UB to host 13th annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar March 16

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo will host the 13th annual Safe Schools Initiative Seminar, “Preventing and Responding to Violent Threats: Tools for Schools and Law Enforcement,” from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, in the Center for the Arts on the UB North Campus.  The event is free, but registration is required.

The seminar will include a screening of the film “The Coming Storm,” a dramatization of the aftermath of a campus shooting that weaves in best practices and lessons learned from active shooter incidents that have occurred throughout the U.S. and details what FBI resources are available to local law enforcement.

The film will be followed by a presentation by Katherine W. Schweit, JD, section chief in the violence prevention section in the FBI’s Office of Partner Engagement, who will present the findings of the FBI’s “Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013,” focusing on active shooter events in educational settings, as well as an analysis of victims and casualties from active shooter events; resolution of active shooter events; and strategies to mitigate future active shooter events.

In addition, Dewey Cornell, PhD, professor of education at the University of Virginia and director of its Youth Violence Project, will review Virginia’s successful school-based threat-assessment model that uses both assessment and intervention with individuals who have engaged in threatening behavior.

FBI Special Agent Brent Isaacson will close out the seminar with an examination of the psychological factors that drive offenders into acts of targeted violence against schools, and how behaviors indicative of a possible attack can be identified and managed.

Each organization registered for the seminar will be given a complimentary DVD of the FBI-produced “The Coming Storm.”  Individual participants will receive a copy of the FBI’s “Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013.”

“Schools must be safe places for learning, for students, faculty and staff,” said Dennis Black, UB vice president for university life and services. “To make that happen, we need to bring together the best people and best ideas on prevention and response, and then we need to be committed to action.”

Program sponsors of the Annual Safe Schools Seminar include U.S. Secret Service, Buffalo Field Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York, the University at Buffalo, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The program is open to all who deal with school or building safety issues, including grade school, middle school, high school and district faculty, staff (administrators, counselors, psychologists and school resource officers) and school board members; college/university administrators, police officers and other law enforcement officials; elected officials; and school transportation professionals.

“The issue of school safety is of critical importance to all of us, and the cooperative effort of many groups – educators, local/state law enforcement and federal agencies – is required to address this problem,” said Clarence Laster, special agent in charge of the U.S. Secret Service, Buffalo Field Office.  “This year we are pleased to add the FBI as one of our partners. The resources and expertise of the FBI are a valuable addition to the effort and will enhance the ability of those groups already involved to be proactive in making our schools as safe as possible.”

This year’s exclusive seminar sponsor is the Utica National Insurance Group, which has provided vital support for the seminar since 2009.  Community partners are the New York State Police, Hodgson Russ LLP, Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation and UB’s Western New York Educational Service Council.

For more information and to register, visit https://www.ubevents.org/event/safeschools2016