SPEAKERS
A 30-year veteran of law enforcement, Dr. Frank Straub currently serves as the Director of the Center for Mass Violence Response Studies at the Police Foundation, where he works on Critical Incident Reviews including the San Bernardino terrorist attack–and the resulting report Bringing Calm to Chaos–and the Orlando Pulse shooting (in progress). Dr. Straub last served as the Chief of the Spokane, Washington, Police Department, where he received national recognition for the major reforms, community policing programs he implemented and significant crime reductions achieved during his tenure.
He holds a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice, from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center, an M.A. in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice, and a B.A. in Psychology from St. John’s University. He co-authored a book on performance-based police management and published several articles regarding community policing, police reform, and jail management.
SESSIONS
Thu, Oct 27, 2022 Grand Ballroom
The Averted Paw Paw High School Attack: How Do We Assess and Manage Threat?
In 2018, a Michigan high school student was arrested after his mother reported that he was plotting to attack his high school using modified firearms and homemade explosives. Although the school attack was averted, three years later, the plotter committed a homicide/suicide after his release from a juvenile detention facility. This incident highlights the need for early identification, ongoing engagement, and management of adolescents and other persons of concern to promote violence desistance and rehabilitation. The case study highlights the need for collaborative multi-disciplinary threat assessments and interventions to prevent acts of targeted violence that may endure after mitigating the initial threat.In addition, participants will be provided an overview of averted school attack data from the National Policing Institute’s Center for Targeted Violence Prevention’s Averted School Violence database.
The first part of the presentation will help participants gain a holistic understanding of averted school attacks based on data from the National Policing Institute, Center for Targeted Violence Prevention’s Averted School Violence database.
The Paw Paw High School case study will help participants identify early indicators of targeted violence, explore the importance of multi-disciplinary threat assessments and interventions to prevent violence, promote desistance, and support rehabilitation.
Learning Objectives
- Gain a holistic understanding of the averted school violence landscape.
- Explore early indicators of targeted school violence.
- Explore the importance of multi-disciplinary threat assessment teams in determining threat. The importance of ongoing threat assessments.
- Explore the management of high-risk/high-need adolescents in community contexts.
Participant Outcomes
- Participants will have an increased understanding of targeted school violence and the persons who plan school attacks.
- Participants will have an increased understanding of school threat assessment and the importance of multi-disciplinary teams.
- Participants will have an increased understanding of assessing threat over time to mitigate violence, promote deterrence, and support rehabilitation.
- Participants will have an improved understanding of their role in the management of high-risk/high-need adolescents in community contexts.