The Husky Huddle
This is the 'Husky Huddle,' the podcast that brings you closer to the heart of Olean City School education. Whether you're a parent, student, teacher, or a proud member of our community, this podcast is dedicated to providing insightful conversations, expert advice, and a closer look at what makes our district truly exceptional.
The Husky Huddle
Building Trust and Communication: The Secret to Effective Bystander Reporting with Former Secret Service Agent Lewis Robinson
Our engaging dialogue with Robinson ventures beyond just identifying problems; it offers a blueprint for collaboration between educational institutions and the Secret Service's NTAC to forge safer spaces for learning. We unravel the threads of leadership, parental involvement, and community engagement that weave together to strengthen bystander reporting programs. Learn about the actionable indicators that can signal a need for intervention, and how everyone in the school community can be a part of the solution. As we envision the future of school safety, this episode provides not just an examination of current practices but also a roadmap for advancement, ensuring a legacy of secure and supportive educational environments for generations to come.
All right, so recording is on, my microphone is on. I think we're all set All right well, thank you so much for joining me on this most recent episode of the Husky Huddle. I am very pleased to have with me as my guest today Lewis Robinson, who is a special agent in charge and a 28-year veteran of the United States Secret Service, and he retired in 2020 with an exceptional list of achievements, after a history in managing physical security, cybersecurity, fire and life safety and hazardous materials response, event security and law enforcement operations. And I met him at a recent Utica National Seminar that was held that was overseeing a resource that's been released publicly for improving school safety through bystander reporting, a toolkit for strengthening K-12 reporting programs, and I was so excited when he said he would be willing to come on the Husky Huddle. So thank you so much for coming and joining me on this newest episode. Welcome.
Speaker 2:Well, thank you, janelle, I appreciate that and it's certainly a pleasure to be here with you today to talk about bystander reporting and behavioral threat assessment and school safety.
Speaker 1:Thank you. So we have a few questions that I just figured we'd just start to discuss about, and the first one is as a retired officer from the United States Secret Service, what insights can you provide on the role of bystander reporting in enhancing school safety?
Speaker 2:Well, thanks for that first question. I think it's a great one to start off with, and bystander reporting is such a critical element in your behavioral threat assessment teams you may have in your school, your school district. You know, without you know the students, the staff, your community willing to report the prohibited or concerning behaviors or student wellness behaviors, that they see their concerns and issues. You know about their friends or family, maybe even fellow staff members. You know to have that system in place for those folks to be able to, you know, put their concerns forward to folks that can begin an assessment and understand what's happening and avert an act of targeted violence at the school or, more importantly, to get that person the help that they need, you know, to help them overcome the issues that they're struggling with.
Speaker 1:Well, that's great, and I'm not sure if we, you know, we're trying to make sure that we keep our schools and our districts safe. We had a recent incident that just really brought this forefront and that the bystander element was a key piece of making sure that we were able to identify and prevent anything from happening in our school district, and therefore we want to really make sure that we emphasize the importance of bystander reporting in helping to keep our school and our community safe. So thank you so much for that.
Speaker 2:You're right. It's so very important and it's again that thing you see in the posters from DHS if you see something, say something. It's so true in the school safety environment that if you see something concerning, you have to report it. Get that person to help know your friend again, maybe a staff member that you have in the school. It's so important to have that bystander reporting piece available to students and staff in the community.
Speaker 1:Yeah, absolutely, and that extends throughout the community. You know, students are able to be part of that group of bystanders, staff members of the community.
Speaker 2:It's really something that we all should embrace and use.
Speaker 1:going forward, can you share any experiences from your career where bystander reporting played a crucial role in preventing any potential threats to schools?
