Ontario County shares details on its Threat Assessment Committee

ROCHESTER, N.Y. (WROC) — A new task force officially launches Wednesday in Ontario County to spot and stop targeted threats.

The Ontario County Threat Assessment Committee was announced at the Sheriff’s Office, with local law enforcement, school officials, mental health professionals, and leaders announcing their involvement with the task force.

This committee was formed as a response to Governor Hochul’s directive after the mass shooting at a Tops store in Buffalo.

As each county was tasked with designing a response to targeted threats, Sheriff David Cirencione said the committee members met monthly to compare notes about potentially at-risk individuals reported to their agencies.

“It was glaring how each one of us had a piece of information about this person‘s behavior and their grievance, but none of us had all the information,” said Sheriff Cirencione. “By collaborating and sharing this information, it allowed us to take action that we otherwise would not have been able to take because we had the totality of the story.”

He says during last year and a testing phase, the committee was able to intervene in at least five instances where a child or adult either threatened harm or showed signs of making a plan.

The committee researches tips sent in from a variety of sources, including the sheriff’s department app. They also train schools, businesses, and anyone who asks them to come on what to pay attention to.

“Some of these threat assessments came in on adults in the community who were not in the school, who were just as legitimate, all of which led to some sort of action being taken by our committees to mitigate these threats,” said Sheriff Cirencione.

Sheriff Cirencione said as the program expands, the committee may increase meetings to biweekly or weekly as tips come in.

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