Complete Guide to Behavioral Threat Assessment in Hawaii: Services, Training & Best Practices for Schools, Healthcare & Businesses
- CrisisWire
- Dec 4, 2025
- 25 min read
A Kapolei High School teacher finds a student's notebook filled with violent drawings and a list of classmates' names. A Queen's Medical Center nurse reports a patient making escalating threats toward staff. A Campbell Industrial Park supervisor notices an employee's sudden behavior change—angry outbursts, talk of revenge, researching weapons online.
Who handles these situations? How do you know if someone's venting frustration or planning violence? That's what behavioral threat assessment solves.
This guide covers everything Hawaii organizations need to know about threat assessment: what it is, how it works, where to get training, and how to implement it at your school, hospital, or business. Whether you're in Honolulu, Hilo, Kapolei, or anywhere across the islands, you'll learn how threat assessment prevents violence before it happens.
What is Threat Assessment? (The Real Definition)
Threat assessment is a structured process to identify people who might commit violence—and intervene before they act.
It's not profiling. You're not looking for a "type" of person. Instead, you're tracking specific behaviors that research shows precede nearly every act of targeted violence: threats (direct or veiled), obsessive focus on grievances, acquiring weapons, planning attacks, probing security weaknesses.
The U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) developed this approach after studying every school shooting, workplace attack, and assassination attempt over decades. Their findings—documented in published threat assessment research and analyzed in peer-reviewed studies—revealed something surprising: violence isn't spontaneous. Attackers follow a predictable pathway. They think about it for weeks or months. They tell people. They make plans. They gather weapons. They research targets.
Behavioral threat assessment catches people on this pathway—when they're still thinking, not yet acting. That's your window to help them or stop them.
Here's what makes this different from traditional security: Traditional security reacts after someone makes a threat or commits violence. Threat assessment prevents the violence from ever occurring. A campus security guard might catch someone with a weapon. A threat assessment team catches them three months earlier when they first started researching how to build a bomb.
The method combines expertise from different fields—law enforcement knows criminal behavior patterns, mental health professionals understand psychological distress, HR knows employment issues, educators understand student dynamics. When you put these people in one room analyzing the same case, you catch warning signs others miss. This multidisciplinary approach is endorsed by the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, Department of Justice, and National Institute of Justice.
How Threat Assessment Actually Works
Let me walk you through a real scenario (details changed for privacy).
A University of Hawaii Manoa student posts on social media: "Everyone who laughed at me will pay. I'm done being nice." A classmate reports it to campus security. Here's what happens next:
Step 1: Initial Screening Campus security reviews the post. Is this a real threat or someone blowing off steam? They look at context: Did something specific trigger this? Does the person have access to weapons? Any history of violence? Any specific plan mentioned?
This post is vague but concerning. They pass it to the campus threat assessment team.
Step 2: Information Gathering The team includes a campus police officer, dean of students, counseling center director, and residence hall coordinator. They each check their systems following information sharing protocols:
Police: Any past incidents? Arrests? Protection orders?
Dean: Academic struggles? Disciplinary issues?
Counseling: Previous mental health concerns? Substance abuse?
Housing: Roommate conflicts? Recent stressors?
They learn the student just failed out of a major program, lost financial aid, and faces eviction from the dorms. Friends report increased isolation and drinking.
Step 3: Risk Assessment The team applies a structured framework (most use models from the Secret Service, FBI, or Salem-Keizer). They evaluate:
Threat indicators: Vague but suggests future action ("will pay")Motivation: Academic/financial crisis, perceived humiliation Capability: No known weapons, no specific plan Protective factors: Still attending some classes, has supportive friends Risk level: Medium - concerning but not imminent
Step 4: Management Strategy They don't call police or expel the student. Instead:
Counseling center reaches out offering support
Dean discusses academic options and financial aid appeals
Housing coordinator works on short-term housing solution
Campus police does welfare check (not interrogation)
Team monitors social media for escalation
Step 5: Follow-Up Team meets weekly to review the case. After two weeks, the student is engaging with counseling, appealing the academic dismissal, and deleted the threatening posts. Risk level drops to low. Team continues monitoring for one semester.
Outcome: Violence prevented. Student gets help. Campus stays safe.
That's behavioral threat assessment and management (BTAM) in action. Detailed case study protocols are documented in threat assessment implementation guides and professional training materials.
Threat Assessment Services Across Hawaii
Organizations throughout Hawaii are implementing threat assessment programs based on federal guidelines and state requirements. Here's what's available by location:
Oahu Threat Assessment Coverage
Threat assessment services in Honolulu serve downtown businesses, Waikiki hotels, government offices, and UH Manoa campus. The Honolulu Police Department has trained officers in threat assessment, and several hospitals including Queen's Medical Center and Straub have formed internal teams following Joint Commission standards.
