If you are concerned about a student, visitor or co-worker, please start the conversation.
Or call (208) 676-7156
Campus violence prevention depends on you, the North Idaho College community, to notice and refer potentially worrisome behaviors or situations before they result in harm. A person that receives help sooner, rather than later, may be less likely to experience more severe symptoms or cause harm to self or others. Thus, Safe Campus is a supportive process, not a disciplinary or punitive one.
The purpose of the multi-disciplinary Safe Campus Team is to determine if an individual poses, or may reasonably pose, a threat of violence to self, others or the North Idaho College community and to intervene to avert the threat and maintain the safety of the situation. The team responds to behaviors exhibited by students, employees, visitors and non-affiliated persons prior to a critical incident in an attempt to prevent violence so that the North Idaho College campus remains a safe and secure working and learning environment.
The Safe Campus depends of the referrals of the community – students, faculty, staff and visitors – to keep North Idaho College a safe and enriching campus for all who live, study and work here. Behaviors do not necessarily have to be law violations to be worrisome. In addition to illegal conduct such as threats, assault and harassment, Safe Campus may also evaluate changing circumstances or behaviors that may singularly or in combination generate concern. The Team evaluates all referrals seriously, though not all behaviors warrant further case management at that time.
Doing Your Part
There are many behaviors and circumstances that may indicate an increasing risk for violence, significant disruption to others, or that a person needs assistance. The significance of any one behavior or circumstance is often difficult to determine. Therefore, the threat assessment process is designed to review the situation in context of all of the facts that can be known.
Following are examples of behaviors and circumstances, from each of the primary factors, that may serve as indicators of developing concerns. These examples are meant to help you identify potential concerns during your daily interactions with others. These examples are NOT all-inclusive and this information is not intended to be used as a checklist.
If you are aware of a situation that has indicators of concern like the ones listed below, please share what you know with the Threat Assessment Team, Campus Security or 911, depending on the severity of the actions.
Some behaviors exhibited by subjects who may escalate to disruptive or violent actions:
- Attempts to harm or kill self
- Unexplained increases in absenteeism
- Decreased performance in work or academics
- Reaction to changes in policies/procedures
- Extreme or sudden changes in behaviors
- Numerous conflicts with others
- Difficulty learning from past behaviors or experiences
- Displays paranoia or distrust
- Alienates others or isolates self from others
- Makes statements indicating approval of use of violence to resolve a problem
- Identifies with or idolizes persons who have engaged in violence toward others.
The vulnerabilities of the target
- Unclear or inconsistent expectations
- Consistency of travel/movement/patterns
- Denial in the face of a clear threat posed
- Passive orientation to safety
- Ease of access
- An environment that facilitates, permits, or does not discourage violence
- Chronic unresolved conflict
- High perceived levels of stress
- Toleration of aggressive or hostile interactions
- Perceived distrust/devaluing
- Existence of pecking order/cliques
Any precipitating events that may trigger reactions:
- Losses (such as):
- Job/Income
- Status
- Significant other/relationship
- Perceived rejection or injustice
- Ostracized by others
- Health problems
Note that such precipitating events may be real, perceived or anticipated by the subject of concern.