Speaker 2:Well, I'll say in my career, you know there's nothing that stands out and I know that it doesn't sound right when we talk about it, but I would say overall, in the role that Secret Service plays in our National Threat Assessment Center and the importance of doing bystander research and studies and there's INTAC and many others have done research and the case studies that they've shown that you know that bystanders truly play a crucial role in preventing, you know, threats to the school Right. You know sometimes they don't make the news. Unfortunately. The bad things make the news. You know the active targeted violence or that person's able to get to the school and commit that act makes the news. But all the successes that bystander reporting you know provides to schools and school safety isn't always reported. But you know these case studies and research and in-tech has done has shown how vitally important that bystander reporting is to you know student safety and such a big role in preventing targeted violence at schools such a big role in preventing targeted violence at schools.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And, as I said, we are living through that where we're trying to make sure that we keep our schools safe, but it's an active, continual process. It doesn't just start here and end here. It's continuous, you know, and that seeing something, saying something that's important, even when you may feel like it's not something that's significant, it's important to speak up so that we can make sure it's not significant.
Speaker 2:So, thank, you, because that person, right, that person may have a piece of the puzzle that you don't have. There may be others that are reporting and you have these pieces and this one person has that last piece that helps you put the puzzle together to see what's happening, to prevent that targeted violence and again really to get that person that they're concerned about or exhibiting prohibitive or behaviors or you know, self-harm or something you know the help that they need.
Speaker 1:Right, right. So what are some? Do you know of any misconceptions, common misconceptions about bystander reporting in the context of school safety, and how can we address those?
Speaker 2:Certainly, you know for the kids, you know, especially the high school age kids, you know misconceptions can be that they'll be seen as a tattletaler, telling on their friends violating their friends' confidence. To be seen as a tattletale or telling on their friends violating their friend's confidence, you know. But establishing a good culture within your school, good, strong, trusting relationship between staff and students in the community and the school, you know, can help you overcome those misconceptions. And then you know for students to see that you're transparent in your bystander reporting system that they use, you're using this information, you're conducting a thorough assessment of the situation and that you're taking their concerns seriously so that they do feel comfortable coming forward, you know. So you know they don't feel like oh, I'm just ratting out. You know Jimmy, who's you know acting differently now my friends aren't going to like me. You know it's important for them to understand that they have a very important role in preventing targeted violence or in student wellness within the school.
Speaker 1:So you know they have to feel comfortable and trusting in your system yeah, and on that, on that topic, what are some ways or strategies that we can implement to encourage students and staff even to report concerning behaviors or activities?
Speaker 2:You know, as I mentioned, promote a climate of trust within your school. You know, if the students and staff members don't have trust and respect amongst themselves or within you know the assessment team you have or their bystander reporting program that you have, you know they're not going to come forward. So, providing that climate of trust, a good, strong climate of school safety, the other thing, if you have an assessment team and a bystander reporting system, is to train on that system, train your staff. You can train the students on the system, what it is, their roles, how important they are their role. And then obviously, the community training the community and parents as well on the system, how to use it, what happens when they do report something. And obviously, public education efforts on reporting systems. You know, if you have a system and nobody knows about it, it's difficult for folks to you know again, have trust in the system or even use the system. So again, those public education efforts on your reporting system are important.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's awesome. I agree with you because we have safety plans that we develop at the district level and each one of our schools. We develop a safety plan annually and refine it annually, but it's only as good as people know or are aware that it exists. So that sharing of that and the system and how it's supposed to work and how people work within it is critical. So I agree with you.
Speaker 2:Right and tailoring the training that you do at your reporting system to your audience so you know what you're going to do with the staff. And train them is going to be a little different than the students and parents in the community. So again, it's taking your respective community, tailoring your training education efforts to your community and your school.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, important. So you've retired from the Secret Service. But, based on your experience with the Secret Service, how does the United States Secret Service collaborate with schools and school districts to promote effective bystander reporting practices?
Speaker 2:As I mentioned earlier, the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center has been involved in school safety and school safety research and averting target violence in school research since the early 2000s, shortly after Columbine. So NTAC has produced several reports on averting target violence in school. They've also provided guides in establishing behavioral threat assessment teams and bystander reporting systems. And NTTAC comes out and they do a lot of training related to behavioral threat assessment. You know averting targeted amounts and the bystander reporting and that training you know it's not just limited to school personnel but also stakeholders in the school. You know law enforcement, emergency management folks, fire department, medical staff, anyone that has a role within school safety. Four years that Secret Service has been working, collaborating with schools to develop effective strategies and policies and programs in averting targeted violence within the schools. So it's a long history and they'll continue every year to do research and stay on top of things and understand and learn as we go forward and how lessons learned can be turned into best practice in averting targeted violence in schools.
