WORKLACE VIOLENCE NEWS (continued) Report of the Defense Board Task Force on Predicting Violent Behavior
Summary of the report issued in August 2012 conveying the findings and recommendations of the Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force (TF) on Predicting Violent Behavior. This study was chartered and co- sponsored by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics (USD(AT&L)) and the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy (USD(P)).
The overall conclusions of the Task Force are the following:
Mass-casualty attacks are high consequence, but very low-incidence. However, threats of targeted violence are relatively numerous.
There is no silver bullet to stop ALL targeted violence. There is no effective formula for predicting violent behavior with any degree of accuracy. PREVENTION should be the goal rather than PREDICTION. Good options exist in the near-term for mitigating targeted violence by intervening in the progression from violent ideation to violent behavior and by creating contexts that minimize alienation or isolation.
In the near-term, professional threat management as practiced by law enforcement-led Threat Management Units (TMUs) offer effective means to help prevent targeted violence.
TMUs have been widely deployed, with operational success in the private sector, academia, and elsewhere in government – but not across the Department of Defense (with the exception of the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS)).
The Department of Defense (DoD) must implement threat management standards of practice, with an emphasis on low footprint, high impact TMUs that largely utilize existing resources.
Improved information sharing – considering appropriate accommodation for privacy and free religious practice – is a vital enabler of effective threat management.
Science and Technology (S&T) shows some promise as an aid to threat management. Near-term S&T efforts should focus on conducting rigorous case studies and instituting resilience training.
These case studies should include clinical medical, psychological and behavioral indicators as research better defines their relevance and precision.
Over the long-term, screening technology related to biomarkers has potential. Access the full report
Target Hardening By Kerry Suave
Target Hardening is the second point on the Personal Safety Triangle
(Situational Awareness, Target Hardening, and Emergency Response & Mitigation). In the last issue we examined Situational Awareness and how this invaluable tool can be used to reduce instances of workplace violence. This time I‘d like to examine how Target Hardening can be utilized to complement Situational Awareness and increase employee safety. Target Hardening is a term that I‘ve used in law enforcement for over twenty years and refers to the strengthening of infrastructure, information security, or personal security in order to protect the subject or reduce their exposure to attack. The goal of Target Hardening is to ensure that strategic or tactical assets are secured against intrusion or assault.
When it comes to workplace violence prevention and Personal Safety, Target Hardening simply means that you are putting procedures and training into place that makes you less viable as a potential target. The object is not to surround the workplace with an impenetrable bunker, simply to make it, and you less desirable as a target. It is not realistic, or possible to prevent all crime and violence from occurring. It would be so onerous on your workplace and lifestyle that you couldn‘t maintain it for long without losing productivity and the ability to enjoy your workplace culture. Having said this, the better your Target Hardening efforts are, the less likely you will ever come to the attention of the criminals and predators of the world.
Often we are selected for victimization due to our value as a potential target (carrying large sums of cash, jewellery, impaired by drugs and alcohol, lack of Situational Awareness etc.). Some of these factors we can control, while others are based on the perpetrators internal dialogue and beyond our sphere of influence to change (appearance, age, sex, fantasy). In order to help you and your workplace
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