West Oahu has grown fast—Kapolei threat assessment services now cover James Campbell Industrial Park employers, Ka Makana Ali'i retailers, and Campbell-Kapolei Complex Area schools. University of Hawaii West Oahu houses the state's threat assessment training hub and coordinates Threat Team Hawaii.
Pearl City organizations access OSINT social media monitoring—tracking online threats before they move offline. Waipahu businesses integrate threat assessment into emergency response planning. Ewa Beach and Waianae communities have developed crisis management frameworks incorporating threat evaluation.
Big Island Threat Assessment Services
Hilo workplace violence prevention programs serve East Hawaii employers, with Hilo Medical Center leading healthcare threat assessment efforts following OSHA workplace violence standards. Hawaii Community College and UH Hilo have campus threat assessment teams.
Neighbor Island Coverage
Maui Memorial Medical Center, Kauai Veterans Memorial Hospital, and major resorts across Maui and Kauai have requested threat assessment training. The challenge on neighbor islands is limited mental health resources and fewer law enforcement officers trained in threat assessment protocols.
Statewide, Threat Team Hawaii (TTH)—based at UH West Oahu—provides consultation for complex cases that exceed local team capabilities, coordinating with the Hawaii State Fusion Center for intelligence sharing.
Industry-Specific Threat Assessment Applications in Hawaii
Different industries face different threat types. Here's how threat assessment adapts to each sector:
School & Campus Threat Assessment
After Parkland, Sandy Hook, and Uvalde, school threat assessment became standard practice. Hawaii's 257 Department of Education schools now have threat assessment protocols following House Bill 539 (passed 2021), which requires schools to form multidisciplinary teams.
Campus security assessments at Hawaii schools typically identify three threat categories based on research from the National Center for School Safety and U.S. Department of
Transient threats: Students upset about grades, social conflicts, or discipline. They vent online or make off-hand comments. Low risk. Response: Brief intervention, monitor for escalation.
Substantive threats: Students who've researched weapons, made specific plans, or shown multiple warning behaviors. Medium to high risk. Response: Law enforcement involvement, mental health intervention, possible removal from campus.
Persistent threats: Students fixated on violence over long periods, collecting weapons, creating detailed plans. High risk. Response: Immediate law enforcement action, psychiatric evaluation, school exclusion.
K-12 threat assessment in Hawaii public schools follows the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) developed by University of Virginia researchers. The model has been tested in thousands of schools and documented in published research. Private schools including Punahou, Iolani, and Mid-Pacific Institute have adapted these protocols.
University threat assessment differs from K-12 because college students are adults. You can't just call parents. FERPA rules around educational records are stricter. But the warning behaviors are similar: threatening communications, obsession with grievances, acquiring weapons, planning attacks.
UH Manoa, UH Hilo, UH West Oahu, Hawaii Pacific University, Chaminade University, and Brigham Young University-Hawaii have all established campus threat assessment teams coordinating with campus security, student affairs, counseling centers, and local police. Protocols are adapted from ASIS International security standards and violence prevention research.
Healthcare Threat Assessment
Healthcare workers face the highest workplace violence rates of any profession according to Bureau of Justice Statistics. Hospital threat assessment programs in Hawaii focus on three threat sources:
Patient violence: Confused, intoxicated, or mentally ill patients attacking staff. This is the most common healthcare threat—accounting for 75% of incidents according to OSHA healthcare violence data. Threat assessment helps identify high-risk patients before admission (reviewing past violent episodes) and developing de-escalation protocols.
Family violence: Distraught family members threatening staff over patient care decisions. Particularly common in end-of-life situations or when families disagree with treatment. Threat assessment trains staff to recognize escalating behavior and when to involve security or police.
Staff-on-staff violence: Employee conflicts, romantic relationships gone bad, workplace bullying. Healthcare has high-stress work environments which can trigger interpersonal violence. Insider threat management identifies concerning employee behaviors early using protocols developed for federal facilities and critical infrastructure.
Queen's Medical Center, Straub, Kapiolani, Kaiser Permanente, and Pali Momi Medical Center have implemented threat assessment following Joint Commission standards requiring healthcare facilities to address workplace violence. Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center serves as a model for smaller community health clinics.
The challenge in healthcare: HIPAA privacy laws restrict information sharing. Threat assessment teams need clear protocols about when patient safety threats override confidentiality rules. Best practices are documented in healthcare security guidelines and violence prevention research.
