Preventing school attacks: Secret Service shares tips in Cochise County

SIERRA VISTA, Ariz. (KGUN) — The Cochise County School Superintendent's Office hosted a presentation from the Secret Service about threat assessment models and how they can help schools prevent attacks at the school.

“We have to be prepared for anything,” said PPEP Colin Powell Learning Center Principal, Johanna Scott.

There are 35 school districts in Cochise County, including private and charter schools. County Superintendent Jacqui Clay said it's important to have talks like the one Friday so everyone is on the same page.

Cochise County has schools that are far away from each other, but Clay says they all work together and communicate so no one feels alone.

“Our safety lies in numbers and our safety lies in knowledge is power, collaboration is power,” she said.

Kristy Dominguez, supervisory social science research specialist for the Secret Service, was one of the presenters. She said there isn't a specific profile for attackers, but says most attacks happens at high schools and are done by students in grades seven through 12.

“We know that through that research there’s no profile, but we also know through research that there are specific behaviors we can look for and they are a better indicator of identifying somebody in need,” Dominguez said.

Planning behaviors include, documentation, weapons-related planning, the research of other relevant topics, and prior attacks.

Social factors, like bullying and mental health concerns can also cause a student to plan an attack.

“It’s sad we have to have these types of situations, that we have to have these meetings because we have maniacs in our communities that want to harm kids," said Cochise County Sheriff Mark Dannels. "And sadly we have kids that want to harm kids.”

The Cochise County Sheriff's Office has county schools with radios, so they have a direct connection to them, without needing cell phone service.

Dominguez suggested that teachers and school staff should form a trusting relationship with students because it makes it easier for students to report something or confess to a plan before the attack.

“We’ve seen through our averting targeted school violence report that these can be prevented," she said. "We’ve seen actual instances where individuals who were planning to cause harm and people who were able to see something, say something and meaningful action was taken. They created a completely different outcome.”

This was something that resonated with Scott. She said it opened her eyes that this could be any student, not just those who have been disciplined or have behavioral problems in the classroom.

“Not only do we want them to trust us but we should also trust them and understand that whatever problems they have we’re going to be there to help. No matter what it is," Scott said.