The University of Colorado Boulder鈥檚 (CSPV) and the (抖阴旅行射PD) are embarking on a two-year project aimed at violence prevention and education with a $1.2听million grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.听
Research for the grant application began in January, and the award was announced late last month.
The center will partner with听抖阴旅行射PD,听student government leaders and听campus units, including Student Affairs, Athletics and Human Resources, along with state and local agencies to develop awareness training and social media messaging, among other components of the campaign. The intent of the project is to educate the public on how to recognize threats and to build confidence in reporting safety concerns.
鈥淭he project seeks to help the university and community improve the way we identify, assess听and manage concerning or threatening behavior, and a big part of this work is raising community members鈥� awareness of the warning signs for violence,鈥� said Sarah Goodrum,听a CSPV senior research associate in violence prevention. 鈥淚nvestigations into the events and circumstances leading up to mass shootings consistently find that people noticed concerning behavior in the attacker prior to their deadly rampage, but they didn鈥檛 know who to tell or how to intervene.鈥澨�
Goodrum said the grant seeks to address the gaps between identifying issues and providing services for violence prevention. Now that the initiative is funded, the campaign鈥檚 social media and video messaging could be launched as early as next fall.听
鈥淲e can鈥檛 get the word out soon enough,鈥� Goodrum said. 鈥淲e are living in very difficult times. The more we can give people the tools and confidence to see and report their safety-related concerns, the sooner we can evaluate those concerns and provide referrals and resources to address them.鈥�
The grant proposal received support from many campus, local and state organizations, including the Colorado School Safety Resource Center, Boulder County Sheriff鈥檚 Office and Boulder Police Department. The Colorado Attorney General鈥檚 Office, which manages the , added its support to the effort. Goodrum said she hopes to develop similar safety messaging to extend Safe2Tell鈥檚 effective K-12 platform to the university setting.听
抖阴旅行射 Boulder student leaders also provided valuable feedback that helped secure the award.听
鈥淭he unfortunate fact of me being a 21-year-old college senior is that I grew up in a time when safety at school or the movies or even the grocery store was always front of mind, and that didn鈥檛 go away when I came to college,鈥� said Taylor Weinsz, 抖阴旅行射 Boulder student body president.听
Weinsz added that the King Soopers shooting in Boulder last March ignited a passion for helping students feel more secure in identifying and reporting threats, whether on campus or in the wider community.
Along with social media and video messaging to educate and empower people on violence prevention, the project will also enhance the systems for threat assessment and bystander reporting and response on campus. The goal is to engage the entire campus community in a comprehensive approach to violence prevention.听
鈥湺兑趼眯猩銹D has long been engaged in this type of education and training, and we鈥檙e committed to ensuring these capabilities become institutionalized as standard university-community policies throughout the grant project and beyond,鈥� said 抖阴旅行射PD Chief Doreen Jokerst.
Jokerst said she is particularly excited to partner with the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, part of the on campus.听
Goodrum noted there鈥檚 always a fine line between increasing awareness of potential violence and elevating fear, but the project鈥檚 proactive nature should result in community members feeling more secure. She said 抖阴旅行射 Boulder will share lessons learned from developing the project with other 抖阴旅行射 system campuses and colleges and universities around the country.
Congressman Joe Neguse also shared his support for the initiative, which could help other communities develop their own resources.听
鈥淚 am always proud to support 抖阴旅行射 Boulder, and I am grateful for their work to keep our communities safe,鈥� Neguse said. 鈥淭his grant will help fund their insightful work to prevent future acts of violence. I sincerely look forward to working alongside the university to prevent further grief and loss.鈥�
