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Behavioral Threat Assessment Management (BTAM) stands as a crucial first line of defense in preempting and mitigating acts of mass violence, offering a systematic approach to identifying individuals who exhibit threatening or concerning behaviors. By analyzing these behavioral cues and assessing the potential risks they pose, law enforcement and threat assessment professionals can proactively intervene, providing support or taking action to prevent tragic incidents before they unfold.
In this episode of the Policing Matters podcast, sponsored by OfficerStore.com, 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.
About our sponsor
This episode of the Policing Matters podcast is sponsored by OfficerStore. Learn more about getting the gear you need at prices you can afford by visiting OfficerStore.com.
About our guest John “Jack” Rozel, MD, MSL
John “Jack” Rozel, MD, MSL, has been working in emergency mental health since 1990 and has been the medical director of resolve Crisis Services of UPMC Western Psychiatric Hospital since 2010. As the medical director of resolve Crisis Services, he leads a team of more than 100 crisis professionals who deliver 125,000 services every year to the residents of Allegheny County through phone, text, mobile, walk-in and overnight programs delivered through a person centered, recovery-oriented model.
Dr. Rozel trains and consults with teams across UPMC and the country on projects related to violence and threat management, staff injury prevention, firearm injury prevention, and crisis and emergency psychiatry. Dr. Rozel has served as an incident commander for mass shootings and been involved in the behavioral health response to several mass casualty events. He has contributed to major policy and practice efforts including the National Council for Behavioral Health’s 2019 report on Mass Violence, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline’s violence management guidelines, the Pennsylvania Governor’s Special Council on Gun Violence report, and the AMA et al’s Amici brief for the Supreme Court NYSRPA v Bruen case. Dr. Rozel is a member of the Mental Health and Justice Advisory Committee for the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency. In conjunction with the PCCD, he is receiving funding from the US Department of Homeland Security’s Center for Prevention Programs & Partnerships to develop regional threat management partnerships in Western Pennsylvania.He is a Past President of the American Association for Emergency Psychiatry, the leading national organization dedicated to the improvement of compassionate, evidence-based care for people with psychiatric emergencies.
Additional resources on Behavioral Threat Assessment Management
- Department of Homeland Security National Threat Evaluation and Reporting Program Office
- FBI’s Behavioral Analaysis Unit
- Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center
- Association of Threat Assessment Professionals
- How a threat assessment team tracks students of concern
- How behavioral threat assessment concepts can benefit criminal investigations
- Dr. Dewey Cornell on how school-based threat assessment improves school safety
Top quotes from this episode
“Threat management is a combination of tools and models, a weaving together of best practices from law enforcement and behavioral sciences, draped over the infrastructure of intelligence analysis.”
“See something, say something is a nice slogan, but what do you see and who do you say it to?”
“This is about the opportunity to function as a guardian before we have to function as a warrior.”
“We need tactical responses and tactical responses save lives, but if we can work left of bang we want to be working left of bang.”
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