Published on August 14, 2024
Preventing violence is a priority of many college campuses and communities across the U.S. Dating violence, physical and sexual misconduct, threats, stalking, suicide, and mass shootings are among campus concerns.
The University of Iowa Threat Assessment Team (TAT), a unit of Campus Safety, works with campus and community partners to prevent violence and maintain safety by assessing, monitoring, and providing support for people exhibiting unusual distress, fixated grievances, or troubling behaviors. The TAT depends on partners and the public to report concerning behaviors they observe.
TAT was established in 2008 in response to the Iowa Board of Regent’s Comprehensive Safety and Security Policy and is a multi-disciplinary team composed of members of the UI Police Department, Human Resources, Division of Student Life, and University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics (UIHC).
Known precursors to violence include, but are not limited to, paranoid ideas, changes in personality or performance, disciplinary problems on campus, suicidal ideation, non-specific threats of violence, increased isolation, and “odd” or “bizarre” behavior, paired with an interest in or obtaining weapons.
Austin Smith (MPH ‘24) conducted a semester-long practicum experience with the TAT before he graduated from the UI College of Public Health. He analyzed and summarized the TAT’s 2023 cases and looked for ways to improve data collection methods.
Smith found associations between threatening behaviors on campus and the month/week the incident was reported. For example, August had the greatest risk for suicidal incidents, followed by stalking, while December had the greatest risk for dating violence.
“Understanding these associations allows TAT to think systematically about prevention and resource allocation,” Smith said. “For example, if we know that suicide concerns are most common in August, then we are able to work with our campus partners to ensure that connection and mental health resources are abundantly available during that to time to help mitigate a crisis that would need TAT involvement.”
February, April, and October had the most reports of threatening behaviors. Concerns about weapons, followed by strange or unusual behavior and proactive assessment/involvement, were the greatest risks for January. Proactive assessment is when someone is concerned about how an upcoming or triggering event could impact an individual’s behavior.
High-stress periods (e.g., move in week, fall midterms and finals, spring midterms and finals) had the most reports of threatening behaviors.
The most common targets of these incidents in 2023 were UI staff, followed by students and faculty. UI staff reported the most concerns, followed by faculty, and undergraduate students.
Safety tips from UI Campus Safety
Report a crime to UI police. If it’s an emergency, call 911.
Reporting concerns to TAT
Eli Hotchkin, Director of the UI Threat Assessment Team (TAT), said anyone can report a concern to the TAT on the Campus Safety website.
“Individuals are known to communicate their intentions of violence prior to them carrying them out,” Hotchkin said. “Reporting to our team allows us to take all reports seriously, complete a thorough assessment, and engage community partners with the hopes of leading to more positive and non-violent outcomes.”
According to 3-year trend data (2021-2023), the most reported type of threatening behavior was unwelcome communication. An example of this is saying or writing something that causes someone to feel alarmed, intimidated, or emotionally distressed.
Hotchkin said, “Common concerning behaviors that are reported to TAT are unwelcome communication, disturbing/disruptive behavior, and strange and unusual behavior.”
In 2023, visitors to the UI campus (those not currently affiliated with the university) were the most reported population to engage in troubling behaviors, followed by undergraduate students, staff, and graduate students. Faculty had less cases of reported troubling behavior.
A key component to TAT’s success, Hotchkin said, is building awareness of the team and how to report.
“We encourage people to report concerning behaviors – which are outlined on the Campus Safety website — early,” he said. “Early reporting gives our team the opportunity to assess, and if necessary, intervene, as quickly as possible.”
Once TAT receives a report, it assesses the situation of all parties involved, context of conflict/ threat, and risk of turning violent. It provides support for both targets of threats/violence and subjects of concern and develops a safety plan. Support includes help navigating the university system, fear management, and referrals to mental health services. Safety plans help keep the target separate from the subject of concern until the behavior subsides or the situation is resolved.
From 2022-2023, TAT completed over 5,000 interventions to enhance safety and mitigate risk for violence. These interventions involve working with individuals of concern directly and/or managing the environment in which they engage.
Improving threat assessment at the University of Iowa
Hotchkin said the TAT established the Campus Threat Awareness Roundtable group to reduce barriers to sharing information and identifying emerging safety concerns following a realignment of safety services in spring of 2023.
“Silos of information can be challenging to achieving and maintaining a safer campus,” he said.
As part of Smith’s practicum experience with TAT, he facilitated “tabletop” exercises with the TAT. These real-time practice sessions used fictional cases, so that Smith could identify trends and gaps in knowledge or performance. Participants were provided a description of a concerning incident and then were given a series of information, one every two minutes, such as a police report for the subject of concern, a note from general counsel, or a copy of an incident report from housing and residential life.
Smith also prepared assessment worksheets for participants to complete while the activity was underway to examine how participants understood the case, how concerned they were, and what actions they felt were required.
Each participant was assigned a role (police, human resources, student affairs, mental health, and general counsel). For example, a report from housing would be given to the participant assigned student affairs, who was tasked to present relevant information to the others. Then, participants came together and decided on a consensus level of concern and next steps.
“Members of the team highlighted that they do not often get to hear and witness each other actively assessing concerns,” Smith said. “This activity allowed members of the team to see different perspectives in assessment and think about why members of a certain professional background would find one detail concerning whereas another discipline didn’t.”
Smith said his practicum experience highlighted the need for threat assessment teams at college campuses to use data to learn from violence-related cases. Data collection processes, he said, should undergo several rounds of examination to ensure that needed information is collected to identify high level concerns.
“I learned that there is a significant need for the public health perspective to be present in the threat assessment process for data management and analysis,” Smith said.
Hotchkin said that Smith’s work will only continue to drive the success of the team forward.
“Building a strong community, breaking down information silos, and leveraging data-driven decision-making are the cornerstones of a successful threat assessment program,” he said. “Together, these elements foster collaboration, enhance situational awareness, and ensure proactive, informed responses to potential threats.”
Campus violence in the U.S.
Colleges and universities across the U.S., per the 1990 Clery Act, must provide clear and transparent information about crime statistics and campus safety policies.
The 2021 Report on Indicators of School Crime and Safety from the Institute of Education Sciences indicated there were 27,300 criminal incidents on U.S. college campuses reported in 2019. 43% were forcible sex offenses; 33% were burglaries; and 11% were motor vehicle thefts. There were fewer criminal incidents (21,200) in 2020 when many colleges shifted from in-person to online or hybrid instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the report, the number of overall reported campus crime in the U.S. decreased by 20% between 2009 and 2019. However, the rate of forceable sex increased from 1.7 incidents per 10,000 students in 2009 to 8.0 incidents per 10,000 students in 2019. In 2019, reported forcible sex offenses decreased by 5% compared to 2018.
In 2019, there were 757 incidents classified as hate crimes on U.S. college campuses. The most common was intimidation followed by destruction, damage, vandalism, and simple assault. The motivating bias in these hate crimes included race (45%), sexual orientation (22%), ethnicity (12%), and religion (14%).
Other resources:
Nite Ride (free late-night transportation to all UI students, staff, and faculty)
How to Help a Friend (UI videos)
Understanding Consent (UI video)
What happens when you make a report? (UI video)