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Acting Strange-Dangerous or Not?: How to Conduct Effective Employee Threat Assessments & Respond in an Appropriate (And Legally Defensible) Manner



Thursday, March 17, 2011
Product Code - HRAU01
Speaker(s): James Cawood, CPP, PCI, PSP, President, Factor One
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When a mass shooting occurs like the recent one in Tucson involving Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, or the one in Ft. Hood, it often seems that the shooter came out of nowhere.  Studies show, however, that the perpetrators often gave off observable ‘signals’ that are often minimized and/or rationalized. Shortly after, blame is placed and lawsuits are frequently filed.  In hindsight, far from coming from out of the blue, a workplace rampage often seems predictable. 

Still, these acts are extremely rare. So how can we do more than guess whether our employee, independent contractor, or routine visitor is someone moving from thought to violent action and not just someone who is upset and acting out and therefore not likely to become violent?  What type of assessment and intervention process is reasonable and defensible?

This Webinar will provide you with practical methods for assessing the threat of violence by individuals, and outline a process that can be followed to intervene appropriately, while showing that the organization acted reasonably in light of the existing information, so a defense can be made against claims of negligence. 

This is an advanced seminar for those who want to move beyond policy and general reporting protocols and grapple with what you do when a call comes in regarding a safety from violence issue. 

Join James Cawood, CPP, PCI, PSP, President, Factor One to:

  • Learn the pattern of escalation that violent event typically follow and why this pattern is so often present regardless of location, upbringing, or geography.
  • Learn when sexual harassment complaints should trigger a violence risk assessment.
  • Learn why supervisors and coworkers so often fail to recognize what are actually red flags.
  • Learn what practical first steps your organization can take when they receive a report.
  • Learn what to do when a preliminary assessment leads to greater concern.
  • Learn what types of intervention plans work and what types of actions should be carefully considered because they could make the situation worse.

James Cawood, CPP, PCI, PSP, President, Factor One

James S. Cawood, CPP is President of Factor One which is a California based corporation specializing in violence risk assessment, threat assessment, behavioral analysis, security consulting, and investigations.  Mr. Cawood has worked in the area of threat assessment, violence risk assessment, behavioral analysis, violence prevention, security analysis, and incident resolution for more than 20 years.  He has successfully assessed and managed over 4000 violence related cases for federal and state government agencies, universities and colleges, public and private corporations, and other business entities throughout North America.  Mr. Cawood has also provided consultation and training to these same types of organizations on the design and implementation of threat assessment, violence risk assessment, and incident response protocols. This included participation in the development of the P.O.S.T. (Peace Officers Standards and Training) telecourse for Workplace Violence for California and Arizona law enforcement, California P.O.S.T. development of a Fear and Anger Control telecourse, Association of Threat Assessment Professional’s Risk Assessment Guideline Elements for Violence (R.A.G.E.-V), ASIS International’s Workplace Violence Prevention and Response guideline, and participation in the development of a threat assessment protocol by the California District Attorney's Association for use in training judges, District Attorneys, and others in the California justice system.  He also has served as an expert witness in dozens of cases involving questions concerning investigative and security issues, including threat assessment and violence in the workplace.