An initiative at the University of Southern Maine (USM) is underway to identify and counteract potential threats to its campuses. The program is made possible by a grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
USM is the first applicant from Maine to receive a Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grant. It will be used to create and enact a Behavioral Threat Assessment Management (BTAM) model at USM.
The idea for the BTAM initiative originated with Dr. Gráinne Perkins, chief of police and vice president of Public Safety at USM. A major motivating factor in her application for the grant was the mass shooting in Lewiston, Maine, on October 25, 2023. The event had a profound impact on USM, with campuses across town in Lewiston, as well as Portland and Gorham. The BTAM initiative is meant to provide USM with a new layer of protection against similar incidents.
“By training everyone to recognize warning signs and act early, we can create a safer, more proactive campus community where different teams—like mental health professionals, administrators, and law enforcement—work together effectively,” Perkins said.
Along with oversight from Perkins, several campus partners are key to the project’s success. The Office of Intercultural Affairs, under Director Meghan Barrett, will host workshops for minority and vulnerable groups that often experience threats of violence. Senior Human Resources Partner Chris Williams will use his background in conflict resolution and coalition building to coordinate training practices across USM’s diverse community. Maureen Wissman, the assistant director of USM’s Research Service Center, helped navigate the application process.
The one-time grant totals $403,501. It will enable ongoing training to educate campus community members about the new policy and their roles in it. BTAM team members will attend specialized conferences. A campus police officer will return to the classroom for a master’s level course in online threat detection. Faculty, staff and students will receive periodic refreshers on the basics of situational awareness and verbal threat de-escalation.
DHS distributed $18 million to 35 TVTP Grant recipients across the country this year. Since launching in 2020, the grant program has issued 178 awards totaling $90 million. It is the only federal grant program solely dedicated to helping local communities develop and strengthen their targeted violence and terrorism prevention capabilities.