Corporate & Workplace Threat Assessment
Workplace threat assessment in Hawaii covers several threat scenarios documented in DOJ workplace violence research:
Termination violence: The stereotypical "disgruntled employee" who returns after being fired. This is actually rare—only 5% of workplace homicides according to Bureau of Justice Statistics. But corporate vulnerability audits identify employees who might pose this risk based on behavior patterns during employment: threats, obsession with perceived injustices, grievance collection, violent fantasies.
Insider threats: Current employees sabotaging operations, stealing proprietary information, or planning violence. Warning signs include: sudden financial problems, attempts to access unauthorized information, violations of security protocols, statements about "getting even" with the company. Detection protocols follow FBI insider threat guidelines and methodologies detailed in published case studies.
Domestic violence spillover: An employee's abusive partner shows up at work threatening them or coworkers. This accounts for 20% of workplace violence according to CDC violence statistics. Business threat assessment programs train supervisors to recognize when employee safety concerns require workplace protection orders.
Customer/client violence: Angry customers threatening staff. Common in customer service roles, debt collection, property management, and retail. Retail threat assessment at locations like Ka Makana Ali'i focuses on identifying persistent problematic customers before behavior escalates, using protocols from Partner Alliance for Safer Schools (PASS).
James Campbell Industrial Park—Hawaii's largest industrial area with 4,000 employees—formed the Kapolei Local Emergency Action Network (KLEAN) coordinating threat assessment across multiple companies. When one employer identifies a threat, they can alert neighbors through the Hawaii State Fusion Center.
Bank of Hawaii, First Hawaiian Bank, Hawaiian Electric, HMSA, and other major Hawaii employers have developed internal threat assessment teams. The focus is often on protecting executives from targeted threats while also monitoring employee behavior for workplace violence indicators using frameworks from Association of Threat Assessment Professionals (ATAP).
Government & Critical Infrastructure
Federal facilities in Hawaii—military bases, federal buildings, courts—have had threat assessment protocols for years following DHS security guidelines. The Hawaii State Fusion Center coordinates threat information sharing between federal, state, and local agencies.
Government threat assessment focuses heavily on terrorism and targeted attacks against officials or facilities. After January 6, 2021, threat assessment expanded to include domestic extremism—tracking online radicalization, militia activity, and threats against elected officials using methods developed by START (National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism).
Critical infrastructure threat assessment covers power plants, water systems, ports, and airports. These facilities face threats from terrorism, sabotage, and insider attacks. Physical security assessments identify vulnerabilities in access control, surveillance systems, and security protocols following ASIS International guidelines.
The challenge with critical infrastructure: many threats come from outside the organization, requiring intelligence gathering beyond internal monitoring.
Threat Assessment Training & Certification in Hawaii
You can't just form a team and start assessing threats. This requires specific training in threat assessment protocols, legal compliance, and case management—training documented in professional development programs and academic curricula.
BTAM Certification Programs
The gold standard is Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) certification. University of Hawaii West Oahu offers BTAM training through their Office of Compliance and Prevention. The program covers:
History and research foundations of threat assessment
Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) methodology
FBI behavioral analysis approaches
Case study analysis of past attacks (documented in research databases)
Documentation and information management
Team coordination and decision-making protocols
BTAM certification requires 40 hours of training plus passing a competency exam. Threat assessment consultants in Hawaii should have this credential, backed by professional experience and published expertise.
Foundations of Threat Assessment Training
UH West Oahu's "Foundations of Threat Assessment" is an 8-hour introductory course. It covers:
Landmark cases (Columbine, Virginia Tech, Parkland, workplace shootings)
Warning behaviors that precede violence
Building a threat assessment team
Department of Homeland Security Threat Evaluation and Reporting (TERO) system
Hawaii-specific resources and legislation
This training works for any organization type—schools, businesses, nonprofits, healthcare, government. It gives your team enough knowledge to start identifying threats, even if you bring in outside consultants for high-risk cases.
Industry-Specific Training
School threat assessment training focuses on student developmental stages, educational privacy laws (FERPA), and coordination with parents. The Salem-Keizer model and Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG) are taught specifically for K-12 settings, with protocols detailed in published training materials.
Healthcare threat assessment training covers patient rights, HIPAA constraints on information sharing, de-escalation techniques for mentally ill patients, and Joint Commission compliance requirements. Methods are adapted from CDC violence prevention research.
Workplace threat assessment training emphasizes employment law, union considerations, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance when mental health is a factor, and coordination with HR during investigations. Frameworks follow OSHA workplace violence standards.
Secret Service NTAC & FBI Training
The Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center offers advanced training for experienced teams. Their courses focus on targeted violence prevention using case studies from actual attacks they've investigated.
FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit provides training on threat assessment for law enforcement. Honolulu Police Department sends officers to these programs, who then train Hawaii organizations on behavioral warning signs.
