The University of Utah’s Department of Public Safety and Utah Tech University joined higher education and public safety partners from across Utah for a regional workshop on behavioral threat assessment and management, a primary strategy for preventing violence in schools, campuses and workplaces on Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2026.

As an extension of the University of Utah’s annual Campus Safety Summit, the regional workshop was held in southern Utah to make participation more accessible for colleges and universities throughout the region. The event was co-hosted by the Utah System of Higher Education and the Utah Division of Risk Management.

Behavioral threat assessment and management teams are designed to recognize concerning behaviors early, connect people with support and resources and intervene before a situation turns into a crisis. These efforts are most effective when they involve collaboration between multiple campus partners, such as public safety, student affairs, human resources, law enforcement, mental health and risk management.

“No one institution has all the answers when it comes to preventing violence,” said Keith Squires, chief safety officer. “Bringing partners together to share lessons learned, research and practical tools helps us build better programs and create safer campuses across Utah.”

Workshop participants explored the fundamentals of behavioral threat assessment and management, scalable team models, resources available through the Utah Department of Public Safety’s Statewide Information and Analysis Center (SIAC) and emerging online trends linked to violent extremism. Presenters included subject matter experts from the University of Utah Department of Public Safety, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Huntsman Mental Health Institute and the Utah Department of Public Safety.

The workshop focused on violence prevention on Utah’s colleges and universities with the partnership of state institutions that are critical to supporting safer campus communities statewide.