In our continuing effort to keep our students safe, the Hart District has initiated a process to reinforce our threat assessment policies and procedures. This plan involves a partnership with a panel of safety experts whose knowledge and expertise will help guide our decision-making.
The Safety and Threat Assessment Expert Panel is made up of three individuals whose outstanding credentials in the area of school safety and threat assessment are attached to this communication. We have scheduled two opportunities for the panel to meet with community members interested in hearing about what research and experts tell us about best practices in the area of school safety and threat assessment. The meetings will also afford an opportunity for community members to share ideas and questions in small group settings.
Our Community Safety Dialogues will be held at the Santa Clarita Activities Center from 5-7 pm on February 24 and March 3, 2020. Both meetings will cover the same material.
If you are interested in attending one of these meetings (or if you have an idea or question you would like the panel to consider), we ask that you fill out this brief RSVP form at the link provided below. Doing so will enable us to plan for productive meetings.
http://bit.ly/HartSafetyDialogue
We hope you can join us.
Thank you and have a nice evening.
Mike Kuhlman
Community Safety Dialogues
Dates: February 24 and March 3
Time: 5-7 pm
Location: 20880 Centre Pointe Pkwy, Santa Clarita, CA 91350
RSVP: http://bit.ly/HartSafetyDialogue
Safety and Threat Assessment Expert Panel
PATRICK PRINCE
Patrick Prince is the Associate Vice Provost and Chief Threat Assessment Officer for the University of Southern California. He is responsible for providing oversight and guidance in the recognition, assessment and management of potentially dangerous persons who may pose a risk of targeted violence toward members of the USC community. As well, Mr. Prince is an adjunct professor with the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work where he instructs one of the country’s only graduate courses in threat assessment for campus violence prevention.
In addition to his role with USC, Mr. Prince has consulted with government agencies and private employers on more than 3,000 cases of threatening situations or acts of violence in the workplace. Mr. Prince is a standing member of corporate threat assessment teams for several Fortune 500 companies as well as numerous cities and government agencies. He served on the joint ASIS-SHRM American National Standards Task Force to develop standards and guidelines for workplace violence prevention/intervention programs which were published in October, 2011.
He has provided consultation and training to a variety of institutions of higher education including the California State University System, University of Nebraska, Pennsylvania State University and California Institute of Technology. He has provided training and consultation to numerous school districts throughout the State of California. Mr. Prince was invited as a subject matter expert to participate in TARGET- the FBI sponsored West Coast initiative to identify best practices to prevent violence in educational institutions. Mr. Prince was an Associate of the University of Nebraska- Lincoln Public Policy Center which conducts research and provides consultation regarding prevention of targeted violence.
Mr. Prince served on the Board of Directors for the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP) from 2007-2016. He has been a member of the Association for over 26 years. Mr. Prince is one of a select group of threat assessment professionals in the United States to reach recognition as a Certified Threat Manager (CTM).
Mr. Prince received his M.A. in Counseling Psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles. His B.A. in Sociology is from the University of Southern California.
JOSEPH WRIGHT
Joseph Wright is the Director of Security for Lincoln Public Schools in Lincoln, NE. Mr. Wright joined LPS in 2013 shortly after the Sandy Hook tragedy with the mandate to create a district-wide threat management program. Mr. Wright is a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, ATAP, and has earned the designation of Certified Threat Manager. He is the past president of the five state Great Plains chapter of ATAP and is currently the Chair of ATAP's Education Community. Prior to his current position, Mr. Wright served the City of Lincoln as a police officer for 27 years and retired at the rank of captain. During his tenure with the city, his work focused on behavior health, threat management, juvenile justice and implicit bias in the criminal justice system. Mr. Wright speaks nationally on threat management in the K-12 environment and continues to train law enforcement on mental health and threat management issues.
BEN KALLIN
Mr. Kallin is a Threat Assessment Officer at the University of Southern California. He holds graduate degrees in both public administration and social work from the University of Southern California and is currently a doctoral candidate in the USC Rossiter School of Education. Mr. Kallin has focused his graduate education on Mental Health and Wellness with an emphasis on the prevention and recognition of homicide and suicide amongst the K-12 and Higher Education populations. Mr. Kallin has variety of experience in crisis and emergency response, serving on Critical Incident Stress Debriefing teams and trauma response and recovery teams. While in the Marine Corps, he completed two combat deployments to Fallujah, Iraq. As a Marine with First Reconnaissance Battalion Mr. Kallin provided executive protection and completed traditional reconnaissance combat operations. He is also a former wildland firefighter and wilderness Emergency Medical Technician, having spent 5 years with specialized US Forest Service Hotshot crews fighting fire across the United States.
Ben is a board member of the Los Angeles chapter of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals and member of The National Association of Social Workers, Iraq Afghanistan Veterans of America and the Military Affairs Committee at the University of Southern California.