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Public safety event works to prepare community for school violence

School Violence
The event was jointly hosted by the Wisconsin Department of Justice Office of School Safety, the U.S. Secret Service, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and the Green Bay Police Department. File photo

By Press Times staff

GREEN BAY – On March 16, Green Bay was the site of training to assist schools in deterring, preventing, mitigating and responding to school violence.

The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of School Safety (OSS) presented best practice recommendations for “Best Practice Recommendations for Multidisciplinary Behavioral and Threat Assessment Management (BTAM) Teams” to local law enforcement, public safety professionals, fire and EMS, school personnel and other public services workers in the Green Bay area.

The afternoon presentation was part of an all-day event, which also included a morning session on “Threat Assessment: A Behavior-Based Approach to Preventing Targeted Violence,” jointly hosted by the DOJ and the U.S. Secret Service, Northeast Wisconsin Technical College and the Green Bay Police Department.

“The presentation is part of an all-day event that focuses on threat assessment and a behavior-based approach to preventing targeted violence,” a DOJ release stated.

“Acts of targeted violence continue to impact the safety and security of our communities. These acts of targeted violence are not impulsive or irrational; rather the perpetrators of these incidents decide to commit violence and often undertake clear processes of planning and preparing in which threats or potentially concerning behaviors can be identified.”

“OSS regularly supports Wisconsin schools in preparedness, which includes creating Behavioral and Threat Assessment Management teams,” said Wisconsin Attorney General Josh Kaul. “While OSS primarily focuses on schools, they are able to share their knowledge and best practices with other community members as well.”

The presentation focused on the opportunity for schools to be proactive, institute processes and appropriate responses.

OSS also offers a free eLearning module titled “Foundations of Targeted Violence Prevention” open to all community members.

It is available at www.doj.state.wi.us/office-school-safety/training-opportunities.

The course was created in partnership by OSS, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Intelligence and Analysis, National Threat Evaluation and Reporting Office to educate the public on “threatening or potentially concerning behaviors and where to report them, providing an opportunity for intervention to prevent targeted violence from occurring.”

“OSS was initially supported by more than $2 million in federal grant funding from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance. OSS is currently supported by more than $1.8 million in American Rescue Plan Act funding which will end in December of 2023. Wisconsin DOJ has requested the legislature permanently fund OSS in the next biennial budget,” the release added.

A similar event will be held in Waukesha in May.

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