Upton puts support behind bipartisan bill to develop nationwide violence mitigation plan

U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) on Monday signed on as a cosponsor of bipartisan legislation to develop a national strategy to prevent targeted violence through behavioral threat assessment and management.

“For decades, the U.S. Secret Service has used behavioral threat assessment and management to protect our national leaders and foreign dignitaries,” Rep. Upton said. “It’s been proven to work, and now we should use it to protect our schools, families, and local communities.”

Rep. Upton cosponsored the Threat Assessment, Prevention, and Safety (TAPS) Act of 2019, H.R. 838, which is sponsored by U.S. Rep. Brian Babin (R-TX) and cosponsored by 157 other congressmen. The proposal aims to create safer communities by providing states and local entities the resources needed to utilize behavioral threat assessment and management units, according to Rep. Upton’s office.

According to the text of the bill, behavioral threat assessment and management means the systematic and evidence-based process of identifying individuals who are exhibiting patterns of concerning behavior that indicate an interest, motive, intention, or capability of carrying out an act of violence; investigating and gathering information from multiple sources to assess whether such an individual poses a threat; and the subsequent management of a threat, if necessary.

“Those who commit violent acts often show some sort of warning or pattern of concerning behavior,” said Rep. Upton. “This legislation would provide our law enforcement the tools to track down those warnings so we can stop violent acts before they occur.”

H.R. 838 is supported by numerous organizations, including the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals, the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the National Fraternal Order of Police, and the National Sheriffs’ Association.

“Our nation has witnessed too many violent crimes lately — most recently … at a school in California. Enough is enough,” Rep. Upton said. “This bill is a small part of a bigger solution to help save lives, and I hope to see it passed through the Congress and signed by the president.”