John is a school psychologist and the retired director of the Safety and Risk Management Services department for the Salem-Keizer School District. He has more than 35 years of experience in threat assessment and management, psycho-educational evaluation, crisis intervention, behavioral intervention, and security and risk management systems consultation. He is recognized internationally as an expert in threat assessment and as a pioneer of multidisciplinary threat assessment.
In 1999, he began the development and implementation of the Salem-Keizer Model, a multiagency student threat assessment system that is considered by experts to be a leading practice and is identified by the U.S. Department of Education and the What Works Clearinghouse as a best-practices program. Through that collaboration, he has worked daily with educators, law enforcement, human resources, trial court personnel, juvenile justice, and mental health personnel in the assessment and management of youth and adult threats of aggression within the schools, higher education, public and private institutions, and the community. As a practitioner, he has conducted thousands of threat assessments and managed hundreds of high-risk cases. He has been a member of the Association of Threat Assessment Professionals since 2000. He served as the chair of Oregon’s Mid-Valley Student Threat Assessment Team from its inception in 2000 through 2015 and continues to provide consultation to its membership. He has served as a member of the Marion County Threat Advisory Team since 1999. He is the editor and principal author of the book Assessing Student Threats: Implementing the Salem-Keizer System, Second Edition, and he has co-authored a number of threat assessment and school security projects, including legislation. His third book (authored with Courtenay McCarthy and Coleen Van Dreal), Preventing Youth Violence: The Pathway Back through Inclusion and Connection, is due for release in March of 2022.
He has advised on, or contributed to, a number of threat assessment guides, including the International Handbook of Threat Assessment, Second Edition; Threat Assessment in the Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates (United States Secret Service and United States Department of Education); and Making Prevention a Reality: Identifying, Assessing, and Managing the Threat of Targeted Attacks (Behavioral Analysis Unit, National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime). He has been interviewed by a number of television, radio, and print news outlets, including National Public Radio, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Mother Jones, Esquire, and HBO.
John is an accomplished instructor and presenter, having trained education staff, mental health staff, and law enforcement officers from more than 300 school districts, colleges and universities, and communities. He has led in the effort to include equity, trauma informed care, inclusion, and restorative practice in violence prevention and has assisted in the implementation of threat assessment systems and the formation of threat assessment teams throughout the country. He regularly provides training, consultation, and keynote presentations to national audiences on threat assessment and management, preventing and mitigating human violence, school security, and response options for violent intruder and active-shooter situations.
John is dedicated to his own community, patronizing locally owned establishments and supporting a number of nonprofit arts and human services organizations. He is a musician, a published poet, and a nationally renowned fine artist with paintings in a number of notable collections. Finally, he is lucky to be the partner of a gifted school counselor, and he is a proud father of two brilliant adult children and a loving companion to his cat.
