Frank Straub, PhD
Senior Director of Violence Prevention Research and Programs
WHAT IS
The Averted School Violence Project?
Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy, the Department of Justice (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS) convened a national school safety advisory group to provide recommendations on how to prevent future school shootings and other acts of violence on school campuses. One key recommendation stood out among the others: Build a national repository of cases where school violence was stopped before it occurred.
Based on these recommendations, the DOJ’s COPS Office allocated funding for the National Policing Institute (formerly the Police Foundation) to establish and maintain the Averted School Violence (ASV) database. From 2015 to 2023, the National Policing Institute built a strong foundation of research and reports that shaped school safety practices nationwide.
In 2023, Dr. Frank Straub, who previously served as the founder and director of the National Policing Institute’s Center for Targeted Violence Prevention, as well as ASV’s project lead, secured a new home for the database right here with Safe and Sound Schools. The transfer, improvement in functionality, and expansion of the Averted School Violence Database was made possible through Prevent 2 Protect, a Michigan Department of Education Pilot Project.
ASV and Safe and Sound, founded out of the same tragedy and on the same mission to protect every school, every student, every day, are now united to create a more powerful, data-driven tool that empowers school safety leaders to prevent tragedy before it occurs.
The Enhanced ASV Database and New Website
With ASV’s move to Safe and Sound Schools, and the expanded support of partners like the Motorola Foundation and National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), we’ve enhanced the platform’s value by making it more accessible, more actionable, and more useful in the day-to-day work of preventing violence in our schools.
With a new website and streamlined submission process, it’s now easier for SROs, school officials, and safety professionals to securely share cases of averted or completed violence.
Additionally, we’ve added new filters and features to help users sort through cases by variables like school type, intervention type, threat source, and more. Most importantly, we’ve focused on ensuring the database isn’t just a storage tool—it’s a living resource that fuels evidence-based training and community conversations.
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TO YOUR SCHOOL, DISTRICT OR ORGANIZATION!
Our expert team is dedicated to empowering school safety stakeholders across the U.S. and beyond with training and tailored consulting. If none of our existing programs are the perfect fit, we also offer customized consulting to help you strengthen your school safety efforts.
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