Experts on active shooters and school safety available for media

BUFFALO, N.Y. – An FBI expert on active shooters in schools and a university professor with extensive knowledge of Virginia’s successful school model to recognize and stop violent individuals will highlight Wednesday’s Safe Schools seminar at the University at Buffalo’s North Campus.

The two speakers will hold a news briefing to discuss the latest research and findings on school violence.

When and Where:  Noon on Wednesday, March 16, at the Center for the Arts on UB’s North Campus.

What: The news briefing will be held in between sessions at UB’s 13th annual Safe Schools Seminar. This year’s seminar topic: “Preventing and Responding to Violent Threats: Tools for Schools and Law Enforcement.”

Who: The national experts are at UB to speak to more than 900 school educators and counselors on preventing school violence, including active shooters who invade classrooms.

Speaking at the news conference are Katherine W. Schweit, section chief in the violence prevention section in the FBI’s Office of Partner Engagement. Schweit will discuss the findings of the FBI’s “Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the United States Between 2000 and 2013,” which studies active shooter events in educational settings, as well as an analysis of victims and casualties from active shooter events and strategies to mitigate future active shooter events.

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

Joining them is Amanda B. Nickerson, director of UB’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention.

About the Safe Schools Seminar: The seminar includes 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.

About 1,000 people have registered for the event, including educators, law enforcement and other interest groups including those in transportation, social service agencies and those working in youth services. This is the largest safe schools seminar held at UB, and officials are calling it one of the largest conferences held at the university in recent years.

Why: “Schools must be safe places for learning, for students, faculty and staff," says Dennis Black, vice president for university life and services at UB. “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.”

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.

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