Safe Schools

ECLEF leverages its partnerships with law enforcement agencies and numerous other businesses and organizations to present the Safe Schools Initiative Seminar

The 2024 Seminar - the 20th Annual - was hosted on March 20, 2024 at the
UB Center for the Arts

2024 Seminar
RESOURCE MATERIALS

PRESENTERS

USSS-NTAC

Uvalde - Jaclyn Schildkraut

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.

  • • 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; Board Member & Past Chair, Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation, Inc​.

Jeffrey Burr
Special Agent in Charge, US Secret Service Buffalo Field Office

Robert Christmann
Executive Director, NYS Leadership Group at Buffalo State University

Danielle D’Abate
Chief, Community Prosecution, Erie County District Attorney’s Office

David Elias
Special Consultant

Tracy Gast
Former Special Agent in Charge, US Secret Service Buffalo Field Office

Karen Hajiaskari
Administrative Officer, US Secret Service Buffalo Field Office​ 

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; Board Member & Past Chair, Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation, Inc.

William Regan
Seminar Coordinator; Vice Chair, Erie County Law Enforcement Foundation, Inc​.

Edward Suk
Executive Director, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children/New York

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2024 Sponsors

Founding Sponsors

Partner Sponsor

Benefactor Sponsors

Josh Allen

Kevin J. Clarke

Barbara & David Elias

Patrick P. Lee

Erie County
DA’s Office

Community Sponsor