RICHFIELD, Ohio — The U.S. Secret Service's Cleveland Field Office and National Threat Assessment Center organized a large training Thursday at Revere High School to prevent targeted violence in schools and communities.
Law enforcement personnel, analysts, health care professionals, public safety and government partners, workplace violence programs, and community support programs participated in the event.
The training featured NTAC's latest efforts to develop best practices for implementing behavioral threat assessment units.
Ashley Smolinski, a social science research specialist with the Secret Service, said part of the training focuses on what NTAC has learned over the last 25 years.
"How to proactively intervene when individuals are causing concern to decrease the risk that they might engage in violence or self-harm," Smolinski said.
As it relates to students, Smolinski said professionals connected with kids need to be aware of stressors like trouble at home, struggles with grades, or feeling isolated.
She added those issues or behaviors don't mean kids will engage in violence but could be warning signs.
"One of the areas with behavioral threat assessment is we never know how many lives we can save through this process," Smolinski said.
Jason DiLauro, who has two kids in the Revere School District and one graduate, attended the training and said school violence remains a fear for many parents and students.
"It's a constant. I mean, it never goes away because you hear all the bad things all over the country, so it always raises your awareness," DiLauro said. "I think this (Secret Service training) should be state-mandated. I think this is something that every school, every resource officer, every counselor, every superintendent, I think should all be aware of this."
Revere High School counselor Elizabeth Long said, "See Something Say Something" is part of the school's culture, and that message is displayed on stickers, magnets, and other items. She said the phrase goes beyond preventing violence.
"It also goes into See Something Say Something if a student is feeling down, or if the student needs some support," Long said.
Scott Dressler, a Revere school resource officer, believes the information detailed in the training is critical and could save lives. In his role, he also feels it's crucial to form relationships with students.
"That way, they trust me and they can come to me before something happens with information, especially with the technology they have in social media. The kids are knowing what's going on before we know," Dressler said.
Dressler said the district already has a threat assessment plan in place, but it could enhanced as early as next Monday based on information gathered during the Secret Service training.