Ongoing Team Development
Threat assessment isn't a one-time training. Your team needs:
Quarterly case review meetings (discuss recent cases, lessons learned)
Annual refresher training (new research from The Violence Project and NIJ)
Coordination with Threat Team Hawaii for complex cases
Access to mental health consultants for risk assessment
Legal counsel familiar with privacy laws and threat assessment
Comprehensive training frameworks are documented in professional development guides and published curricula.
Building a Threat Assessment Team in Hawaii
Most organizations in Hawaii don't need a full-time threat assessment staff. You form a team from existing employees who take on threat assessment as part of their duties—a model endorsed by ASIS International and Partner Alliance for Safer Schools.
Team Composition
An effective threat assessment team includes:
Law enforcement perspective: Someone who understands criminal behavior, investigative techniques, and when threats become crimes. This could be:
Campus police officer (universities)
School resource officer (K-12 schools)
Corporate security director (businesses)
Local police liaison (Honolulu PD connection)
Mental health expertise: Someone who can evaluate psychological distress, mental illness indicators, and appropriate interventions:
School counselor (K-12)
Campus counseling center staff (universities)
Employee assistance program (EAP) coordinator (workplaces)
Consulting psychologist (if no in-house mental health staff)
Human resources/personnel authority: Someone who knows employment policies, student conduct rules, and can access personnel/student records:
HR director (businesses)
Dean of students (universities)
Vice principal (K-12 schools)
Leadership/decision-maker: Someone with authority to implement interventions (suspensions, terminations, facility exclusions, referrals to law enforcement):
Principal (K-12)
Vice president of student affairs (universities)
Operations director (businesses)
Executive director (nonprofits)
Legal counsel (consulting member): Attorney familiar with FERPA, HIPAA, ADA, and liability issues. They don't attend every meeting but advise on legal questions.
Team size: 4-6 core members. Smaller teams make decisions faster. Larger teams struggle with scheduling and consensus. Best practices are documented in team building guides and organizational protocols.
Information Sharing Protocols
This is the trickiest part. Your team needs to share sensitive information—student records, employee files, medical information, criminal history—to assess threats properly.
But privacy laws restrict this:
The safety exception: Most privacy laws include exceptions for imminent safety threats. FERPA allows schools to share student information without consent when protecting health or safety. HIPAA allows providers to disclose information to prevent serious harm.
Your threat assessment team operates under these safety exceptions. But you need clear protocols:
Information shared stays within the team (no gossip, no forwarding emails)
Document why each information request is necessary for threat assessment
Share only what's needed (not entire files)
Secure storage for case files (encrypted, access-restricted)
Training for all team members on confidentiality obligations
Hawaii's HB539 (2021) provides additional legal protection for education threat assessment teams, allowing them to access criminal records and share information with the Hawaii State Fusion Center for high-risk cases.
When to Involve Threat Team Hawaii
Threat Team Hawaii (TTH) is a state-level resource for complex cases beyond your team's expertise. Contact them when:
Someone has capability and intent to commit mass violence
Threats involve weapons of mass destruction, bombs, or terrorism
Multiple organizations are impacted (threat crosses jurisdictions)
Subject is law enforcement, military, or has tactical training
Your team disagrees on risk level
You need consultation on legal issues or mental health evaluations
TTH includes representatives from Honolulu PD, FBI Honolulu, state mental health, education, and homeland security. They don't take over cases—they advise your team.
Threat Assessment Methodologies & Best Practices
Several structured frameworks exist for threat assessment. Most Hawaii organizations use one of these models, all documented in published research and academic studies:
Secret Service NTAC Approach
The National Threat Assessment Center studied every school shooting and found attackers rarely just "snap." Violence is the end result of an understandable, often discernible process of thinking and behavior. The pathway to violence includes:
Grievance: Real or perceived injustice that becomes an obsession
Ideation: Fantasizing about revenge or violence as solution
Research: Studying past attacks, reading manifestos, learning tactics
Planning: Developing specific attack plans, scouting locations
Preparation: Acquiring weapons, testing security, saying goodbyes
Breach: Attempting or committing the attack
Threat assessment catches people at stages 1-4, before they breach. The Secret Service method focuses on identifying people moving through this pathway based on observable behaviors, not guessing about mental state or motive.
