In a world where violence seems to beget violence, behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) has emerged as a crucial framework for identifying and addressing potential threats before they escalate. Building on my introduction to BTAM, this article delves into the interconnected roles of leakage, bystanders and stakeholders within a BTAM team.
Examining how individuals reveal their violent intentions, the pivotal role of bystanders in recognizing and reporting warning signs and the collaborative efforts of teams from multiple professional disciplines, helps underscore the importance of early intervention. Ultimately, BTAM is a proactive approach aimed at safeguarding communities through structured, ethical, compassionate responses to troubling behaviors. My overall goal is to illustrate BTAM’s effectiveness in preventing harm while also addressing underlying concerns.
The role of leakage
I’ve been involved in BTAM teams for seven years now, and one of the most common questions people ask when I try to explain the concept is, “What leads to intervention?” It all comes down to leakage. This is the term we use for instances when an individual reveals his intentions — whether intentionally or unintentionally — to commit a violent act through verbal, written or behavioral clues.
Leakage can take many forms, such as a student writing a disturbing essay about school shooters, a coworker making “joking” remarks about harming others or social media posts expressing grievances against specific groups or admiration for past violent acts. There are three basic types of leakage:
- Verbal leakage: A young man casually mentions to his friend, “One of these days, I’ll make them pay for the way they treated me.”
- Written leakage: A disgruntled employee leaves a resignation letter describing fantasies of violent revenge.
- Behavioral leakage: A former student returns to campus and walks around while drawing diagrams of security measures.
Leakage often stems from a person’s need to vent frustrations, seek validation or test the waters. While not every instance of leakage indicates an imminent threat, it provides critical insight into a person’s mindset and trajectory.
When properly identified and addressed, leakage serves as a vital early-warning mechanism, allowing BTAM professionals to implement remedies such as counseling, support or security protocols to de-escalate a potential threat and prevent harm. Identifying and interpreting leakage requires careful evaluation to avoid misjudgments and ensure actions are proportional to the level of concern.
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The importance of bystanders
Bystanders play a pivotal role in BTAM as they are generally the first to notice and recognize troubling statements or behaviors from those on a pathway to violence. A bystander may be a parent or other family member, a teacher or coach, an ecclesiastical leader, a coworker, a friend or acquaintance. Sometimes, it’s just a random person on the internet. These people are in a unique position to recognize warning signs that might not be apparent to others.
Basically, a bystander is the “person who sees it coming,” the concerned citizen who recognizes the problem lying in wait and reports it to someone who can do something about it.
Sadly, many bystanders don’t act, and here’s why:
- Fear of overreacting: People worry about creating unnecessary drama or falsely accusing someone of planning something heinous.
- Assumptions about responsibility: Many bystanders assume someone else will handle it or believe the behavior is “not their business.”
- Lack of awareness: Some don’t recognize the behavior as concerning or don’t know how to report it.
Educating the public about warning signs and reporting mechanisms is essential. Organizations can foster a culture of proactive safety by:
- Providing anonymous tip lines for reporting concerns.
- Offering training sessions on recognizing leakage and early warning signs.
- Ensuring confidentiality and protection for those who report concerns.
Bystanders are crucial in BTAM. Their observations often serve as the first piece of the puzzle for multidisciplinary teams assessing a potential threat.
Legal tools in BTAM
Another common question in BTAM is, “How can we intervene legally before a crime is committed?” (Tom Cruise, please pick up a white paging phone …)
BTAM teams may leverage a range of legal measures to disrupt an individual’s pathway to violence. These mechanisms are designed to balance public safety with individual rights, providing both preventive measures and access to resources that address the underlying factors contributing to the risk. These include:
- Involuntary commitment: Most states have health laws that allow for temporary involuntary commitment, which involves placing the person in a secure mental health facility for evaluation and (if necessary) treatment. The commitment typically requires evidence that the individual meets specific legal thresholds for danger or incapacity and may involve judicial oversight.
- Extreme risk protection orders (ERPOs): Also known as “red flag laws,” ERPOs allow law enforcement, family members or other designated individuals to petition a court to temporarily remove firearms from someone deemed to be at risk of harming themselves or others. These measures are designed to prevent access to weapons during periods of crisis while the individual receives help or intervention.
- Workplace violence restraining orders: These specialized restraining orders can be obtained to protect employees from individuals who have made threats or exhibited threatening behavior. Workplace violence restraining orders are often paired with increased security measures and support for targeted parties.
- School-based threat assessment protocols: Most schools now have protocols in place to assess and manage threats from students or others. Responses may involve mandatory counseling, behavioral contracts or modifications to educational plans to address the individual’s needs while ensuring the safety of others.
- Diversion programs: Some jurisdictions offer diversion programs such as counseling, anger management or substance abuse treatment that provide an alternative to criminal prosecution if a person’s actions have not yet crossed into criminal conduct.
- Mandated counseling or treatment: Courts may require individuals to undergo specific forms of counseling or treatment as a condition of probation or other legal agreements.
