The classic bestseller by Gavin DeBecker The Gift of Fear and Other Survival Signals That Protect us From Violence focuses on the inherent ability that people have to notice the subtle cues that people and situations can be dangerous.  While we often focus on purchasing high-tech equipment to help make our schools safer, few school officials receive much training in current concepts relating to how we can be better enabled to use our natural ability to spot danger by context of behaviors.

We have had excellent responses in our training of school personnel on using concepts like pattern matching and recognition which are powerful tools to help people spot danger in time to react effectively.  DeBecker’s landmark book came out many years ago but is still a very timely text for those campus safety officials who want to better understand how the human mind can be more effectively primed to draw on its inherent strengths and capabilities to detect potential violent people on campus.