Safe Schools
ECLEF leverages its partnerships with law enforcement agencies and numerous other businesses and organizations to present the Safe Schools Initiative Seminar
The 21st Annual Seminar will be hosted on March 19, 2025 at the
UB Center for the Arts
2024 Seminar
RESOURCE MATERIALS
PRESENTERS
USSS-NTAC
Uvalde - Jaclyn Schildkraut
DOJ Uvalde Report Summary/Key Takeaways (Rockefeller Institute of Government)
DOJ Uvalde Report
Texas Legislature Report
ALERRT Report (Texas State University)
SPONSORS
UB Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention
Utica National Insurance Group
EXHIBITORS
FBI
Mental Health Advocates
NYS Office of Mental Health
Compeer of Greater Buffalo
ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)
iGuardian Program Keeping Children and Teens Safe from Online Predators
DHS Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3)
About the Safe Schools Initiative Seminar
History
The first seminar was hosted by the Buffalo Field Office of the US Secret Service and the University at Buffalo in 2004. The US Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center (NTAC) was invited to present the Safe School Initiative, an extensive examination of 37 incidents of targeted school shootings and school attacks from 1974 through 2000, including the horrific Columbine High School shooting in 1999. NTAC’s goal was to assist school and law enforcement personnel in the prevention of acts of violence from students or other persons within a school.
The seminar then became an autonomous annual event by quickly evolving into a collaborative multi-agency effort where myriad topics focused on school safety have been presented. The seminar has benefitted tremendously from the regular participation of law enforcement agencies including the USSS-NTAC, the FBI, the NYS Police, and local police forces together with nationally recognized educators and those with first-hand experience in school shootings. Our primary audience is composed of personnel from all levels of the law enforcement and education communities.
The Seminar
This one-day event has always been presented for free and is now offered both in-person and virtually. The seminar attracts 700-1,200 participants from a large regional footprint that includes Western & Central NY, Northern PA and Southern Ontario, along with a growing national profile featuring 23 additional states and Washington DC.
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• Uvalde School Shooting Lessons Learned
• CISA-USSS K-12 Bystander Reporting Toolkit
• Bullying & Cyber bullying
• Review of Actual School Shootings
• Truancy, Cliques & Gangs
• Interpreting Non-Verbal Communication Cues to Identify Troubled Youth
• The Role of Leadership in Making Schools Safe
• Making Integrated Safe School Plans
• Behavior Analysis of Students at (Extreme) Risk
• Best-Practice Procedures & Tabletop Exercises for School Threat Assessments
• Mental Health Issues
• De-Escalating Crises Response and Recovery from School Based Tragedies
• FBI Study of Active Shooter Incidents in the US
• Understanding Human Aggression
• Case Study of a Full-Scale High School Threat Incident Exercise
NTAC “Toolkit” Presenters Carrie Moran (Domestic Security Strategist) and Jessica Nemet (Supervisory Social Science Research Specialist)
Staff of the USSS Buffalo Field Office and Seminar Presenters
Uvalde Presenter Jaclyn Schildkraut
Sponsors: Mike Centrone (Utica National), Michael Keane (ECDA), Trini Ross (US Attorney), John Flynn (ECDA), Jeff Burr (USSS) Scott Weber (UB)
Kim Beaty, ECLEF Chair
Photographer: Moeen Abu-Sitta
Planning Partners & Sponsors
As the Presenting Sponsor, the Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation (ECLEF) is most fortunate to have the long-standing planning and management support of the seminar’s Founding Sponsors: the U.S. Secret Service, Buffalo Field Office; the University at Buffalo’s Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention; the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of New York; and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), New York Office.
The seminars have all been led by nationally recognized leaders, and have benefitted from the regular participation of the USSS National Threat Assessment Center, the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI among other law enforcement agencies.
Offering this seminar for free would not be possible without the year-to-year financial support of multiple sponsors. Together with the commitments from our Founding Sponsors, the program benefits tremendously from the long-term collaboration and financial assistance - since 2010 - of Partner Sponsor Utica National Insurance Group, along with a host of other dedicated sponsors who recognize the value of providing essential & timely programming to our stakeholders in school safety.
Planning Committee
John Acee
Educational Institution Segment Specialist, Utica National Insurance
Mike Bryant
Senior Director, Physical Security & Investigations, M&T Bank; ECLEF Board Member & Past Chair
Jeffrey Burr
Special Agent in Charge, US Secret Service Buffalo Field Office; ECLEF Board Member
Robert Christmann
Executive Director, NYS Leadership Group at Buffalo State University
Kevin Clarke
ECLEF Board Member
Danielle D’Abate
Chief, Community Prosecution, Erie County District Attorney’s Office
David Elias
ECLEF Board Member
Tracy Gast
Former Special Agent in Charge, US Secret Service Buffalo Field Office
Karen Hajiaskari
Administrative Officer, US Secret Service Buffalo Field Office
Tom Kelly
Captain, NYS Troopers, retired
Brie Kishel
Program & Operations Manager, Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, University at Buffalo
Kristen Mruk
Lecturer in Higher Education Administration and Special Assistant to the Provost & Senate, Buffalo State University
Amanda Nickerson
Professor & Director, Alberti Center for Bullying Abuse Prevention, University at Buffalo
Samuel Palmiere
US Attorney's Office, Western District of NY; ECLEF Board Member & Past Chair
William Regan
Seminar Coordinator; ECLEF Vice Chair
Edward Suk
Executive Director, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children/New York
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