US Department of Homeland Security hosts targeted violence and terrorism prevention symposium

On 3 and 4 November, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) brought together more than 200 representatives from 73 Grantees and partner organisations at the first ever Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) Grantee symposium.

The symposium was held to share promising practices, increase awareness of available DHS resources, and foster professional relationships among prevention practitioners.

Secretary of homeland security Alejandro N. Mayorkas said: “DHS is committed to bolstering our partners’ capacity to identify potential risks and prevent tragedies.”

The DHS's Center for Prevention Programs and Partnerships (CP3) works to prevent targeted violence and terrorism through funding, training, and increasing public awareness. Over the last three years, CP3 has invested $50 million in communities to prevent acts of targeted violence and terrorism, including $20 million to 43 organisations in 2022.

At the symposium, grantees were able to create and foster new partnerships and make plans for future collaboration, as well as share the impact of their work. There were panels on Building Awareness and Resiliency; Threat Assessment and Management Teams; and Evaluation and Metrics for Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention and breakout sessions on Achieving Sustainability; Community Engagement and Communications; and School-based Interventions and Prevention Programming (K-12).

Promising practices, models for replication and lessons learned will be shared following the symposium.

Image by 정훈 김 from Pixabay