Threat Assessments: Disentangling Mental Illness and Violence to Enhance Public Safety

Behavioral threat indicators help us recognize when people are on the pathway to violence. Mental illness is often mistakenly thought to be a predictor of violence. However, serious mental illness, when left untreated, is socially problematic. This distinction is often missing from threat assessment curricula. Moreover, federal law enforcement, the authority on these matters, is not concerned with local mental health issues. Local law enforcement does not have that luxury. Every day, local agencies deal with mental health crisis calls. Untreated serious mental illness complicates public safety. This workshop highlights the importance of local law enforcement adopting behavioral threat assessment measures and provides a framework for managing threats of violence.