Speaker 1:Okay, and that's fantastic to hear. So if a school district or a school wanted to collaborate to provide training to those groups that you just mentioned, they would just look on your website or reach out.
Speaker 2:Certainly they could reach out to the local Secret Service field office. So in this case the OLEAN would reach out to the Buffalo field office and explain what they're looking for training on behavioral threat assessment or bystander reporting and then either the office could do that themselves or, if it's something that INTAC could come out and do for you, it's something they would coordinate with INTAC on. But certainly you know there for districts across the country.
Speaker 1:Fantastic.
Speaker 2:To participate in.
Speaker 1:Fantastic. And then one more question about that, more question about that the training. Is there a version that's also available to be given to students, tailored to students to help them understand the importance of their role in a bystander reporting system?
Speaker 2:My answer currently is not a training geared towards students specifically from NTTAC. However, it's more again the school safety stakeholders for that.
Speaker 1:Okay, Awesome, Well, thank you. And then are there back to what we should be looking for in bystander reporting. Are there any specific indicators or warning signs that individuals should be especially vigilant about and report to authorities?
Speaker 2:Right, I mentioned earlier, you know prohibited behaviors and concerning behaviors, so prohibited behaviors that folks see, you know someone that they're concerned about or have some thoughts. That person may have something that you know I just don't feel right about, but then they see them involved in you know bullying. They see them involved in fights at the bus stop, fights in school. You know fights outside of school with folks. You know those types of behaviors. Or you know carrying a weapon, and not specifically you know a, a gun, but maybe they're carrying knives and they're doing different things with knives.
Speaker 2:So things that again pre-behaviors also would be something that would trigger, say, an immediate law enforcement response.
Speaker 2:And then, concerning behaviors, would be, say, change in my performance in school, change in my attitude, you know, in how I interact with others.
Speaker 2:Maybe I'm involved in certain activities at school and outside of school and then my behavior's changed and I'm not as actively engaged in those programs anymore. Maybe I'm involved in the scouting or band or maybe I'm involved in a school peer-to-peer program or a sports team and I'm just not actively engaged anymore. Things that just would say you know my friend's-peer program or a sports team and I'm just not actively engaged anymore. Things that just would say you know, my friend's just not acting the same, I'm concerned about him. Those types of things maybe talking about, you know, or showing an unusual direction of interest towards previous school attacks or acts of targeted violence, you know acts of self-harm, you know acts where I've maybe you know, suicidal ideation, those types of things related to school wellness. So anything that would cause a red flag, if you will, regarding my behavior certainly should be reported to authorities through your I-STAND reporting system or, again, pre-behavior, so maybe a direct call to 911.
Speaker 1:Okay, great, Thank you. And in your experience, what are some of the challenges in implementing these bystander reporting programs in school settings and how can we overcome those?
Speaker 2:Some of the issues that we see and the challenges would be leadership really at the district level and school level. If there's a lack of leadership from the school district or, say, at a school level, in promoting a safe school, trusting schools and letting folks know that, hey, it's important to report. When you see these things, you know that lack of leadership. You know without you know someone leading that effort, you know people just aren't going to have a again. We talked about trust and culture earlier. They're not going to trust that. If I see something and I bring it forward that you're going to do something on that.
Speaker 2:Right Another issue is lack of resources, whether it be fiscal or human resources to implement a program, lack of training or education efforts. You might have great leadership, you got the resources, but you're not training. You know folks on your system or your behavioral threat assessment team and you're not doing education efforts within the school and outside of school, the community. And what you're doing You're not promoting, as I mentioned earlier, a safe school climate, a trust amongst the staff, your students, parents and community. You know so, having that identity, you know you have your husky huddles. These are excellent that you know. Promote that school climate, a safe school climate and trust among the staff. You know so without you know again, without that leadership, all these other things trickle down. So the big thing to reverse those items I mentioned above, you know show the leadership like you're showing. You know, as we mentioned the Utica National Event, attending things like that for training.
