Human Element

CPPS' Jameson Ritter on Why 98% of Violence Prevention Starts with Human Behavior

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The biggest security failures don't happen because teams miss warning signs in the data; they happen because no one reported the warning signs in the first place. Jameson Ritter, Director of Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management at CPPS, discovered this truth after years responding to terrorism events and workplace violence as a law enforcement officer. His transition from the Joint Terrorism Task Force to corporate security revealed a consistent pattern: in nearly every tragedy, people knew something was wrong but never reported it. The gap wasn't in security infrastructure or threat assessment capabilities, it was in organizational culture and human behavior.

Jameson’s background also shaped his approach to building violence prevention programs that actually work. He discusses why 98% of effective prevention happens in the human sphere rather than through physical security measures, how to create multidisciplinary teams that leverage diverse perspectives, and why leaders need to embrace the "80% solution" when dealing with imperfect information about human behavior. He also explores the challenges of maintaining team mental health in a field that deals with tragedy and the importance of building trusted professional networks.

Stories We’re Telling Today: 
  • Transitioning from a response-focused mindset to a prevention-first approach reveals the true gaps in violence prevention
  • Building threat assessment teams that integrate HR, legal, mental health, and security perspectives to understand human behavior
  • The "80% solution" framework for making informed decisions with imperfect information, then evolving as new data emerges
  • Investing in behavioral change delivers better prevention outcomes for physical security infrastructure than technology alone
  • Creating organizational cultures where reporting warning signs becomes natural rather than relying on "see something, say something" 
  • Embracing contrarian voices and red team thinking to prevent groupthink and identify blind spots that could lead to tragedy
  • Maintaining mental health for threat assessment teams that regularly deal with difficult subject matter and organizational tragedies
  • Leveraging professional networks to solve high-risk cases by accessing diverse expertise and geographic knowledge
  • Why passion and authenticity drive organizational buy-in more effectively than fear-based messaging or compliance requirements

    • Too busy; didn’t listen: 

    • Violence prevention is 98% human behavior and organizational culture, not physical security infrastructure.
    • The "80% solution" framework means making the best decision with available information now, then evolving as you learn more.
    • Building multidisciplinary threat assessment teams with HR, legal, mental health, and security perspectives prevents blind spots. 
    • Welcoming contrarian voices stops the groupthink that causes teams to miss critical warning signs.
    • Most tragedies don't happen because teams failed to act but because they never knew there was a problem.

      • Skip to the Highlight of the episode: 

      [24:44-25:07] “I think they use the word passionate and that's not patting myself on the back, but I wear it on my sleeve. When I talked about the common thread line for me is this thread line of service. And now I've settled into this role of violence prevention and threat assessment. If you can speak authentically to things that you're passionate about and be knowledgeable on it, but also passionate, and that comes through in how you talk and engage with other people.”

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      Human ElementBy Maltego