Behavioral Threat Assessment for SROs: School Based Threats & Situational Awareness

This 90-minute webinar is designed to equip School Resource Officers (SROs) with practical skills to identify, assess, and mitigate potential threats before they materialize. The course examines the SRO’s evolving role from traditional school security to proactive prevention through situational awareness, environmental monitoring, behavioral analysis, and relationship building. Participants will explore the three core principles of situational awareness—recognition, assessment, and response—and apply the OODA Loop (Observe, Orient, Decide, Act) to common school environments. The course will also address physical and behavioral warning signs, the pathway to targeted violence, and the STEP Principle—Subject, Target, Environment, and Precipitating Events—to help officers recognize and evaluate concerning behaviors and circumstances.


Upon completion of this course, participants will be able to define situational awareness and its importance to the SRO mission; identify environmental anomalies and behavioral warning signs associated with potential school-based threats; discuss the pathway to violence and factors used to evaluate the credibility of a threat; apply the OODA Loop and STEP Principle when assessing developing situations; describe the SRO’s role within a multidisciplinary Behavioral Threat Assessment Team; and demonstrate appropriate engagement and de-escalation strategies for students experiencing crisis or displaying concerning behavior. Through practical examples and scenario-based discussion, participants will examine information-gathering techniques, relationship building, threat assessment and management, and the balance between disciplinary and criminal justice responses while maintaining a safe and supportive school environment.