Speaker 2:The other thing that came out of those and we talked about it at the event in Olean that you attended was, you know, leveraging resources. Only end you attended was, you know, leveraging resources, maybe from local districts you know that are joining you. Maybe you don't have the fiscal resources, but if you pull your resource. Together, you know you may be able to implement a program that works for all of you. You know share that burden. And again, that key is, you know, developing that school climate. You know of trust. That is yeah, I can't stress that one enough, that that is a challenge that you know changes, I would assume, from school year to school year as students change and maybe your staff changes. But again, having that school climate is so important. You know trust amongst the staff, the students and parents in the community.
Speaker 1:Right, right. And thinking about the parents in the community. How can parents and guardians support their children in understanding the importance of bystander reporting for school safety?
Speaker 2:Well, they have to get involved. They have to understand the importance of the role that they as parents and guardians and members of the community play in school safety and they have to understand that they need to educate their child on the importance of reporting issues that they see. I mean the kids are going to see it before we will more than likely. So it's just again, just like in the school climate, you know trust the same thing at home. You know the parents have to trust their kids and vice versa, that you know they're going to guide them in the right direction and show them the importance, the important role that they play in school safety, that the kid's really so important and you know and again, parents have to foster that at home.
Speaker 1:Right and do you see a role for technology in facilitating bystander reporting within our school community and, if so, what tools or resources do you know that might be available to support these efforts?
Speaker 2:Right Technology plays a significant role in bystander reporting. You know whether it's just as simple as an email or text message, so forth. Text message, so forth, um, excuse me that information be available for your bystander reporting or using. You know the tools that are out there, safe to tell, safe to say, many of the other resources. Again, you mentioned earlier the resource that utica national provides to schools using. You know resources that are out there available to you, and there's others in the commercial marketplace available to school districts to support their efforts in behavioral threat assessment and bystander reporting. So you know it's as I use the analogy of tool in the toolbox. There's so many different tools out there for you for technology to facilitate the bystander reporting, technology to facilitate the bystander reporting. It's just a matter of finding the right tool that fits your resources, fits your school and fits the way you're operating a behavioral threat assessment team.
Speaker 1:Awesome. So, looking ahead, what do you see as the future of bystander reporting and enhancing school safety and what steps can be taken to further it?
Speaker 2:prove that it's effectiveness well, I think I've had yeah, we heard through here. It's. You know it's. It's a critical element. You know, without people reporting what they see, you know it's hard for us to begin an assessment and prevent that active targeted violence and or get that person the help that they need to get them back on track. So if they don't commit an active targeted violence or you know, self-harm or something, so you know bystander reporting is not going to go away. It's a critical piece of school safety and to further improve its effectiveness it really takes. The things we've talked about today is building that strong culture of school safety, of trust within your school. You know, the students, the staff, parents, communities I mentioned, and then again that transparency piece you know, to be effective.
Speaker 2:So you know, as we all have a boss right, so as you as a superintendent, when you go to your school board and they're asking you, well, what did you do with, you know, that money we gave you for the bystander reporting, you know you can provide them, you know, say, a 50,000 foot view of the things that you're doing. And again, it's just going to get them for the get your school board, your committee, by and it's certainly going to further improve the effectiveness of your program. You know, as you grow and enhance your programs.
Speaker 1:Wonderful Well, thank you so much. I think this is going to be such a help to hear this discussion in our school community and it really gives tips and supportive discussion for people to consider about their roles, no matter where they are in our community, whether they're students or their staff or faculty or community members. How we all work together to maintain school safety, and I really appreciate you joining me today for this conversation on the Husky Huddle.
Speaker 2:I'm certainly happy to participate. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed it. If anything else I can do to help, you know I'm here to help.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much Okay.