Secret Service Takes on School Violence
Aims to Help Identify Potentially Dangerous Youths
Aug. 17, 2000
NEW YORK (AP) -- Long the guardian of America's
presidents and currency, the Secret Service is extending
its expertise to a new domain: the nation's schools.
The agency believes that some of the methods that help
thwart potential assassins might also prevent
Columbine-style violence.
The project on how to identify youngsters who might
turn violent will be completed this fall. Agents from
the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center,
including psychology experts, have examined about
40 recent school shootings and interviewed several of
the perpetrators.
"Our schools are a fairly safe place to be, but the
national psyche has changed -- nobody still thinks `It
can't happen to me,"' Secret Service Director Brian
Stafford said in an interview this week.
"There are a lot of people looking for answers. We don't
have them all ... but there's no better organization to
take the lead in this area. It's what we do every day,
and we're the best in the world at it."
Early detection
The final report, which will be made available to
police and school officials, will offer suggestions for
early detection of potentially threatening students.
What it won't contain is any profile of a typical school
shooter.
"We don't believe in profiles," Stafford said. "There
are no psychological or demographic profiles for the
adults who pose threats, and my guess is we're going to
find the same thing in children."
Bryan Vossekuil, the agent heading the project, noted
that other organizations and experts have compiled profiles
or checklists intended to help identify potentially violent
students.
"The dilemma is that some are written so broadly that
they're overinclusive, and some written so narrowly that
they're likely to miss people educators should be concerned
about," Vossekuil said. "There's no one set of characteristics
that describe a school shooter."
For example, Vossekuil said some of the school shooters were
victims of bullying, others were not. Some were poor students,
others very bright.
'A spontaneous, impulsive manner'
On some matters, the Secret Service findings are ambiguous.
For example, the attacks studied often were preceded by
threatening comments, but not necessarily a specific, direct
threat toward the eventual target. And though several shooters
had psychological problems, "it's not as if they were overtly
crazy," Vossekuil said.
One of the most useful findings, Stafford said, is that none
of the shooters acted "in a spontaneous, impulsive manner."
"There's been plenty of time to intervene," he said. "But
you have to recognize the signs and have people in place to
respond."
The shooters did not necessarily convey any veiled warnings
to adults, Stafford said, "but there was plenty of
communication ... diaries, Web sites, quite a few other
children aware of the information."
Focus on behavior and motives
Rather than profiling, the Secret Service focuses on
behavior and motives, tracing the shooter's thoughts and
actions. It has used similar methodology in dealing with
potential assassins, workplace violence and celebrity
stalkers.
"We're asking how he came to the point where he saw this
as some kind of solution," Vossekuil said. "Is there
potentially discernible behavior that might aid in earlier
detection?"
One of the jailed youths interviewed by agents was Luke
Woodham, convicted of killing two students and wounding
seven at Pearl High School in Mississippi in 1997.
In the interview, Woodham said he had a difficult childhood
and "felt like nobody cared.
"I just didn't have anyone to talk to about all the things
I was going through," he said. "I kept a lot of hurt inside
me."
Local cop impressed
As part of the project, Vossekuil and his colleagues have
met in various regions with school and police officials. On
hand at a seminar near Pittsburgh was Allegheny County police
officer Mike Spagnoletti, who works on anti-drug and
anti-violence programs in area schools.
He was impressed by the agents' candor regarding profiling.
"There's kid stuff and there's serious stuff, and you've got
to know the difference," Spagnoletti said. "A kid dyes his
hair purple and dresses in black, that may be strange to you
or me, but it doesn't mean he's going to go out and kill
somebody."
Will it work?
A leading expert on children's mental health, Kevin Dwyer,
questioned whether the Secret Service could effectively shift
its focus from adult crime to student behavior.
"If they all worked together to get rid of guns, we'd be
better off," said Dwyer, a former president of the National
Association of School Psychologists.
However, Dwyer said he welcomes any effort that would bring
education, health and law enforcement officials together to
prevent violence.
"We need to teach all kids to be more reflexive than impulsive,
to cope better, to think before they act," he said.
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