BTAU policy and legal authority

Doing so requires the development of operational policies and standard operating procedures that clearly outline how the unit will function.

Preventing targeted violence requires a prevention mindset along with a clearly defined policy that establishes the BTAU within an agency while clarifying the unit’s legal authorities, operational objectives, and threshold for initiating cases.

Creating a written policy establishes these parameters and ensures the BTAU operates as intended.

BTAU policies should clearly identify from where the law enforcement agency draws its authority to conduct behavioral threat assessments.

For example, the Secret Service’s investigative and protective authority is established by Title 18, United States Code, § 3056 (Powers, Authorities, and Duties of the United States Secret Service).

As public entities, state and local law enforcement agencies across the United States draw their police powers from local ordinances and state statutes, which generally grant them the authority to detect and prevent crime, to safeguard life and property, and to preserve the peace.

Law enforcement agencies routinely take steps to reduce opportunities for crime through preventive measures, and behavioral threat assessment can serve as one such method of prevention.

One of the contributing factors to establishing the BeTA Unit in the ISAAC, a state fusion center, was the North Carolina General Assembly’s decision to provide the state fusion center with express legal authority to analyze information related to any threat of violence to an individual in a school or a place of worship (NC Gen Stat § 143B–929, 2022).

Establishing a BTAU policy within the broader agency’s policy allows the organization to establish the guiding principles and parameters of the program.

The agency can articulate the legal authorities under which the unit will operate, specify unit objectives, and clarify the threshold for case initiation.

Drafting a written policy should begin with a policy statement, through which the agency will establish a shared vision of the program’s mission and ensure the BTAU members work within the program’s intended scope.

Defining the parameters of the program can also assist an organization with educating the larger community and other interested partners on the purpose of behavioral threat assessment and the role community members play in prevention.

[Name of agency/organization] is committed to [list objectives]. In support of that commitment, this policy specifically addresses the implementation of [name of BTAU], which will be dedicated to taking a proactive approach to the prevention of targeted violence in [community/jurisdiction]. Staffed by [operational makeup of BTAU], [name of BTAU]’s mission is to identify, assess, and manage individuals of concern within [community/jurisdiction] before the risk of potential violence escalates to physical harm. [Name of agency/organization] will achieve this mission by [describe BTAU approach/process].

BTAU policies should ensure that the objectives of the unit align with the objectives of behavioral threat assessment.

Although criminal prosecution may be required or warranted in certain instances (see STEP 5: Develop Risk Management Strategies), BTAUs should prioritize the assessment and management of risk as the unit’s primary objective.

Although BTAU objectives may differ based on the agency in which the unit resides, the primary objective of any BTAU should be violence prevention.

BTAU policies should clearly establish the thresholds for initiating a behavioral threat assessment, and those thresholds should not be limited to criminal behaviors or direct threats.

While agency policies establish the guiding principles and parameters of the behavioral threat assessment program (the “what”), standard operating procedures (SOPs) outline the stages of the BTAU’s daily operations (the “how”).