Concerning Behaviors

It is the responsibility of all employees and students at NC State to be alert to the possibility of violence and other concerning behaviors on the part of prospective, current or former employees or students as well as campus visitors and to REPORT this information.

Inappropriate behaviors and/or communications may precede a violent incident. The Workplace Violence Prevention & Intervention American National Standard, United States Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center and the Department of Homeland Security National Threat Evaluation and Reporting Office (NTERO) all have identified that behaviors emerge as ‘warning signs’ of potential violence, offers a key opportunity for the University to prevent the progression to more serious incidents.

The discipline of threat assessment involves examining a full range of factors and circumstances, including an individual’s personal history, felt grievances, motives, justifications, intentions, and actions. While certain behaviors raise flags and serve as a warning, no ‘profile’ exists to identify likely perpetrators of workplace or university violence.

 

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THREATENING OR CONCERNING BEHAVIORS INCLUDE; BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO, THE FOLLOWING:

• Changes in Behavior
• New acts of violent or aggressive behavior such as dating or domestic violence, animal cruelty or harassment.
• Making direct or implied threats of violence.
• A criminal or personal history suggestive of a propensity to use violence to project power and to control others.
• Aggressive outbursts, comments, or excessive displays of anger.
• Verbal abuse or harassment.
• Harboring grudges, an inability to handle criticism, habitually making excuses, and blaming others.
• Chronic, unsubstantiated complaints about persecution or injustice.
• Obsessive intrusion upon others or a persistent unwanted romantic pursuit.
• Erratic, impulsive, or bizarre behavior that has generated fear among University affiliates.
• Homicidal or suicidal thoughts or ideas.
• End of life planning.
• A high degree of emotional distress.
• Apparent impulsivity and/or low tolerance of frustration.
• Expressing fascination with firearms or asserting ownership of firearms.  Collection or stockpiling of unusual amounts of types of weapons, tactical equipment or destructive materials. (see NC State’s policy on firearm possession on campus).
• Fixation – There is an extremely unusual focus or preoccupations with an individual, place, cause or belief to a point that they cannot be redirected to end the infatuation or focus.
• Preoccupation with violent themes of revenge.
• Unusual interest in previous attacks, attackers, or violent extremists.  Identifying with the attackers and/or emulating their actions and the statements of those individuals
• Identification with criminal or terrorist individuals, acts and/or philosophy.
• Any behavior or collection of behaviors that instill fear or generate concern that a person might act out violently.
• Recent or impending losses including employment, academic, relationship, financial, or status in conjunction with denial and limited coping mechanisms.
• Preparatory actions for a violent act including research & planning and acquiring & practicing with weapons for that act.
• Communications that are signaling there is an increase or change leading to a sense of desperation or distress (lack of hope), that is evidenced by a fixated thought of patters of death, lack of positive expression and/or inability to regulate their emotions.
• Substance abuse in conjunction with behaviors described above. (For More Information go to Department of Homeland Security NTERO Behavioral Approach to Violence Prevention.

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