John M. Collins

Weston and Calhoun’s Pathway to Intended Violence is a 🔑 concept in Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management. This is how I teach it with some added visuals to reinforce the concept for understanding and retention: Grievance: Someone is unhappy about something. The grievance can be real, perceived, or a result of mental illness. Ideation: The 💡 goes on in the person of concern’s head, indicating that violence is an option, or the only option. Research and Planning: A search engine is almost always a part of this phase where the person of concern gathers information about their target, what’s needed for their attack, and develops a plan. Preparation: This is when the person or concern starts adding things to cart like weapons and/or whatever else is needed. This phase can also include things like target practice. One individual started to use steroids so that he was physically prepared for his attack. Breach: Actually or figuratively trespasses for the purpose of pre-operational surveillance or the actual attack. One individual trespassed at the location six months prior his attack. Attack: We all know what happens during this phase, which is represented by the stretcher. The pathway to violence is dynamic, people can escalate and deescalate while on the pathway. The speed in which a person of concern moves up the pathway to attack is varied, do not dismiss a person of concern’s intent to attack based on a long period of time having passed. Also keep in mind that approaching a person of concern can cause them to expedite their plan.

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🚨 Introducing the NEW Certified Community Supervision Professional (CCSP)! 🚨 We’re excited to announce the upcoming launch of the Certified Community Supervision Professional (CCSP) — a new national certification from American Probation and Parole Association designed for the real-world demands of community supervision professionals. Community supervision is more complex than ever. The CCSP meets that challenge head-on with 25 hours of self-paced, research-informed online learning focused on practical, field-ready skills — not just theory. 💡 Participants will build expertise in five core areas: ✔️ Building a supportive client alliance ✔️ Motivational mentoring for lasting change ✔️ Goal planning & progress monitoring ✔️ Evidence-based skill building ✔️ Reflective, trauma-informed supervision 🎓 What you earn: • Certificate of completion • Digital badge • APPA contact hours Strengthen your credibility. Sharpen your skills. Elevate your practice. 👉 CCSP is coming soon — stay tuned! https://lnkd.in/eiC-4KhS #APPA #CCSP #Probation #ProbationOfficer #ParoleOfficer #CommunityCorrections #CommunitySupervision #JusticeReform #JuvenileJustice #Recidivism #Reentry #SecondChances

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🚨 Basic Academy Training Is Not Enough 🚨 Domestic Violence Calls Demand More Than the Basics In most police academies, domestic violence training spans only a few hours. It’s bundled with other topics, rushed through with bullet points, and often taught without survivor voices, trauma-informed frameworks, or realistic scenario-based learning. Yet these are some of the most dangerous and complex calls officers will respond to. DV calls are high risk, not just for victims, but for officers too. They demand split-second decisions, emotional intelligence, and a deep understanding of coercive control, trauma, stalking, strangulation, victim recantation, and offender manipulation. Without ongoing, specialized, and advanced training, we send officers into homes where: 🔹 Victims may not speak due to fear or trauma 🔹 Offenders know how to play the system 🔹 Children are silent witnesses 🔹 Lethality can escalate in moments We can’t expect academy basics to prepare officers for this reality. It’s time we raise the bar. ✅ Train officers to recognize patterns of abuse, not just visible injuries. ✅ Teach trauma-informed interviewing and documentation skills. ✅ Build partnerships with advocates, prosecutors, and forensic interviewers. ✅ Invest in real continuing education — not checkbox compliance. Because victims deserve better. And so do the officers trying to protect them. #DomesticViolence #LawEnforcementTraining

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Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) equips law enforcement officers with essential tools for responding to individuals with mental health conditions and intellectual or developmental disabilities. Through the Academic Training Initiative, the National Policing Institute and partners created a comprehensive toolkit for law enforcement agencies that want to facilitate CRIT training for officers. Through CRIT, officers learn: ✔️ The purpose and importance of crisis response training ✔️ Their role in crisis situations ✔️ How to collaborate effectively with mental health professionals Police-mental health collaboration is a core element of safer, more effective crisis response. Access these resources today at no-cost: https://hubs.li/Q03n8Hsq0