Warning behaviors include (documented in NTAC publications and training materials):
Pathway behaviors (researching, planning, preparing)
Fixation on specific grievances or targets
Identification with past attackers or violent ideologies
Novel aggression (violent acts unlike their previous behavior)
Energy burst (sudden increased activity after period of depression)
Leakage (telling others about plans, posting cryptic warnings)
Last resort thinking (suicide notes, giving away possessions)
Directly communicated threats (explicit warnings to targets)
FBI Behavioral Analysis Approach
The FBI developed threat assessment for workplace violence and targeted attacks against public officials. Their framework evaluates four key factors:
Motivation: Why does this person want to commit violence? Common motivations include:
Retaliation for perceived injustice
Attention-seeking or infamy
Ideology (political, religious extremism)
Mental illness (command hallucinations, paranoia)
Intent: How serious is the person about acting? Look for:
Specificity of threats (vague vs. detailed plans)
Research and planning behaviors
Fixation and time spent on grievance
Failed inhibitors (family, job, mental health support)
Capability: Can they actually carry this out? Assess:
Access to weapons or bomb-making materials
Physical proximity to potential targets
Tactical skills or training
Opportunity to attack without detection
Protective factors: What might stop them? Consider:
Support system (family, friends concerned about them)
Mental health treatment engagement
Employment or school engagement
Fear of consequences (arrest, injury)
The FBI model assigns risk levels based on these factors:
Low: Vague threat, no planning, strong protective factors
Medium: Some planning, concerning behaviors, mixed protective factors
High: Detailed planning, capability, weak protective factors
Imminent: Active preparation for attack, requires immediate law enforcement
This methodology is detailed in FBI publications and professional training programs.
DHS TERO Framework
The Department of Homeland Security's Threat Evaluation and Reporting (TERO) system helps organizations identify, evaluate, and report threats. It's designed for front-line employees who might observe warning behaviors.
TERO teaches the "See Something, Say Something" principle with specifics about what to report:
Observe: Watch for concerning behaviors
Assess: Is this normal for this person/situation?
Report: Tell your threat assessment team or security
Consult: Team decides if threat is real
Refer: Get person help or involve law enforcement
TERO works well in Hawaii because it's simple enough for any employee to understand. You don't need expertise to report that a coworker is talking about weapons or a student drew violent pictures. The team handles the expert assessment.
Legal Considerations & Compliance in Hawaii
Threat assessment intersects with multiple laws. Here's what Hawaii organizations need to know, with guidance from federal regulations and Hawaii statutes:
FERPA & Student Privacy
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects student educational records. Schools can't share grades, disciplinary records, or counseling notes without parent consent (for minors) or student consent (for adults).
Threat assessment exception: FERPA allows schools to disclose information without consent in "health or safety emergency." A student threatening violence qualifies. Your school threat assessment team can legally access student records and share information with law enforcement when assessing threats.
Document your reasoning: "We accessed student's behavioral records because they posted online threats and we needed to assess whether they pose danger to campus."
HIPAA & Medical Privacy
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects patient medical information. Healthcare providers can't share diagnoses, treatment records, or psychiatric evaluations without patient consent.
Threat assessment exception: HIPAA allows disclosure without consent "to prevent or lessen a serious and imminent threat to health or safety." If a patient threatens violence, healthcare providers can notify police, the potential victim, and threat assessment teams.
The key word is "imminent." You can't access someone's full medical history for threat assessment. But if they're making active threats, providers can share relevant information about violence risk factors.
Employment Law & ADA
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects employees with mental illness from discrimination. You can't fire someone just because they're depressed, anxious, or have PTSD.
Threat assessment consideration: The ADA includes a "direct threat" exception. Employers can terminate or exclude employees who pose "significant risk of substantial harm" even if mental illness contributes to the threat.
But you need documentation. Your threat assessment team must show:
Objective evidence of threatening behavior (not just that they seem "off")
Individualized assessment (not stereotypes about mental illness)
Risk that can't be eliminated by reasonable accommodation
Work with legal counsel before terminating someone for mental health-related threats. The liability exposure is significant if you get it wrong.
Title IX & Campus Sexual Violence
Title IX requires schools receiving federal funding to address sexual harassment and violence. Campus threat assessment teams often handle stalking, dating violence, and sexual assault cases that involve ongoing threats.
Coordinate your threat assessment team with your Title IX coordinator. When sexual violence cases include ongoing safety threats (stalker won't stop, abuser threatens retaliation), the threat team can implement protective measures while Title IX investigation proceeds.
HB539: Hawaii's Threat Assessment Legislation
Hawaii House Bill 539 (passed 2021) requires Department of Education schools and public charter schools to establish threat assessment teams. The law:
Mandates multidisciplinary teams including mental health, law enforcement, and school administration
Allows teams to access student records, criminal history, and protected health information for threat assessment
Requires Hawaii State Fusion Center to vet team members for access to sensitive information
Provides legal protection for team members acting in good faith
Requires threat assessment policies aligned with best practices
This legislation gives Hawaii school threat assessment teams clear legal authority to access information and coordinate with law enforcement. Similar legislation is pending for other sectors.
