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Texas DPS urges tighter behavioral threat assessment teams, asks council to back bill protecting clinicians' participation
Summary
Major Sharon Jones told the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council DPS has established statewide behavioral threat assessment and management teams that have thwarted multiple targeted‑violence plots and asked the council to support draft legislation to protect mental‑health professionals who share clinical information within those confidential teams.
Major Sharon Jones of the Texas Department of Public Safety told the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council on Feb. 17 that DPS has built statewide behavioral threat assessment and threat‑management teams that bring law enforcement, school officials, hospitals and mental‑health professionals together to identify and intervene with individuals on a recorded “pathway to violence.”
“See something, say something,” Jones said in introducing the program; she added the question her presentation addressed was “what happens when we say something.” Jones described the teams as multidisciplinary and confidential and said their mission is to reduce risk while respecting civil liberties.
Jones presented multiple Texas examples she said were stopped by coordinated teams, including an Austin‑area case in which investigators prevented an 18‑year‑old from buying…
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