Report page 68

Preventing targeted violence does not end with the establishment of a BTAU.

The agency should develop strategic efforts to promote a community culture that invites partner agencies into the behavioral threat assessment process, prioritizes relationship building and information sharing, and empowers community members to recognize and report concerning behaviors.

Conducting outreach to educate partner agencies and community members will help to establish trust and invite participation.

The BTAU should also focus on continual programmatic evaluation and improvement.

The best practice for achieving any goal involves continuous self-evaluation and improvement.

BTAUs should identify ways of utilizing data to inform program evaluation and strategy development.

For example, the BTAU could assess if bystander reporting increases in response to a focused public messaging campaign.

Similarly, the BTAU could evaluate if multiagency training activities increase the responsiveness of partner agencies during the assessment and management of individuals of concern.

BTAUs will want to be aware of any programmatic strengths or weaknesses and should adapt their procedures appropriately.

If resources allow, BTAUs could consider enlisting external expertise to assist with the technical aspects of program evaluation.