Case Studies: Threat Assessment Success Stories in Hawaii
Real examples show how threat assessment prevents violence (details anonymized per confidentiality requirements). These scenarios are based on actual case studies and published research:
Case 1: School Threat - Averted Mass Shooting
A Hawaii public high school teacher noticed a student's journal left on a desk. It contained detailed plans for a school shooting, including diagrams of the campus, lists of targets, and a timeline for acquiring weapons.
The teacher immediately reported it to the vice principal, who activated the school threat assessment team following DOE protocols. Within two hours, the team:
Reviewed the student's academic and disciplinary records
Interviewed classmates (who reported the student recently broke up with girlfriend and was being bullied)
Checked social media (found research on past school shooters)
Contacted parents (who reported student had been withdrawn, spending excessive time alone)
Coordinated with school resource officer
Risk assessment: High imminent risk. Student had specific plan, identified targets, researching weapons, recent stressors.
Intervention: School resource officer removed student from campus. Honolulu Police searched home (with parent consent)—found no weapons but discovered more planning documents. Student was hospitalized for psychiatric evaluation. School district filed for temporary restraining order preventing return to campus.
Outcome: Student received intensive mental health treatment. Family moved to different district. No violence occurred. School implemented additional bullying prevention programs following CDC guidelines.
Timeline from discovery to intervention: 4 hours.
Without threat assessment: The journal might have been dismissed as "just venting." The shooting could have occurred within weeks.
Case 2: Workplace Violence - Terminated Employee
A Honolulu corporate employer terminated an employee for performance issues. During the termination meeting, the employee made vague threats: "You'll regret this. I know where you all park your cars."
HR immediately reported the threat to the company's threat assessment team following OSHA workplace violence protocols. Investigation found:
Employee had no criminal history or known violence
Coworkers reported increasing paranoia over past six months (believed cameras were following him, accused coworkers of sabotage)
Social media showed posts about "conspiracies" and "getting revenge on corrupt system"
Employee owned firearms (legally)
Risk assessment: Medium risk. Mental health concerns, vague threats, access to weapons, but no specific plan or target identified.
Intervention: Team took several steps following professional protocols:
Security escort from building (didn't allow return to workstation)
Final paycheck mailed (no need to return to facility)
Photograph distributed to security (if he returned, security notifies police)
IT monitored for unauthorized network access attempts
Employee assistance program (EAP) made outreach offering severance extension if he engaged with mental health treatment
Monitoring: Team tracked the employee's public social media for 90 days following ATAP guidelines. No escalating behavior observed.
Outcome: Employee moved to different state within a month. No violence occurred. Company updated termination protocols based on lessons learned documented in case review process.
Case 3: Healthcare Violence - Patient Family Threat
A Hilo hospital's intensive care unit staff reported a patient's son making repeated threats toward the doctor. The patient wasn't recovering as expected, and the family believed medical negligence was responsible.
The son told nurses: "If my mother dies, that doctor dies too. I'll wait in the parking lot if I have to."
Hospital threat assessment team responded following Joint Commission requirements:
Reviewed son's background (no criminal history)
Staff reported son appeared increasingly sleep-deprived and emotionally dysregulated
Security confirmed son had been sleeping in his car in the parking lot for three days
Social worker reported family was from outer island with no local support system
Risk assessment: Medium risk escalating to high. Direct threat, opportunity (knows doctor's schedule), emotional crisis, but no weapons observed.
Intervention following healthcare security protocols:
Hospital security increased parking lot patrols
Doctor received panic button and security escort to car
Social worker engaged family—arranged hospital housing voucher so son could sleep, connected family with patient advocate
Security consulted with Hilo Police Department (officers increased patrols)
Team drafted restraining order petition (ready to file if behavior escalated)
Outcome: Mother eventually recovered. Son never acted on threats. Family later apologized, explaining stress had overwhelmed them. No violence occurred.
Key lesson: Sometimes threat behavior stems from crisis, not criminal intent. Addressing the underlying stressor (exhaustion, feeling helpless) resolved the threat—a principle documented in violence prevention research and professional training materials.
Implementing Threat Assessment in Your Hawaii Organization
Ready to start a threat assessment program? Here's your action plan based on implementation frameworks and professional guidelines:
Step 1: Get Leadership Buy-In
Your executive director, principal, hospital administrator, or CEO needs to support this.
Explain:
The problem: Without formal threat assessment, your organization has no systematic way to identify and manage threats. You're reacting after violence occurs instead of preventing it.
The cost of inaction: Average workplace violence incident costs $250,000 (Bureau of Justice Statistics—legal fees, workers comp, lost productivity, reputation damage). School shootings destroy communities. Healthcare violence drives nurse burnout and retention problems.
