We’re Live: The New Averted School Violence Website and Enhanced Database Are Here
- Michele Gay
- Sep 18
- 3 min read
This is a day we’ve been looking forward to — and working toward — for quite some time!
The redesign of the Averted School Violence (ASV) website and enhanced database marks a major milestone in our ongoing effort to strengthen school safety through prevention. Like any website transformation, this project brought together big-picture goals and a deep sense of purpose. We’re so proud to share this news with you today:
The new ASV website and enhanced database are now live!
Collectively, they are more accessible, more actionable, and more aligned with our mission than ever before.
And we’re just getting started!
A Shared Mission and a Full Circle Moment
The Averted School Violence Database originated from tragedy and hope. After the Sandy Hook School shooting in 2012, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) convened a national school safety advisory group to recommend strategies for preventing future violence in schools. One of their top recommendations? Create a national repository of cases where school violence was successfully averted.
That idea became the Averted School Violence Database — originally developed by Dr. Frank Straub while with the National Policing Institute and supported by the DOJ’s COPS Office. From 2015 to 2023, ASV grew into a foundational tool for researchers, law enforcement, and school safety professionals nationwide.
In 2023, Dr. Straub joined our team, and the database found a new home, here with us at Safe and Sound Schools. And in many ways, it was a full-circle moment. ASV and Safe and Sound were both founded in response to the Sandy Hook tragedy — and both were built on the belief that prevention is possible when school communities have access to the right information, tools, and support.
Now united under one roof, ASV and Safe and Sound Schools are stronger together, pursuing our shared mission to protect every school and every student, every day.
Why the Averted School Violence Database Matters
As we know from National Threat Assessment Center research and other well-established sources, targeted violence is preventable when schools and communities are equipped with the appropriate tools, training, and resources to intervene before violence occurs. When educators, students, parents, caregivers, mental health professionals, and law enforcement work together — and when they have the right data and support — intervention becomes not only possible, but probable.
The ASV program supports these efforts by offering credible, case-based insights into what averted violence looks like, and how school communities can recognize then replicate prevention and response strategies.
Whether it’s a tip line alert, a student speaking up, or an SRO following up on a report from a parent, the cases in the ASV database show us that early action saves lives.
Inside the New ASV Website and Enhanced Database: Better Access, Real Impact
Our team worked hard to ensure the new ASV website and enhanced database reflect the needs of the people who rely on it: school resource officers, law enforcement, school safety teams, and administrators. Highlights of the new platform include:
A Streamlined Case Submission Process: We’ve made it easier than ever for SROs, school leaders, and safety professionals to submit securely and help build this national resource.
New Search and Filter Features: Users can now sort through real-world cases by factors like school type, threat source, and intervention method to better understand what works—and why.
An Actionable Resource for the Field: This isn’t just a database. It’s a tool for learning, training, and applying evidence-based strategies to keep schools safe.
The ASV database includes both averted and completed acts of school violence, giving authorized users a comprehensive look at patterns, warning signs, and points of intervention. These are real cases, shared by professionals in the field, and reviewed by experts to help inform smarter prevention strategies moving forward.
Thank You for Helping Us Build a Safer Future
The new website and enhanced database aren’t just cosmetic updates—they represent our ongoing commitment to learning from what works, supporting prevention, and building a safer future for our schools.
We invite you to explore the new site, review real cases, submit your own, and become part of a growing national effort to turn information into action.
Let’s work together to keep every school and every student safe and sound.
With appreciation,
Michele
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