School shootings have generated great public concern and fostered a widespread impression that schools are unsafe for many students; this article counters those misapprehensions by examining empirical evidence of school and community violence trends and reviewing evidence on best practices for preventing school shootings. Many of the school safety…

The "Safe School Initiative" was implemented through the Secret Service's National Threat Assessment Center and the Department of Education's Safe and Drug-Free Schools Program. The "Initiative" drew from the Secret Service's experience in studying and preventing assassination and other types of targeted violence and the Department of Education's…

An increasing fear over violence in schools has prompted recent requests for psychologists, educators, and law enforcement professionals to assist in preventing future incidents of violence. This paper attempts to lay a foundation for developing effective assessment and prevention approaches by first distinguishing planned school-based attacks…