The solution: Threat assessment programs reduce violence by 40-67% depending on the study (CDC research, NIJ findings). They're required by law in some sectors (Hawaii schools, Joint Commission healthcare). They reduce liability—courts view threat assessment as "reasonable precaution" that protects organizations from negligence claims.
The investment: Forming a team from existing staff costs minimal money. Training costs $500-2,000 per person (UH West Oahu BTAM). Outside consultants for complex cases cost $150-300/hour (professional services). Compare this to lawsuit settlements (often millions) or single violence incident costs.
Step 2: Form Your Team
Identify 4-6 people representing different expertise areas:
Law enforcement or security
Mental health or counseling
HR or student affairs
Leadership with decision authority
Send them to BTAM foundations training (8 hours minimum). Budget for full BTAM certification (40 hours) for at least 2-3 core members.
Step 3: Develop Policies and Protocols
Write clear procedures covering:
Reporting: How do employees report concerns? Who receives reports? 24/7 hotline or email? Anonymous reporting allowed?
Response timeline: How quickly does team convene after report? (Standard: within 24 hours for serious threats, within 1 week for lower-level concerns)
Assessment process: What framework do you use? (Secret Service, FBI, DHS TERO, or another model?) How do you determine risk levels?
Intervention options: What can you do?
Low risk: Monitor, offer support services
Medium risk: Counseling referral, safety planning, increased supervision
High risk: Law enforcement involvement, facility exclusion, hospitalization
Documentation: How do you record cases? Where are files stored? Who has access? How long do you retain records?
Policy templates and implementation guides are available through professional resources and published materials.
Step 4: Train Your Organization
Your threat assessment team can't prevent violence alone. Everyone needs basic training following DHS guidelines:
All staff training (1-2 hours):
What is threat assessment?
Warning behaviors to report (threats, fixation, weapons, planning)
How to report concerns (don't confront the person—report to team)
What happens after you report (team assesses, you may be interviewed)
Supervisor training (4 hours):
Recognizing behavioral changes in employees/students
Documentation of concerning behaviors
When to report vs. when to handle informally
Supporting employees through interventions
Security/front-line training (2-3 hours):
De-escalation techniques
When to call police vs. refer to threat assessment team
Observing and reporting suspicious behavior
Training curricula available through UH West Oahu and professional consultants.
Step 5: Partner with Community Resources
Your team will need:
Mental health providers: For evaluations, counseling referrals, hospitalization when needed. Establish relationships with psychiatrists, psychologists, and crisis intervention services.
Law enforcement: Meet with local police or campus security before you have a crisis. Explain your threat assessment process. Ask about their resources (crisis negotiators, mental health response teams).
Legal counsel: Have an attorney familiar with threat assessment review your policies. Keep them on call for urgent legal questions during high-risk cases.
Threat Team Hawaii: Register your team with TTH. Attend their case consultation meetings. Learn from other Hawaii teams.
Step 6: Practice Through Tabletop Exercises
Run scenarios to test your protocols following FEMA exercise guidelines:
Scenario 1: Student posts school shooting threat on social media. How does your team respond? Who do you notify? What information do you need? What intervention do you implement?
Scenario 2: Employee makes direct threat toward supervisor during termination. How does security respond? When do you call police? What legal issues arise?
Scenario 3: Patient's family member brings weapon to hospital. How does your team coordinate with hospital security and law enforcement? How do you protect staff?
Practice reveals gaps in your protocols before real cases occur.
Resources for Threat Assessment in Hawaii
Training Organizations
University of Hawaii West Oahu - BTAM Program Contact: Office of Compliance and Prevention Offers: BTAM certification, Foundations of Threat Assessment, case consultations
Threat Team Hawaii (TTH)Contact: Through UH West Oahu Offers: Statewide case consultation, networking, complex threat assessment support
CrisisWire Threat Management Solutions Contact: crisiswire@proton.meLinkedIn: Ren Ryba Offers: Private sector threat assessment consulting, training, campus security assessments, workplace violence prevention, corporate vulnerability audits
Published Works: Threat assessment books on Amazon | Academic research on Academia.edu
Federal Resources
U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center Free resources: Case studies, training materials, threat assessment guides, behavioral analysis frameworks
Contact: Through local FBI Honolulu field office
Resources: Threat assessment guidance for schools and workplaces, behavioral analysis
Resources: TERO training, active shooter preparedness, emergency management planning
Resources: Violence prevention research, legal frameworks, best practices
Resources: K-12 threat assessment, school safety grants, training programs
Resources: Public health approach to violence, research data, prevention strategies
Resources: Research on threat assessment effectiveness, evidence-based practices
Resources: Crisis planning, emergency response coordination, disaster preparedness
Resources: Healthcare violence prevention, workplace safety standards, compliance guidance
Hawaii-Specific Resources
Contact: Through State of Hawaii Department of Defense Services: Intelligence sharing, threat information, consultation on terrorism/extremism cases
District stations: Kapolei, Pearl City, Wahiawa, Kalihi, Kaneohe Services:
School resource officers, crisis intervention, threat assessment consultation
Resources: School threat assessment policies, training for educators, HB539 implementation
Resources: HB539 threat assessment legislation, educational policy, legal frameworks
Resources: State agencies, emergency management, public safety information
Research Organizations
Resources: Mass shooting database, prevention research, evidence-based strategies
Resources: K-12 threat assessment model, training, research on school safety
Resources: Terrorism research, extremism studies, threat analysis
Resources: Professional development, annual conference, threat assessment journal, certification
Resources: Security management standards, professional certification (CPP), industry guidelines
Resources: K-12 security guidelines, school safety best practices, vendor-neutral recommendations
Resources: Healthcare accreditation standards, workplace violence requirements, patient safety
Resources: Psychological research on violence, mental health interventions, treatment approaches
Resources: School-based mental health, crisis intervention, student support services
Resources: Crime data, workplace violence statistics, victimization surveys
Resources: Educator safety, school climate, violence prevention advocacy
Resources: Law enforcement best practices, school safety partnerships, officer training
Resources: Law enforcement training standards, professional development (referenced for background context)
What You Need to Remember About Threat Assessment
Threat assessment prevents violence. It catches people on the pathway to violence before they attack.
