This Week in School and Campus Safety

Good morning,

This Weekly Update by the Illinois School and Campus Safety Program links to the National Institute of Justice's Five Facts About Mass Shootings in K-12 Schools, provides information on an upcoming Back-to-School Safety webinar, promotes upcoming sessions of Digital Threat Assessment and Advanced Digital Threat Assessment, and promotes an upcoming training on reunification.

Thank you for your interest in school and campus safety. However, if you wish to no longer receive our emails, let me know and I will remove you from our contacts list.

Respectfully,

Laura Black
le-black@wiu.edu
Program Coordinator
Illinois School and Campus Safety Program
National Institute of Justice Releases Five Facts About Mass Shootings in K-12 Schools

The National Institute of Justice just released the document Five Facts About Mass Shootings in K-12 Schools, which notes and discusses the following five facts:

  • "Most people who commit a mass shooting are in crisis leading up to it and are likely to leak their plans to others, presenting opportunities for intervention."
  • "Everyone can help prevent school mass shootings."
  • "Threat assessment is a promising prevention strategy to assess and respond to mass shooting threats, as well as other threats of violence by students."
  • Individuals who commit a school shooting are most likely to obtain a weapon by theft from a family member, indicating a need for more secure firearm storage practices."
  • "The overwhelming majority of individuals who commit K-12 mass shootings struggle with various aspects of mental well-being."
Webinar on Preparing for a Safe School Year – Back-to-School Safety for K-12 Schools

The Federal School Safety Clearinghouse is holding the free webinar on "Preparing for a Safe School Year – Back-to-School Safety for K-12 Schools" on August 30th. "The webinar will provide an overview of various topics that school personnel should consider when welcoming students back to school while looking to support the safety, security, and wellbeing of all students," and "will feature additional school safety-related resources available through SchoolSafety.gov, as well as a Q&A session." For more information and to register, click here.
Upcoming Sessions of Digital Threat Assessment in Glen Ellyn, Normal, and
Fairview Heights

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program is pleased to announce we are offering three in-person sessions of the "Digital Threat Assessment" training through Safer Schools Together. The goal of the Digital Threat Assessment class is to give attendees a stronger understanding of the current social media world, provide tools to be able to proactively identify student safety concerns, and provide strategies for dealing with online situations as they arise. For more information or to register, click the corresponding link below or email le-black@wiu.edu.

Sept. 7, 2022 - Glen Ellyn, IL (class is currently at capacity - contact le-black@wiu.edu to be added to a waiting list)


Upcoming Virtual Training on Planning for Family Reunification Before, During, and After an Emergency on Sept. 16th via Zoom

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program, in partnership with the Readiness and Emergency Management for Schools (REMS) Technical Assistance (TA) Center, is pleased to announce a session of the REMS TA Center class "Planning for Family Reunification Before, During, and After an Emergency" will be held via Zoom on September 16th from 9:00 am to 11:30 am CST. "This training is intended to provide participants with an introduction to family reunification and how it is used to reunite children with verified and authorized family members after a critical and often highly stressful incident (e.g., a fire, a natural disaster, a school bus accident, a situation involving weapons or violence at school, etc.) that prevents a normal school dismissal." For more information and to register, click here.

Advanced Digital Threat Assessment on Oct. 26th via Zoom

The Illinois School and Campus Safety Program is pleased to announce the class Advanced Digital Threat Assessment will be held on October 26th from 9:30 am-4:00 pm via Zoom. Building upon the Digital Threat Assessment class by Safer Schools Together, Advanced Digital Threat Assessment advances participants' understanding of finding and curating relevant digital information consistent with real-life digital threat assessment data gathering scenarios. Significant engagement and hands-on practice will take place as participants are assembled into investigative teams and given a true-to-life mock scenario. For more information and to register, click here.
Illinois School and Campus Safety Program www.ilschoolsafety.org
schoolsafety@iletsbei.com