Three Keys to Running an Effective Behavioral Threat Assessment & Management Program

By: Dave Benson, MS, CTM, Senior Advisor, Global Operations & Threat Mitigation

Within the collective process of Workplace Violence Prevention and Intervention (WVPI), the employment of a robust Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) program cannot be stressed enough.  BTAM is continuing to be adopted in many arenas throughout society: schools, businesses, communities, government agencies, non-profits, faith-based organizations, and more.  Its utility is becoming increasingly recognized.  After acts of mass shootings, and other extreme violence events, it’s common for warning signs to be uncovered that identified an individual was progressing towards their crime.  A unique factor about BTAM is that it seeks to identify whether someone may be progressing towards intentional/targeted violence before an incident occurs.  Organizations are commonly challenged with circumstances where one’s behavior is inappropriate or concerning, but it doesn’t rise to the level that allows law enforcement to intervene.  This is the space that those responsible for BTAM commonly operate.  Here’s three key concepts that are centric to implementing a BTAM program:

1.     Employ Multidisciplinary Representation

 BTAM necessitates multidisciplinary involvement of various functional stakeholders within an organization.  Having multidisciplinary involvement might be one of the most important factors for a BTAM program[i].  A team should include those functions that holistically represent the overall organization.  Commonly, the core is Human Resources, Security, and Legal.  Other members can include Communications, Facilities, Risk Management, Health and Safety, Operations, and a host of other functions.  Multidisciplinary involvement creates broader perspective, expertise, and input when cases arise.  The ability for everyone on the team to provide input based on their expertise facilitates several benefits, not the least of which being how to best address the situation.

2.     Utilize a Structured Professional Judgment Process

One of the key challenges a team responsible for BTAM faces is the complex task of assessing the risk for potential violence.  However, there are methodologies available that effectively support the endeavor.  A Best Practice is to employ a Structured Professional Judgement (SPJ) Approach to the Threat Management process.  An SPJ is an analytical decision-making process based on evidence-based research, professional training, experience, and discretion of a multidisciplinary team, etc.  There are many kinds of SPJ’s, but generally, they all follow a process of questions and guidelines to help assessors determine the level of concern and likelihood for potential violence.  In contrast to traditional risk management where statistics and actuarial tables are used to inform decisions, SPJ is a qualitative approach using the totality of data available.  Human behavior is dynamic, and often quantifiable.  Therefore, a SPJ approach allows room for discretion and is a useful BTAM tool.

3.     Follow a Management and Monitoring Plan

When an assessment is made regarding a case, the issue is far from concluded.  Cases are rarely, if ever, completely resolved.  They require regimented management (monitoring) over time.  An assessment is only as useful as the information in-hand at any given time.  As new information becomes available, assessments can/should be updated, and management (Intervention)adjusted accordingly.  The key, however, is that cases are routinely reviewed over the course of weeks, months, years, etc. In addition, a program must have a quality record-keeping process that is secure.  Organizations have turnover, memory of details can fade, etc., so having a secure means to maintain files allows a team to recall case information over time and better track progress.

Conclusion

BTAM is considerably useful and is central to a comprehensive WVPI Program.  A multidisciplinary team following an SPJ and having a process to manage/monitor cases over time are among notable best practices for comprehensive BTAM.

If this article was helpful, you may also find value in our free Threat Management Team Resource Guide.

[i] Making Prevention a Reality, FBI, 2017