October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. According to The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), "1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have been physically abused by an intimate partner, and 1 in 5 women and 1 in 7 men have been severely physically abused by an intimate partner...In addition, every year millions of children are exposed to domestic violence. Domestic violence incidents affect every person within a home and can have long-lasting negative effects on children's emotional well-being, and social and academic functioning." To help promote Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the NCTSN has created a resource page, which features the Age-Related Reactions to a Traumatic Event, the Child Trauma Toolkit for Educators, and other resources.

Break the Cycle provides resources for schools including The Framework for Developing School Policies to Address Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, Sexual Assault and Stalking and Building Sustainable Relationships With Schools to Improve Intervention and Response to Dating Abuse.

Another resource to consider is your local Family Violence Coordinating Council. Under the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority, the Illinois Family Violence Coordinating Councils "provide a forum to improve the institutional, professional and community response to family violence including child abuse, domestic abuse, and elder abuse. Councils provide professional education and prevention; coordinate interventions and services for victims and perpetrators; and contribute to both the improvement of the legal system and the administration of justice."

More K-12 Domestic Violence Resources and Higher Ed Domestic Violence Resources can be found on the Illinois School and Campus Safety Resource Center website.

Civil unrest can impact safety and security, including the safety and security of K-12 schools and college campuses. With the recent protests and political polarization of the nation, civil unrest has been at the forefront of concerns for law enforcement. The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board Executive Institute is hosting the Executive Summit "Law Enforcement Leadership During Times of Civil Unrest" on Tuesday October 27, 2020, from 8am to 12pm (CST) via Zoom. This summit for law enforcement executives, command staff, and supervisors will feature an in-depth discussion on civil unrest with two nationally renowned subject matter experts, NYPD Deputy Inspector (ret.) Anthony J. Raganella and Pennsylvania State Police Major (ret.) Mark Lomax.

As we quickly approach election day, there are concerns about the potential for unrest. In helping address the issue, Campus Safety Magazine has published the article "10 Steps to Mitigating Possible Election-Related Unrest on Campus." The article notes some possible forms of election-related unrest and then lists proactive measures that can help mitigate the effects.

Additionally, the Protests and Demonstrations (Higher Ed) page of the Illinois School and Campus Safety Resource Center website includes the document Responding to Campus Protests: A Practitioner Resource, which features the article The Election Night Incident. The article recaps the events (and the response to those events) at the University of Mississippi on election night 2012, where "the antagonisms switched from being purely political to being racialized, with the presidential election serving as a pretext for racially charged verbal confrontations."