- Coordination with law enforcement: BTAM teams often work closely with law enforcement to conduct welfare checks or implement protective measures, using legal authority to intervene in ways that de-escalate potentially volatile situations. Warning potential victims and hardening potential targets against attack can be essential to preventing violence and harm.
- Leveraging relationships: If a person has an existing friendship or mentor-mentee relationship with someone like a teacher, coach or other third party, that rapport may be used to help influence and change the behavior of the person of concern.
By leveraging these legal mechanisms, BTAM teams can address both immediate safety concerns and the broader, underlying issues that contribute to an individual’s risk of violence. The goal is to intervene effectively while upholding legal and ethical standards, preventing harm and fostering long-term behavioral change.
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Multidisciplinary BTAM teams
At the heart of behavioral threat assessment and management is the multidisciplinary team. BTAM teams bring together professionals from diverse fields to ensure a comprehensive and balanced approach to identifying, assessing and managing threats. The variety of perspectives within these teams enables a nuanced understanding of each case, reducing blind spots or misinterpretations. Here’s a closer look at key players and their vital roles:
- Law enforcement representatives: Often the backbone of a BTAM team, law enforcement officers, detectives and school resource officers (SROs) bring critical insights into criminal behavior, investigative strategies and the practicalities of legal interventions. Law enforcement professionals ensure the team has access to investigative resources, assess immediate safety risks and facilitate any legal interventions required to prevent violence.
- Mental health professionals: Psychologists, psychiatrists, counselors and social workers play an essential role in understanding the psychological underpinnings of a person’s actions. They can guide the team in understanding the psychological drivers behind threatening behavior and recommend therapeutic or behavioral interventions to de-escalate the situation.
- Educators and school administrators: When threats arise in school settings, educational staff are often the most knowledgeable about the person’s environment, history and relationships. Teachers, coaches, school counselors and administrators may provide critical context for threats as well as firsthand knowledge of the individual’s daily life.
- Legal advisors: Legal advisors are crucial for ensuring all actions taken by the BTAM team comply with laws, policies and ethical standards. Depending on context, they may include district attorneys or prosecutors, school or corporate counsel and risk management experts who can help ensure interventions are lawful, ethical and defensible.
- Cybersecurity experts: In an increasingly digital world, many threats originate or escalate online. Cybersecurity experts bring specialized skills to the table, analyzing digital footprints and identifying online behaviors that may indicate a threat. Experts such as social media analysts, IT specialists or law enforcement cyber units may provide insights into online activity, helping the team assess whether digital behaviors align with real-world risks.
- Medical personnel: In some cases, emergency room (ER) personnel can provide valuable information about a troubled person’s state of mind and recent behaviors. For example, ER physicians and nurses may offer insights about the immediate risk factors of individuals in moments of acute distress. Hospital-based social workers can connect individuals to community resources, such as mental health services or housing support.
- Community representatives: In some cases, individuals of concern have deep ties to their communities. Including representatives from these communities helps the team understand cultural, social or environmental factors that may influence behavior. Community representatives provide context and connections that help the team design culturally appropriate and socially effective interventions. They may include religious leaders, who can provide insight into the individual’s moral or spiritual struggles and offer support through faith-based counseling or community resources, and cultural liaisons, who can help ensure the team’s actions are sensitive to cultural norms and values.
Other potential team members include representatives from dispatch, custody, parole or probation, county or city risk management, and liaisons from the local FBI field office. For larger organizations or high-profile cases, media relations professionals and external security consultants may be engaged. While not all members may be involved in every case, having a knowledgeable pool of experts allows the team to adapt to the unique demands of each situation, ensuring a comprehensive and effective approach to threat assessment and management.
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The power of collaboration
Each member of a BTAM team plays a specific and vital role, but the team’s “superpower” comes from collaboration. Each stakeholder brings specialized expertise — whether in law enforcement, mental health, education, community engagement or some other field. The real strength of this approach lies in the synthesis of the various perspectives to address both the immediate and long-term factors contributing to potential threats. By combining insights from everyone involved, the team creates a comprehensive understanding of the individual and the risks they may pose to others.
Collaboration among multidisciplinary teams represents a holistic approach to threat management, reducing blind spots and ensuring fair, comprehensive assessments. In the end, behavioral threat assessment and management demonstrates how violence prevention is not only possible but also achievable through diligent collaboration, proactive intervention and a commitment to community safety.
The hallmark of BTAM teams is the ability to balance legal interventions with compassionate, ethical solutions. Whether working in schools, workplaces or broader community contexts, BTAM teams exemplify the power of shared expertise and communication in de-escalating potentially volatile situations. In the end, BTAM is not about predicting the future but about preparing for it. It’s about staying one step ahead of people on a trajectory toward violence and intervening in ways that prevent harm and promote healing.
NEXT: In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, host Jim Dudley speaks with Dr. Jack Rozel, a Professor of Psychiatry and Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh, about how law enforcement, behavioral health sciences professionals and the community can work together to identify those at risk of committing acts of mass violence.
