Secret Service to present school threat assessment program

On Monday, March 10, the U.S. Secret Service Buffalo Field Office will host a seminar on the Safe School initiative. The study, conducted by the Secret Service and the Department of Education, examined school shootings and other school-based attacks.

The event is co-sponsored by the University at Buffalo, the Homeland Security Management Institute, the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation, the WNY Educational Services Council, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York, the WNY Chiefs of Police, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the U.S. Department of Education.

First-responders from the Virginia State Police involved with the Virginia Tech shootings will brief participants during the Buffalo seminar. The session is designed to teach participants how to share information that may help schools and communities better understand school-based attacks and assist them in developing strategies that result in earlier identification, assessment and intervention of students who may pose a risk of targeted violence.

The seminar will be held from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, March 10 at the Center for the Arts on UB's North Campus and is open to all education professionals, including grade school, middle school, high school, and college/ university administrators, school counselors, school psychologists, school resource officers, police officers and other law enforcement officials.

Attendance is free, but registration is required. For information and to register, visit the Web site www. ubevents. org/ event/ safe08.

"For more than 100 years, a key mission of the Secret Service has been the prevention of violence," said Michael Bryant, special agent in charge of the Secret Service's Buffalo Field Office. "Based on the findings from the Safe School Initiative, we believe that some school attacks may be preventable. Our goal is to provide schools and communities with concrete information that may help them prevent future attacks."

The Safe School Initiative examined 37 incidents involving school attacks that had occurred between 1974 and 2000 and found that school attacks are rarely impulsive. Rather, they are typically thought out and planned in advance. Most attackers told others what they were planning to do beforehand.

Based on the study's findings, the Secret Service and U.S. Department of Education have developed a guide for schools and regularly train school and law enforcement professionals on threat assessment in schools - how to identify, assess and manage individuals who might pose a risk of school violence.

To access the guide and the final report, visit www.secretservice. gov/ntac.shtml.