Threat Assessment Training
Gene Deisinger, the deputy chief of police and director of threat management services at Virginia Tech who conducted threat assessment training for the Binghamton campus in February 2013, returned to the University March 20-21, for a second round of training. More than 80 people attended the Thursday sessions, which provided a general introduction to threat assessment teams, answering the question “How and when should I use the University Student Threat Assessment Team?” and then covering a number of specifics about how to effectively use a threat assessment team. The training was conducted thanks to a partnership between Student Affairs, Human Resources, UHS and Lourdes Hospital.
Importantly, a second day of training was held solely for the University’s student threat assessment team.
“Friday we were really focused on the student threat assessment work and how to prioritize when something is a threat and how to respond,” said April Thompson, dean of students. “Gene critiqued every step of our current process, and that was incredibly helpful.
“We did case study work with Gene and learned that our assessment was very similar to his about when something poses a real threat,” she said.
The team spent a lot of time talking about prioritizing and it was a very personalized approach, Thompson added. “The team is small group that assesses student behavior and potential high risk situations, and it was good for the group to work together. Gene did a good job of cutting through policy and saying here’s what you have to do and why and this is about behavior,” she said.
Deisinger clarified the role of the Students of Concern team to provide broad support for all kinds of student situations as opposed to the Threat Assessment Team which will only be reviewing situations that rise to a certain level. Deisinger also met with Human Resources and local hospital staff while on campus.
Read complete coverage of Deisinger’s 2013 training in Inside