Behavioral Threat Assessment— Applicable Today More Than Ever

By: Dave Benson, CTM—Senior Advisor, Global Operations and Threat Mitigation 

The concept of Threat Assessment and Management has increasingly become an essential part of a comprehensive workplace violence prevention and intervention program globally.  

What is Threat Assessment? 

Threat Assessment is a process, which is the practice of determining the credibility and seriousness of a potential threat, as well as the probability that the threat will become a reality.  

It's largely information driven, which is why it's a key component of a violence prevention program. If people see something, they need to say something.  They report it within the organization, then the organization passes the information to a Threat Assessment or Threat Management Team (TMT), so they can determine the credibility of the threat and determine what appropriate intervention strategies might be. 

To that end, a Threat Management Team should be a multidisciplinary group, which convenes on a recurring basis for the purpose of assessing potential threats, both internal and external.  As part of this, the TMT develops and implements intervention strategies to either avoid (which is the goal), mitigate, or resolve potentially violent incidents in an organization.  

OSHA, the American National Standard on Workplace Violence Prevention from 2011, published by ASIS International, as well as the recently re-published 2020 version state that organizations should have Threat Management Teams and that the team should include individuals from Human Resources, Security, and Legal at a minimum.  Further, the team should include individuals who possess requisite experience, training, judgment, authority and temperament, and the credibility within the organization to carry out these duties.  

This is usually the result of specific Threat Assessment and Threat management training, which should occur initially and be expounded upon periodically.  Periodic training for a team is critical because threats continue to evolve over time.  This is particularly true since the beginning of the Coronavirus pandemic.   

One of the things noticed during the pandemic regarding threats is they tend to correspond with what's happening in our world.  More people are working from home than ever before and that has added strain on the potential for domestic and intimate partner violence.  As you might expect, there’s been a lack of reporting and victims being fearful that their alleged abuser is living with them, and present on a more regular basis—complements of being locked down initially.  Thus, there’s been a spike in those kinds of behaviors.  In addition, acts of violence are even being portrayed in virtual meetings.  Organizations need to be aware that the violence hasn't changed, but the methodology and intervention strategies have to evolve with the current environment.  Providing specific work from home safety and security policies, as well as protocols for virtual meetings is essential.  

Notably, threatening behavior is almost always a direct result of two things: fear and distress.  If individuals are fearful, and they become in a distressed state, they are much more likely to behave in a way that's out of character for them.  And for the small but significant group that might have trouble dealing with challenges and coping with life's realities, sometimes they will resort to or contemplate violence—hence the concept of the pathway to intentional violence.   

When does a concern turn into a threat? 

Not all concerns become threats, likewise, not all threats become a viable threat.  The sharing of information within a violence prevention program is crucial.  This facilitates being able to evaluate whether there’s been a change in someone’s behavior over time and if it’s beginning to manifest itself in an inappropriate and uncomfortable way.  It’s also important for assessing the likelihood that the individual will translate their concerns or grievances from thoughts to actual violent behavior.    

Threats haven't gone away, but this season illustrates the need to become more nimble and agile regarding what to look for.  The pandemic has shown that Behavioral threat assessment and a comprehensive violence prevention program are as important now as ever.