Connecticut State Police launching training program to prevent targeted violence

MERIDEN, Conn. (WTNH) — Connecticut State Police are starting a new training program to prevent targeted violence, like mass shootings.

The program is designed to get someone help before they reach the point of hurting someone else.

“We recognize the importance of responding to mass shootings but we also understand that there are people that are on a path to violence and we want to know how to understand how that path works and how we can intervene,” Connecticut Police Lt. Col. Kenneth Cain said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement has been doing this type of training for five years through their Targeted Violence Prevention Program. According to police, the training will provide a holistic approach to conducting threat assessments and implementing behavioral management plans while utilizing a multi-disciplinary team of law enforcement, mental health and social work professionals.

“In Florida, we have identified many individuals, we’ve had many threat assessment cases,” Matthew Walsh, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement Deputy Commissioner, said. “Measurements of success: we’re successful if nothing happens.”

State police brought in Walsh and other representatives from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to teach the training to a class at the Connecticut Police Academy this week. The training is for people in all sectors including law enforcement, hospital workers and corporate employees.

Connecticut Police Lt. Anthony Guiliano is leading this program. He is the department’s threat management coordinator.

“We want everybody to realize the signs of targeted violence so that they’ll notify us and we can intervene before it’s too late,” he said.

Based on tips, police can build cases and then use support services to get that person help.

“A lot of the times it may be a mental health issue, it may be a social service issue,” Guiliano said. “We don’t want to arrest somebody for something that we can fix before it gets out of control.”

The program provides 24 hours of instruction through lecture, tabletop discussions and role-playing exercises to expose attendees to foundational concepts as well as applications of threat assessment and management. If you’re interested in taking this course, email anthony.guiliano@ct.gov for information.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WTNH.com.