Editors Note: A recent two-day conference serves a model for how other localities can build a robust prevention ecosystem over time. A state or local government commits to prevention, partners with interested academic institutions like the John Jay Center on American Law and Extremism to convene, platforms multidisciplinary practitioner experience and insight, and brings in new partners and sectors (in this case, the insurance industry) to expand the set of resources and opportunities for targeted violence prevention.
On May 28th and 29th, 2026, for the third year in a row, the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, in partnership with John Jay College of Criminal Justice, convened cutting-edge targeted violence prevention researchers and practitioners for the symposium “Building the Northeast Network: The Way Forward for Preventing Targeted Violence and Terrorism.” The gathering came at a critical moment: incidents of targeted violence—defined by the U.S. Secret Service National Threat Assessment Center as a premeditated act of violence directed at a specific individual, group, or location, regardless of motivation and generally unrelated to other criminal activity—are rising even as federal support for prevention has disappeared.
Despite this hard federal step back, the symposium recognized that today’s threats are networked, and prevention professionals must be too. The Symposium brought together targeted violence prevention professionals from New York State, the Northeastern United States, and around the world to share insights on what preventing targeted violence means in our modern, hyperconnected age.
One clear theme emerged from these discussions: these are not common times. The tools of yesterday—intended to address structured, ideological terrorism—are not well suited for emerging threats. In an internet-connected age, we are confronted by threats that are complex, dynamic, dispersed, rapidly evolving, and enacted on a collapsed timeline. Barriers to entry have evaporated. One striking example is an Australian, who radicalized over several years, traveling to different countries before conducting two 2019 mosque shootings in Christchurch, New Zealand. The attacker drew inspiration and mirrored tactics from two prior 2011 attacks in Oslo and Utoya, Norway, while also livestreaming the attack and posting writings online. This process has become a template for other similar attacks, including the Buffalo, New York attack in May 2022. But that’s not to say the right tools do not exist. Indeed, we must identify intervention points as early as possible and ensure a full range of intervention strategies is available to steer someone away from violence and spare our communities its lasting consequences.
The symposium’s intention is not merely to bring together researchers and policymakers to examine these complex problems. It also provides a venue for practitioners’ perspectives, which help translate theory to actionable work. And collectively we took away value lessons that span primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention layers:
Strengthen Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) Teams and Processes. Multidisciplinary membership through the BTAM process is nonnegotiable: different perspectives bring diverse problem-solving lenses and resources to the table for holistic intervention and management over time. Clear formal policies and procedures are necessary to ensure effective, defensible practices and successful case management, and working with legal counsel helps BTAM teams navigate compliance requirements across professions, including privacy laws. Cross-sector training is crucial for the different professions involved in BTAM to understand one another’s perspectives and professional languages. Critically, it is observable concerning behavior—not ideology—that indicates the need and opportunity for intervention.
Leverage Digital Safety and Public Health Strategies. Integrating digital literacy—including pre-bunking—into violence prevention efforts is essential. Public-health models offer a valuable framework that focuses on environmental factors, community-wide interventions, and early identification of risk. However, the digital space remains disproportionately unexplored, both as a threat vector and a potential conduit for prevention efforts; developing ways to counter harmful material online and advocating for greater accountability from technology companies are urgent priorities.
Foster Community Engagement and Collaboration. Establishing relationships with trusted individuals and organizations in the public and private sectors is foundational to building prevention networks before they are needed. Violence prevention efforts and programs already exist—the task is to build upon them by bringing together individuals working in prevention coalitions. Trusted adults, including caregivers, educators, and mental health professionals, must be empowered with the knowledge and skills to engage young people on sensitive topics, including in online spaces where they spend their time—we must meet them where they are.
Enhance Information-Sharing and Research to Advance Targeted Violence Prevention. Bi-directional communication channels between researchers and practitioners lead to better practice and more relevant research, and U.S. states are well-positioned to support and expand this work. Cultivating relationships with academic institutions that are resourced to provide key insights is critical. Sharing successes—especially early prevention and intervention outcomes—is also critical. This ensures that policymakers and the public understand the importance of the work and the value of investing in it.
Extreme Risk Protection Orders are a Critical Tool in the Fight Against Targeted Violence. Red Flag laws and Extreme Risk Protection Orders are crucial because they provide a vital legal tool to intervene before a personal crisis results in a mass shooting or a self-inflicted tragedy. They offer a mechanism to address concerning behaviors while observing proper legal boundaries and respecting constitutional rights.
Expand the Prevention Toolkit. Global threats have local impact, and community outreach, engagement, and training strategies—such as developing behavioral threat assessment and management teams that reflect the communities they serve and training community members to recognize and report indicators that a person is on the pathway to violence—are essential for translating violence prevention into local action. To this end, mental health practitioners are not routinely trained to gauge violence risk, but they need to be. Tools such as the T-SAM1 equip mental health practitioners to conduct violence risk assessments across the spectrum of violence risk, not just targeted violence. Finally, the field has only begun to scratch the surface: creative approaches—such as partnering with the insurance industry to financially incentivize best practices—await identification and exploration.
The 2026 Building the Northeast Network Symposium made clear that targeted violence prevention must evolve as rapidly as the threats it seeks to stop. In a world where risks are increasingly networked, dynamic, and accelerated by digital spaces, prevention cannot remain siloed, reactive, or reliant on outdated tools. What emerged from the symposium was not only a diagnosis of the challenge, but a roadmap forward: stronger behavioral threat assessment and management, deeper community partnerships, smarter digital and public health strategies, better research-to-practice collaboration, and a broader toolkit for early intervention. If today’s threats are networked, then our response must be as well-grounded in relationships, informed by evidence, and committed to acting early enough to prevent harm before it occurs.
1 Targeted Violence and Terrorism Strengths, Needs, and Risks: Assessment & Management Tool
VIOLENCE PREVENTION NOTICE: Warning signs often appear before violent acts. If someone you know makes general or specific threats, shows unusual interest in weapons, or fixates on previous violent incidents, you’re not overreacting by taking action. Ask direct questions and help them connect with professional support (or alert authorities if danger is immediate). Your intervention can prevent tragedy.
