UB to host 10th annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar March 15

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo will host the 10th annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar for law enforcement and schools on Friday, March 15, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Center for the Arts on the UB North Campus.  The event is free, but registration is required.

This year’s seminar – Understanding Human Aggression and Violence, and Making our Schools Safe – will be led by retired U.S. Army Lt. Col. Dave Grossman, director of the Warrior Science Group.

An internationally recognized scholar, author, soldier and speaker, Grossman is one of the world's foremost experts in the field of human aggression and the roots of violence and violent crime.

A member of the American Board for Certification in Homeland Security and the American College of Forensic Examiners Institute, he has trained educators and law enforcement professionals in the field of school safety, making presentations at the state and regional level in all 50 states and more than a dozen foreign nations.

Grossman is a former West Point psychology professor, professor of military science and an army ranger who has combined his experiences to become the founder of a new field of scientific endeavor, which has been termed “killology.”

“Each year, through unfortunate tragedies, we come to better understand the need to make our schools and our children safer,” said Dennis Black UB vice president for university life and services.  “As a result, each year we seek to better understand the risks to control school violence. The Safe Schools Seminar provides a forum for educators and law enforcement personnel to come together and assist each other in their important efforts to serve and protect our children and our communities.”

The United States Secret Service, Buffalo Field Office, along with the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, and the University at Buffalo, are founding program sponsors of the Annual Safe Schools Seminar, which is free and open to all who deal with school safety issues, including grade school, middle school, high school and district faculty, staff (administrators, counselors, psychologists, school resource officers, etc.) and school board members; college/university administrators, police officers and other law enforcement officials; and school transportation professionals.

"As recent events in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., show, law enforcement and the public need to continue to be ever vigilant when it comes to protecting our children and the community in general, said William J. Hochul Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York. “We must recognize and develop measures that can be undertaken to possibly prevent such violence in the first place.  This forum will provide participants with exactly this type of proactive information.”

In addition to the Safe Schools Seminar founding program sponsors, this year’s event sponsors include the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a member since 2007.  The exclusive seminar sponsor is Utica National Insurance Group, which has provided vital support for the seminar since 2009.  Hodgson Russ LLP, the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation and The Western New York Foundation join this year’s event as community partner sponsors.

“This year's program is as timely as ever, given the recent tragic school shooting in Newtown, Conn.,” said Tracy A. Gast, special agent in charge, U.S. Secret Service, Buffalo Field Office.  “Lt. Col. Grossman’s insight into the Newtown shooting, as well as recent shootings in Bakersfield, Aurora and other places, will prove invaluable to law enforcement and educational personnel looking for guidance in dealing with school safety.”

For more information about the seminar and speakers, and to register, visit https://www.ubevents.org/event/safeschools2013.