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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Education, First Preventer, Health Care, indicators, News, Prevention, Risk Management, School Safety, Video, Workplace Violence

This message is probably the most important message for LEADERS of schools, higher ed, organizations, and communities that I’ve ever shared in any of my videos. When you don’t know what others know, bad things can happen and we see examples of bad things happening on a DAILY basis. To stop the bad things from happening, a new Prevention Model is needed, because more security and hardening is getting ready to react to an attack, not preventing an attack. To all LEADERS, when you don’t know what 20+ years of research data has exposed about proactively PREVENTING incidents and tragedies, your organization and community areRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer

The First Preventers Model For Communities, Schools, and Organizations Individuals of Concern / At-Risk Individuals Exist in the Community (Soaring numbers of individuals of concern and at-risk individuals due to the pandemic, political division, the economy, job stability, race, hate, extremists, terrorism, and numerous other challenges.) Incidents and Tragedies are taking place in the Community Shootings, school violence, workplace violence, community violence, gang violence, drug violence, robberies, sexual abuse, child abuse, suicides, and numerous other incidents and tragedies. Pre-Incident Indicators Exist in the Community (Red flags, warning signs, concerning behaviors, behavior history, leakage, etc.) Interventions, Disruptions, and Prevention must take place in the Community When the right people don’tRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer

Lessons learned from 20+ years of incidents and tragedies have exposed the dangerous and common gaps, silos, disconnects, and flawed recycled thinking. Eliminating common gaps, silos, disconnects, and flawed recycled thinking requires business leaders and community leaders to understand the lessons learned and then take real actions to implement the lessons learned. For example, lessons learned exposed how most (if not all) organizations and communities experiencing shootings, bombings, acts of violence, and other incidents and tragedies HAD: MULTIPLE Pre-incident indicators MULTIPLE Incident reporting options MULTIPLE Sources of indicators and information MULTIPLE Record management systems MULTIPLE Community resources MULTIPLE Law enforcement resources MULTIPLE Laws prohibiting violenceRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer

The First Preventers Playbook: How to Intervene, Disrupt, and Prevent Tragedy Before It Strikes. Enough is enough! Old playbooks and strategies depend on First Responders (defense), however First Preventers (offense) are needed too. It’s time to use a new prevention playbook to prevent more incidents and tragedies, The First Preventers Playbook is just in time to show you how. LAS VEGAS, NV – “For too long, we have ignored the signs of mass casualty attacks and refused to work together to “connect the dots”. Rick has given us a roadmap to do just that,” Captain Griger, Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office. Leaders in schools, higher education,Read More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Connect the Dots, Education, First Preventer, Legal, Prevention, Threat Assessment Team, Workplace Violence

Who oversees your Threat Assessment Team(s) and prevention – CFO, Risk Management, Legal, CEO, other? No doubt they understand the importance of insurance policies for specific needs (Workers’ Compensation, Property, Errors & Omissions, Directors and Officers, General Liability, etc.). They also know the tremendous value in having an “Umbrella Insurance Policy” to cover the gaps, silos, and disconnects specific insurance policies do not cover, so your organization isn’t open to liabilities, vulnerabilities, and being sued, any of which could destroy your organization’s reputation and bottom line. Investopedia states that the added coverage of an Umbrella Policy (extra liability insurance “is most useful to individuals whoRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer, Incident Reporting, Prevention, Threat Assessment Team

Would you like to prevent (intervene, disrupt, stop) more incidents and tragedies BEFORE they occur? ✓ Have you ever experienced an incident or tragedy and found out afterward that people were aware of red flags and warning signs BEFORE the incident or tragedy occurred? ✓ Eliminate your gaps, silos, and disconnects. Here are the facts… Evidence, research, post-incident reports, lessons learned, headlines, and other data reveals again and again that more than enough red flags and warning signs were observed and reported BEFORE nearly EVERY incident and tragedy.  BUT common gaps, silos, and disconnects kept the red flags and warning signs from being collected, shared,Read More →

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In: First Preventer, Prevention, Threat Assessment Team, Warning Signs

“Child abuse is incredibly common,” Patterson said. “The community as a whole has to be involved in order to make a difference.” Read the full article here. Is your Threat Assessment Team (TAT) seeing all the Warning Signs your community members are? To succeed, it’s time they were… Awareity specializes in helping Threat Assessment Teams learn how to not only connect with their community (First Preventers), but also provides award-winning and proven Threat Assessment Team tools to intervene, disrupt, and prevent incidents before they occur. Are you ready to involve your community in order to save lives, reputations, and bottom lines? Click here to learnRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, First Preventer, Incident Reporting, Prevention, Risk Management, School Safety, Threat Assessment Team, Workplace Violence

I am proud to share this new Case Study featured in April’s issue of Security Management magazine (an ASIS publication) that features Awareity’s client, Captain Kevin Griger of the Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office in Nebraska. The leadership of Captain Griger is next level in how Threat Assessment Teams in schools and organizations, as well as entire communities, can proactively intervene, disrupt, and prevent incidents before they happen.  See some of Captain Griger’s quotes from the case study below: Threat Assessment Teams “As people come up on the radar, one way or another—whether through the school or through anonymous notification—our threat assessment team then sits downRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Connect the Dots, First Preventer, Incident Reporting, Prevention, Research, Rick's Notes, Threat Assessment Team

It was an honor to connect with ITL CEO Wayne Allen on the Innovator’s Edge Podcast! Together we discussed how Awareity’s innovative “Smart Platform” solution is designed with Community-wide Threat Assessment Teams in mind. I also touched on how the Smart Platform equips Threat Assessment Teams to better collect, coordinate and connect warning signs/red flags, empowering organizations and communities to intervene, disrupt, and prevent active shooters and other acts of violence in workplaces, schools, churches, communities, and more. “What we see again and again after these things happen is that we see almost immediately that there were warning signs…and people observed them and in mostRead More →

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In: *Connecting the Dots Blog*, Campus Safety, Education, First Preventer, Prevention, School Safety

Enough IS ENOUGH! How to Think Different to Prevent School Shootings and Violence Enough is Enough! Different thinking is needed to prevent school shootings and violence. Different thinking, different strategies, and different tools are needed based on overwhelming evidence, research-based data, and success stories proving PREVENTING school shootings and violence is possible. Preventing school shootings (and other acts of violence) is what everyone wants, so HOW do schools and communities work together using different thinking to PREVENT school shootings and violence? Read the Full Article Here >Read More →