CINCINNATI, OH -- On Thursday, April 24, 2003, the United States Secret Service Cincinnati Field Office and the National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) will present
a seminar on the Safe School Initiative. The study, conducted by the Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education, examined school shootings and other school based
attacks.
Based on the study's findings, the agencies have developed a guide for schools and regularly train school and law enforcement professionals on threat assessment in schools
-- how to identify, assess and manage individuals who might pose a risk of school violence.
"For more than 100 years, the primary mission of the Secret Service has been the prevention of violence," Secret Service Director Ralph Basham said. "Based on the findings from the Safe School Initiative, we believe that some school attacks may be preventable. We believe the results of this effort will give schools and communities concrete information that may help them prevent future attacks."
Implemented through the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center and U.S. Department of Education's Safe and Drug Free Schools Program, the Safe School
Initiative examined 37 incidents involving 41 school attacks that had occurred between 1974 and 2000 and found that school attacks are rarely impulsive. Rather, they are
typically thought out and planned in advance. Most attackers told others what they were planning to do beforehand.
The Safe School Initiative seminar is being hosted by the U.S. Secret Service Cincinnati Field Office, in cooperation with the Northern Kentucky Police Chiefs Association, the
Northern Kentucky Cooperative for Educational Services, the Kentucky School Boards Association, the Kentucky School Board Insurance Trust and the Kentucky Center for
School Safety. Additional assistance has been provided by the Boone County Sheriff's Office. The seminar will be held at the Receptions Conference Center in Erlanger, Kentucky, and is open to all Kentucky and Ohio state school officials, law enforcement officials and juvenile justice representatives.
To access the guide and the final report, visit https://www.secretservice.gov/protection/ntac.