Comprehensive safety planning

1. Steven J. Healy
Margolis Healy & Associates
Meeting of the Minds
April 3, 2014
Comprehensive Safety Planning –
A Holistic Approach to Campus Safety &
Security
Steven J. Healy
Dr. Gene Deisinger

2. Risks Facing Colleges & Universities
• Natural Disasters
• Sexual and Gender Violence
• Child Sexual Assault
• Hazing & Bullying
• Alcohol Related Injuries and Deaths
• Suicide
• Targeted Violence
• Regulatory Review

4. A Holistic Approach
1. Eliminate Stovepipes and create a
comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to
campus safety and security

5. Integration of Processes
Comprehensive Safety Planning
Pro-active plans in place to:
 Prevent and mitigate violence
• Identify at-risk situations
• Assess situations
• Intervene & manage concerns
 Prepare for potential violence
 Respond to violent acts and
 Recover from the event.

6. A Holistic Approach
1. Eliminate Stovepipes and create a
comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach to
campus safety and security
–Emergency Management Team
–Sexual Assault Response Team/TIX Team
–Violence Prevention Committee
–Threat Assessment/Workplace Violence Team
–Alcohol & Other Drug Task Force

7. A Holistic Approach
2. Engage in meaningful Hazard and Vulnerability
Analysis
• Determine likely human, technological & natural
loss events
• Determine the probability of those events
occurring
• Assess impact: human, structural, institution
• Determine level of preparedness, unmitigated
risk to establish Relative Risk Score

8. Hazard Vulnerability Analysis

9. Emergency Planning
http://rems.ed.gov/EOPGuides.aspx

10. Available at:
rems.ed.gov/EOPGuides
Released: 6/18/13
Informed by Research & Practice

11. A Holistic Approach
3. Leverage technology to enhance preparedness
• Mass Notification Systems
• Security Technology
• Situational Awareness
• Social Media and Mobile Apps

12. A Holistic Approach
3. Leverage technology to enhance preparedness

13. A Holistic Approach
Security Technology
• Access Control System
• Security Cameras
• License Plate Readers
• Personal Safety Devices
• ??

14. A Holistic Approach
4. Enhance Prevention - Enforce Policies
• Title IX & Clery Act
• Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management

15. A Holistic Approach
Title IX of the Education Amendments of
1972 (Title IX), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 et seq.,
prohibits discrimination on the basis of
sex in education programs or activities
operated by recipients of Federal financial
assistance

16. Defining Sexual Harassment
• Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature
- includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, or physical conduct of a
sexual nature, including sexual violence.
• Student-to-student harassment:
- creates hostile environment if conduct is sufficiently serious
that it interferes with or limits a student’s ability to
participate in or benefit from the school’s program.
• The more severe the conduct, the less need there is to show a
repetitive series of incidents to prove hostile environment,
particularly if the harassment is physical (e.g. rape=hostile
environment)

17. Defining Sexual Violence
• Sexual violence is a form of sexual harassment
prohibited by Title IX.
- Sexual violence refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated
against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of
giving consent due to the victim’s use of drugs or alcohol
- An individual also may be unable to give consent due to
an intellectual or other disability
- May include rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, and
sexual coercion

18. Scope of Coverage
• Title IX protects your students and employees
from sexual harassment in an institution’s
education programs and activities, including:
- All academic, educational, extracurricular, athletic,
and other programs of the institution
- On-campus, off-campus, in transit, sponsored at
other locations, etc.

19. Overview of Mandates
• Notice of Non-discrimination
• Title IX Coordinator
• Grievance Procedures
- Prompt and equitable
- Notice
- Adequate, reliable, and impartial investigation of
complaints
- Designated and reasonably prompt time frames
- Notice of outcome
19

20. Overview of Mandates
• Education and Prevention
• Remedies and Enforcement
• Training
20

21. What is this thing called “Clery?”
• A consumer rights bill
• An institutional responsibility
–Not JUST campus public safety
• Campus-wide collaboration and cooperation
CRITICAL to success

22. Clery Act 101
• Publish & distribute an Annual Security Report
w/various policy statements, policies and statistics
(NLT October 1, each year) (approx. 23 policies)
• Inform prospective students & employees about
the Annual Security Report
• Submit crime statistics to U.S. Dept. of Education
• Provide timely notice and emergency notifications
• Maintain a public, daily log of reported crimes

23. Campus SaVE
• Part of VAWA Reauthorization Act
• Amends HEA “to improve education and
prevention related to campus sexual violence,
domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking”
• Codifies much of 2011 OCR DCL
• Effective March 2014 (good faith effort NOW)

24. Threat Assessment
1
• IDENTIFY situations/persons of concern
2
• INVESTIGATE & gather information
3
• ASSESS situation
4
• MANAGE the situation/mitigate risk
A systematic process that is designed to:

25. Having a Team is Not Enough
Organizations must have a systematic process that:
 Utilizes effective & relevant multi-disciplinary approach;
 Enables centralized awareness of developing concerns
through active outreach programs & consultations;
Capable of addressing all threats & hazards;
 Facilitates a thorough & contextual assessment;
 Implements proactive & integrated case management;
 Monitors & re-assesses case on a longitudinal basis;
 Conducts all practices in accordance with relevant
laws, policies, and standards of practice;
 Adapts to challenges & changing needs.
© G. Deisinger, Ph.D. & M. Randazzo, Ph.D.

26. www.threatassessment.vt.edu
Threat Assessment Process
Contextual
Assessment
Identify
Potential
Risk
Integrated
Management
Plan
Implement
Plan
Post-Incident
Recovery
Gather
Information
Notify
TAM Team

27. A Holistic Approach
4. Enhance Prevention and Enforce Policies
• Title IX & Clery Act
• Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management
• Minors on Campus & Child Sexual Abuse
• Safety Awareness and Readiness

28. A Holistic Approach
5. Create a Chief Safety Officer position
• Reporting directly to the institution’s President
• Leads all safety and security initiatives
• Has equal standing w/other senior
administrators
• Increases focus on safety, security, and readiness

29. A Holistic Approach
1. Eliminate Stovepipes – embrace multidisciplinary
approach
2. HVA – meaningful hazard identification
3. Leverage Technology – use it wisely
4. Enhance Prevention & Enforce Policies
5. Create Chief Safety & Security Officer

30. Contact Information
Major Gene Deisinger, Ph.D.
Deputy Chief of Police &
Director of Threat Management
Services
Virginia Tech Police Department
(540) 231-4788
erdeisin@vt.edu
Steven J. Healy
Managing Partner
www.margolishealy.com
866-817-5817
www.slideshare.net/margolishealy