a chance to attend one of these sessions, and you work for a college or university, you can click here to register or for more information. In the seminars, we:

• Provide an overview of campus threat assessment & management
• Compare threat assessment with profiling and other assessment approaches
• Explain the steps in the threat assessment process, key investigative questions, and evaluation decisions
• Provide coaching on developing case management strategies; and,
• Discuss strategies for creating and operating an effective a campus threat assessment team.

Since 2009, the COPS Office has made this training available to higher education personnel at cities around the U.S., including Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Houston, San Diego, Seattle, Sioux Falls, and Washington DC.  We are honored to have been part of the team involved in creating the curriculum for this training and in providing the training to participants around the country.  Come join us for one of these last seminars!