Day One - General Session: Threat Management: Strategies To Protect Your People and Brand
Lunch on the first day of the conference featured a general session panel moderated by Melissa Mitchell, LifeWay Christian Stores. On the panel were: Larry Barton, LarryBarton.com and Mary Ellen O’Toole, Federal Bureau of Investigations Academy. The topic, threat management.
Larry spoke first and focussed on case management. One of his first points is that LP is first and foremost about people. The equipment, tools and technology all map back to people. Also, OSHA expects you to have a Threat Assesment Team, do you? Next, negligent retention claims.
Some quick hits on the dynamic change we’re seeing:
- 1.8 million workplace assaults
- Blogs, social networks, Twitter
- Returning vets: PSTD
- Bullying reported by 67% of associates (Bullying can move a non-violent person to violence)
- The #1 workplace weapon….fists
Another major issue is the aging workforce.
What are some the realities we deal with?
- I can’t do anything because of privacy, privacy is important, but so is safety
- Don’t tell corporate, it will make us look bad
- You must encourage associates to speak up
What are the behavioral characteristics?
- Grievance collecter
- “Masks” come off in stages, it’s a process, perhaps a statement or a simple action, be aware
- Most workplace violence is fueled by control, perhaps they lost control in another area of their life
- Mental illness and/or substance abuse highly correlates
How do you balance associates with a problem from a ‘Problem Associate’
- 22% of all associates have a temporary issue
- 10% of all associates could be diagnosed with an issue
- 3% of all associates should be on treatment but reject it or can’t afford it
Fiduciary responsibilities of an LP leader is very profound, here are the issues that Larry addresses:
- Duty to care, are you actions saying otherwise?
- Duty on act, when should you do something?
- Duty to warn, who connects the dots?
- Duty to supervise, you need to watch over you associates.
- Duty to train, how many hours of training do you provide?
Here is the process Larry completed with Nike:
- Behavioral & clinical observations
- Team notifications
- 6-part case study with actor/actress
- Non-Wicklander-Zulawksi techniques
- Assessment and application
What are your opportunities
- Encourage your associates to share concerns, people have good intuition, let them use it.
- Uniform threat assessment protocol
- Involve law enforcement appropriately
- Don’t try to be trial lawyer, stay within your realm
Mary Ellen O’Toole took the stage next. Mary heads up the Behavioral Analysis Unit, previously known as the ‘Profiling Unit’. They are located at the FBI Academy and were the inspiration for ‘Silence of the Lambs’. The unit began in the 1970s.
In their line of work, often the book opens with a shoplifting arrest. From there the pages are turned and they learn more about a criminal mind.
Profiling in basically a two-part process: 1. Observing and analyzing all behavior. 2. Interpreting that information.
However, there are some common myths in criminal profiling. The ’snap theory’ is a fairy tale. People don’t snap, it’s a steady progression. Another common myth is the ‘mask of sanity’, people who commit crimes can look normal. Criminals do not look wild and crazy (there are some exceptions to this).
Identifying potentially dangerous behavior is sometimes difficult, why? Preconceived beliefs, the standard, “He’s a nice guy” statement. We also observe red flags, but incorrectly interpret them, disregard them or rationalize them.
Understanding criminal human behavior is dimensional issue. Everybody is different. Offenders are not a homogenous group. They range from compliant to ‘mission oriented’.
Who are we talking about? Employees, students, former employees, temporary and part-time employees, contractors, customers, suppliers, clients/patients and family members of employees.
Motive and justification are rarely in sync. What types of crimes? Homicide, attempted homicide, assault, sexual assault, threats, vandalism, sabotage, product contamination, arson/bombings, stalking, domestic violence and harassment.
What are motivations for workplace crime?
- Work related conflict
- Personal Conflict
- Domestic Violence
- Financial
- Revenge
- Displaced Anger
- A Stalker’s Revenge
- Terrorism
- Customer/Client/Supplier/Patient Disgruntled
- Narcissistic Personality
When on camera think about what you say, often that interview will be brought back up in a deposition.
