NCJ Number
226838
Journal
Campus Law Enforcement Journal Volume: 39 Issue: 2 Dated: March/April 2009 Pages: 27,29-33,35,37
Date Published
April 2009
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article outlines the features of “second-generation” strategies for behavioral intervention to prevent premeditated mass shootings on college campuses, i.e., strategies that have emerged since the Virginia Tech shootings.
Abstract
The second-generation best practices for behavioral intervention are based largely on John Byrnes profile of the “cognitive aggressor,“ who engages in premeditated planning of a dramatic aggressive act and methodically executes it. According to Byrnes, the cognitive aggressor experiences a disconnection from the survival extinct in orchestrating a fateful destiny of mass deaths that ends with his own death, usually self-inflicted. The second-generation model for preventing such tragic events is the creation and ongoing operation of a Behavioral Intervention Team (BIT), which promotes the reporting of pre-event behaviors, thoughts, and attitudes of cognitive aggressors, as observed by various individuals who witness them. In promoting and receiving such reporting, the BIT develops a plan of appropriate, caring, and effective intervention. BIT members must be well-trained in the recognition of cognitive aggressors and their behavioral warning signs, as well as techniques of lawful and effective preventive intervention. Second-generation BIT best practices include the use of formalized protocols of explicit engagement techniques and strategies, the provision of support and resources for at-risk students, the use of mandated psychological assessment, the securing of authority to invoke involuntary medical/psychological intervention, and the use of mechanisms to educate the community on what to report and how. BITs must be equipped with advanced data-collection instruments and information systems that allow the BIT to monitor a student’s behavioral patterns over time. The BIT must also interact with agencies and organizations involved in managing campus and community security.