Workplace Mass Shootings & Human Resource’s Ability to Change the Outcome: Part 3

What do HR professionals need to know about implementing Behavioral Threat Assessment to manage the risk of gun violence in their workplace?

?While companies tend to focus security-related investments in traditional ways, such as access control, video surveillance and guard services, I am suggesting that the security paradigm changes and expands in the context of active shooter prevention.? I am not referring to “preparedness,” where organizations train individuals on what to do when an attack commences.? Mitigation is a perfectly good activity to plan for, but it is not prevention.? With a majority of would-be workplace shooters communicating their intentions or plans in one form or another, listening becomes a key path to gun violence prevention.?

?It can be said that listening, and empathy, are vital attributes of the HR profession.? Thus, the most effective, and cost-effective path to gun violence prevention in the workplace may very well be an enhancement to the training and capabilities of HR.? Behavioral threat assessment can help identify escalating behavior that is often a precursor to an attack.[1]?

In most cases, the team approach within a business would be the best path.? The makeup of the threat assessment team (TAT) could be HR, legal, security and mental health professionals (assuming a business has these roles).[2]? In reality, it would vary from company to company and need to be tailored to the individual needs of the organization.?

The team would be trained one of several known behavioral threat assessment methods to collect information, assess and communicate risk.? Management would be trained in how to support this team and receive information from them. Planning would occur with external organizations such as law enforcement and mental health organizations. Training and planning would also be necessary for the instances when a risk or threat assement turns into a situation where threat management is necessary.?

Enabling HR with behavioral threat assessment expertise is the foundation of a plan to then leverage the entire workforce to be on the lookout for the actions, statements, and behavior that can inform an organization that risk is increasing.? HR has the ability, with the needed support and funding, to train an organization to recognize the leakage.? HR has the ability to create programs around reporting of issues, validating them, and activating the stakeholders needed to address the situation.?

HR professionals are not strangers to risk in their dealings with the employee-base.? They see the impact of long-term stress, mental health issues, domestic violence, and other underlying factors for workplace violence often.[3]? In the end, the best line of defense against mass shootings in the workplace may not be high-tech.? It may just be observing, listening and being proactive with HR as the foundation for threat assessment and organizational collaboration.

Companies seeking a proactive approach to thwarting gun violence may already have the framework toward an effective solution. ?If trained and funded, HR can be the lynchpin for a cross-functional method of risk management.? We all want to make a difference in the fight against gun violence and the loss of innocent lives.? I believe this article can serve as a call to action for corporations, P&L owners, and HR professionals that a key to making that difference is already in our hands.

For more information about the potential for Human Resources play to a leading role in behavioral threat assessment to reduce gun violence in the workplace, contact me at [email protected] or here on LinkedIn at www.dhirubhai.net/in/stevecarneysecurityleadership.

Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP)

SHRM

Physical Security

OakMac SHRM

Human Resources

[1] Trigger Points; Inside the Mission to Stop Mass Shootings in America, p. 99, 212 Mark Follman, 2022.

[2] International Handbook of Threat Assessment, 2nd edition, p. 522-533, Meloy & Hoffmann, 2021.

[3] Stop the Killing: How to End the Mass Shooting Crisis, Katherine Schweit, p52-73, 2023.