Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention
“We are all pieces of the puzzle in preventing mass violence“
Just like other areas of the U.S., Weber and Morgan counties are at risk of experiencing targeted violence and terrorism. Community Health aims to reduce the risk of an act of targeted violence or terrorism occurring within our counties by effectively educating community members about the factors associated with violence, increasing social connection, raising awareness of how to report concerning behaviors, and building resiliency in our youth.
In 2024, Community Health was awarded the Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) grant from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in order to conduct this work. The overall goal of the TVTP program is to help ensure public safety and safeguard the country from potential risks and threats of targeted violence and terrorism.
Community Awareness, Education, and Connection
- Community assessment: Between June and August 2025, Community Health is accepting responses for a community assessment that addresses social connection, civic engagement, safety in your county, and more. The answers gathered from this survey will inform our future projects, ensuring we listen to our community members and offer relevant information and events.
- Community awareness and resources: Throughout the funding period, Community Health will work to increase the community’s awareness of risk and protective factors associated with mass violence. Take a look at our social media pages for information on mass violence prevention and community events we will are tabling at.
Youth Resiliency Programming
- Work with Ogden School District: Throughout the funding period, Community Health is working with Ogden School District to support their roll-out of Second Step for Out-of-School Time within their elementary schools’ after-school programs, and expansion of their Hope Squad programming into every school in the district. These programs promote community building, emotional regulation, empathy, and bullying prevention. Hope Squad is also a peer-to-peer suicide prevention program.
- Mind Matters: for youth aged 12 and up, this program teaches youth how to cope with trauma and stress, overcome adversity, and build resilience. Youth learn self-soothing exercises, how to identify their emotions, how to ask for help, how to set goals for their future, and more.
If You See Something, Say Something – Being an Engaged Bystander
The majority of people who commit acts of mass violence exhibit concerning behaviors or communications before the attack. A bystander is anyone positioned to have awareness of risk factors or to observe warning behaviors related to a person who may be considering acting violently. An engaged bystander is an individual who is aware of concerning behaviors and knows how to act on those concerns. Engaged bystanders could be:
Family & Friends:
They could see concerning behavior changes or signs that someone is struggling sooner than others.
Community Members and Work Colleagues:
They may observe the suspicious behavior of others that could indicate cause for concern.
Community Leaders & Authority Figures:
Religious leaders, healthcare practitioners, teachers, etc. all have the opportunity to intervene if they notice concerning behaviors in those they interact with.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, examples of behavior that might be cause to report include:
- Any physical violence toward a person or property
- Direct or indirect threats of violence
- Any act, gesture or statement that would be interpreted by a reasonable person as threatening or intimidating, such as overt physical or verbal intimidation, throwing objects or other gestures intended to cause fear, or making contextually inappropriate statements about harming others
- Unusual or bizarre behavior that would cause a reasonable person to fear injury or harm due to its nature and severity, such as: stalking; erratic or bizarre behavior suggestive of mental disturbance or substance abuse; fixation with mass murder, weapons, or violence generally; or fixation with hate group, terrorist, or extremist material
- Any statements or behaviors indicating suicidality
Factors like race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, sex, or disability are not suspicious.