Since June 1999, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Secret Service have been working as a team to better understand--and ultimately help prevent--school shootings in America. Findings indicated that incidents of targeted violence in school were rarely impulsive; that the students who perpetrated attacks usually planned them out in advance with planning behavior that was often observable; and that, prior to most attacks, other children knew that the attack was to occur. This document uses these findings to create a process for identifying, assessing, and managing students who may pose a threat of targeted violence in schools. Eight chapters include: (1)."Introduction: Threat Assessment and the Prevention of Targeted School Violence"; (2) "Creating Climates of School Safety: A Foundation For Reducing School Violence"; ( 3 ) "Key Findings of the Safe School Initiative's Study of Targeted School Violence"; (4) "Implementing a School Threat Assessment PrOCeSS"; ( 5 ) "Conducting a School Threat Assessment"; (6) "Managing a Threatening Situation"; (7) 'IAction Plans for School Leaders: Creating a Safe and Connected School Climate and Implementing a Threat Assessment Program"; and (8) "Conclusion: Threat Assessment as a Decision-Making Tool." An appendix contains a list of annotated resources. (Contains 24 references and 2 resource Web sites.) .

This publication results from on ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Department of Education. Its goals are to determine whether it could have been known that incidents of targeted violence at schools were being planned and whether anything could have been done to prevent them from occurring. Results from the Secret Service's Exceptional Case Study Project (ECSP) are used to organize planning. This report describes the Safe School Initiative, defines "targeted1'school violence, and discusses the prevalence of school violence in American schools. The methodology of this study, sources of information, and an analysis of survey responses are also discussed. Incidents of targeted school violence are characterized, including characteristics of the.attacker, conceptualization of the attack, and signaling, advancing, and resolving the attack. Implications of study findings and the use of threat assessment as a strategy to prevent school violence are presented. Appendix A lists incidents of targeted school violence by state; Appendix B lists these incidents by year; and Appendix C is a list of resources. Contact information follows the appendices. (Contains 13 references and 2 Web site resources.).

In 1992, the Secret Service, in partnership with the National Institute of Justice and with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Prisons, began the Exceptional Case Study Project (ECSP), a 5-year study to examine the thinking and behavior of individuals who have attacked or approached to attack prominent public officials or figures in the United States since 1949. ECSP findings reveal general threat assessment information relating to attacks on public officials and figures, while suggesting that broader application of threat assessment protocols by Federal, State and local law enforcement officials could help anticipate and prevent other crimes, such as stalking and workplace violence. Drawing from project findings, this guide describes an approach to threat assessment and the protective intelligence investigative process that can be of assistance to Federal, State, and local law enforcement and security professional with protective intelligence responsibilities. Though not intended to serve as an operations manual, the guide presents information and ideas about developing and implementing protective intelligence programs and activities. Information about the thinking and behavior of persons who have attacked or come close to attacking public officials and figures can help refine law enforcement operations related to preventing and investigating violence and threats of violence.

This publication focuses on the use of the threat assessment process pioneered by the Secret Service as one component of the Department of Education's efforts to help schools across the nation reduce school violence and create safe climates.

In September 2004, the Intelligence Science Board, an advisory board appointed by the Director of National Intelligence, initiated the Study on Educing Information (EI). This study is an ongoing effort to review what is known scientifically about interrogation and other forms of human intelligence collection and to chart a path to the future. As part of our efforts, we have worked closely with faculty and students of the National Defense Intelligence College. The NDIC Press published Educing Information: Interrogation: Science and Art, Foundations for the Future, a book based on Phase I of the Study on EI. Three students, Special Agent James Stone, U.S. Air Force; Special Agent David Shoemaker, U.S. Air Force; and Major Nicholas Dotti, U.S. Army, completed master's thesis studies during Academic Year 2006-07 on topics related to interrogation. Each thesis is a remarkable and useful document. Special Agent Stone researched U.S. efforts during World War II to develop language and interrogation capacities to deal with our Japanese enemy. He found that military leaders, often working with civilian counterparts, created and implemented successful strategies, building on cultural and linguistic skills that substantially aided the war effort for the U.S. and its Allies. Special Agent Shoemaker studied the experiences of three successful interrogators during the Vietnam War. Like S/A Stone, S/A Shoemaker suggests that policymakers and practitioners have much to learn from professionals who served effectively for years in the field educing information. And like Stone, Shoemaker highlights the importance of a deep understanding of the language, psychology, and culture of adversaries and potential allies in other countries. Major Dotti examined recent policy and practice with regard to tactical and field interrogations, especially with regard to the efforts of Special Forces soldiers in Iraq. He concludes that the "letter" of current doctrine contradicts its "intent." Major Dotti offers recommendations that he believes are both consistent with the intent of military doctrine and likely to increase the effectiveness of U.S. interrogation practices in the field.

This is a compilation presenting papers by 13 experts on the subject of interrogation. While not a textbook on interrogation, this is a review of the present state of the practice with an analysis of what works and fails and with recommendations for new directions. It was developed for and presented to the National Defense Intelligence College whose Press published it in 2006. The National Defense Intelligence College Press has made it available to the general public as a free electronic download (only). This is the first commercially available hardcopy edition of a work critical to understanding what interrogation is and where it is going in the years ahead.

Strongly recommended. These white papers are highly readable and contain interesting and surprising general information about the past, present, and future of interrogation and debriefing as well as what we know or don't know about the effectiveness of polygraphs, torture, and body language.