Here's what works:
Start early: The best interventions happen months before violence, when someone is thinking about it but hasn't started planning. That's when you can still help them rather than arrest them—a principle proven through Secret Service research and FBI case studies.
Focus on behavior, not profiles: You're not looking for a "type" of person. You're tracking specific observable behaviors—threats, obsession, acquiring weapons, planning attacks. These behaviors predict violence regardless of demographics, as documented in published research and academic studies.
Use multidisciplinary teams: Law enforcement catches criminal indicators. Mental health spots psychological distress. HR/educators know individual history. Together, they see the full picture—the ATAP model endorsed by federal agencies.
Document everything: Good records protect you legally and help you track patterns over time. Write down what you observed, when, who you told, what you did about it. Legal frameworks are detailed in compliance guides.
Get trained: Threat assessment requires specific skills. Take BTAM training. Learn the research. Study past cases. You can't just wing this—professional development programs available through multiple sources.
Coordinate with resources: Your team needs mental health providers for evaluations, law enforcement for high-risk cases, and legal counsel for privacy issues. Build these relationships before you need them.
Balance safety with civil rights: Not everyone who makes a threat is dangerous. Not everyone who's dangerous makes threats. Good threat assessment distinguishes between people who need help and people who need to be stopped—ethical frameworks documented in professional standards and legal guidelines.
Violence is preventable. Most attackers tell people their plans. Most show warning signs. Most follow a predictable pathway (CDC research, NIJ findings). Threat assessment gives you the tools to recognize these patterns and intervene before tragedy occurs.
Getting Expert Help with Threat Assessment in Hawaii
If your Hawaii organization needs help implementing threat assessment:
For schools: Start with UH West Oahu BTAM program. They specialize in education threat assessment. Partner with your school resource officer and school counselor to form your initial team following DOE guidelines.
For healthcare: Joint Commission requires threat assessment plans. Many Hawaii hospitals have established teams that can mentor you. Focus on patient violence prevention and staff safety protocols aligned with OSHA standards.
For businesses: Develop workplace threat assessment policies integrated with HR. Consider hiring security consultants for corporate vulnerability audits and insider threat management following DOJ workplace violence guidelines.
For complex cases: Contact Threat Team Hawaii for consultation on high-risk threats beyond your team's expertise, coordinating with Hawaii State Fusion Center.
For private sector consulting: CrisisWire provides threat assessment services across Hawaii—from Honolulu behavioral threat assessment to Kapolei comprehensive security consulting.
We bring 40 years of security experience: U.S. Air Force nuclear weapons security, LAPD police operations, U.S. Embassy Baghdad protection services (2,400+ threat assessments conducted), and university campus safety leadership. BTAM-certified through University of Hawaii West Oahu.
Published expertise: Author of multiple threat assessment books on Amazon, with peer-reviewed research on Academia.edu, featured expert on ABC7 Los Angeles and NPR/LAist.
Contact CrisisWire:
Email: crisiswire@proton.me
Portfolio: bit.ly/crisiswire
Whether you're protecting a school, hospital, business, or government facility, threat assessment works. The research is clear (Secret Service, FBI, CDC, NIJ). The methods are proven (published case studies, academic research). And lives depend on getting this right.
Don't wait for violence to force you to act.
Start your threat assessment program today following best practices, federal guidelines, and professional standards.
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