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In the new Psynopsis: 'First Responders and Other Public Safety Personnel – Psychological impacts of Service' Message from CPA CEO Dr. Lisa Votta-Bleeker "Psychology, and psychologists, have helped people impacted by horrible events throughout the history of the profession. It is incumbent upon all of us in the profession to remember that “those impacted” include those who rush in to help." https://lnkd.in/eKteekjS

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Yesterday, the United States Supreme Court decided an important Title VII "reverse" employment discrimination case in Ames v. Ohio Dept. of Youth Servs. Title VII prohibits employers from intentionally discriminating against their employees on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. 42 U.S.C. 2000e-2(a)(1). Generally speaking, reverse discrimination refers to perceived or actual discrimination against members of a majority group (e.g., men, whites) in favor of minority or historically disadvantaged groups. The case is significant because it resolves a split amongst the federal circuit courts regarding the evidentiary burden necessary to establish a reverse employment discrimination claim. In such cases, the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth, Tenth, and D.C. Circuit Courts required a heightened evidentiary standard of "background circumstances to support the suspicion that the defendant is that unusual employer who discriminates against the majority." See, 87 F.34th 822, 825 (6th Cir. 2023). In a unanimous decision written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, the Supreme Court held that Title VII does not impose such a heightened standard on majority-group plaintiffs, nor is the additional "background circumstances" requirement consistent with the case law construing the statute. I have attached the Supreme Court opinion below. #employment #employmentlaw #discrimination #reversediscrimination

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The Center for Domestic Preparedness (CDP) has seat openings in an upcoming offering of its Field Force Operations (FFO) and Law Enforcement Protective Measures for Complex Incidents (LEPM) courses in October. FFO is a three-day course which provides law enforcement and security officers with instruction in protest types and actions, legal considerations, responsibilities of mobile field force teams, and crowd-control methods. The course culminates with a series of hands-on activities, allowing responders to practice all of their learned skills in a realistic context. LEPM provides law enforcement officers with the knowledge and skills required to safely perform law enforcement roles during an active threat situation involving hazardous materials. It’s coupled with the CDP’s Intermediate Hands-On Training for CBRNE Incidents: Law Enforcement and Law Enforcement Response Actions for CBRNE Incidents. For additional information and the link to apply, visit https://lnkd.in/gF5fF4Ti for FFO and https://lnkd.in/gpN8PXi9 for LEPM. For a full list of training available, visit https://lnkd.in/eBuwt8t5. CDP training is completely funded for state, local, tribal and territorial emergency responders to include roundtrip airfare, meals, and lodging.

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Strategic #schoolsafety leaders need to think about potential unintended consequences if they are considering implementing #schoolsecurity #weaponsdetection systems. While this recent article in a security industry publication was written by a weapons detection vendor, three quotes from the article should cause #schoolleaders and school safety professionals to take a tactical pause for some critical thinking: "Many weapons detection system manufacturers boast impressive throughput rates, claiming to screen thousands of people per hour without compromising security. However, these claims often rely on a critical compromise: ignoring smaller types of potential metallic threat items. " "The truth is there is a trade-off between the speed of screening and the depth of security screening. High-throughput systems designed to screen large crowds quickly may compromise on detecting less common or harder-to-identify threats." "Such decisions require not only a thorough understanding of the technology but also an honest assessment of the risks an organization is willing to accept. Making the wrong choice — whether due to underestimating threats or prioritizing convenience — has consequences." You can read the full article here: https://zurl.co/5bs45

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Nearly 1 in 4 law enforcement officers report symptoms of PTSD or depression—yet most will never seek formal support. Mental health conversations usually happen after a crisis. Rarely before one. So where does responsibility actually lie? With administration—to build systems that prioritize nervous system health, early intervention, and realistic workloads? With the officer—to recognize when stress, trauma, and burnout are impacting judgment and behavior? Or with both, operating inside a culture shaped by: • 24/7 media cycles • Social media outrage and instant scrutiny • Public expectations layered on top of chronic exposure to trauma We’re asking human nervous systems to perform calmly in constant turbulence. Mental health isn’t just personal. It’s physiological, organizational, and social. If we want better decisions, safer outcomes, and healthier people, mental health can’t be an afterthought—or a one-time training. It has to be part of the infrastructure. Curious how others see it: Where does responsibility for mental health truly begin—and where does it end?

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