Belmar officer attends Digital Threat Assessment® training

BELMAR — Belmar Police Officer Ryan Braswell was among those attending Digital Threat Assessment® training [DTA®] held Jan. 19 at the Ocean County Training Center in Waretown.

Representatives from police departments across Ocean and Monmouth counties participated in the one-day training on cyberbullying and violence. 

The goal was to equip them with digital tools and skills so they can recognize and deter bullying and other violent-related behaviors and activities that originate or spread through online sites and social media spaces.

The motivation for Officer Braswell to join the training was based on his experience that a good percentage of his chance encounter of misconduct, misdemeanor and, sometimes, violent behavior is hiding in the internet spaces. To intercept them, he said, would need a new set of skills beyond his regular active drills.

“Many years ago, certain behaviors in our middle schools were brought to our attention. I can tell you that I was aware of an investigation where the fight was posted on the internet. I was the lead investigator of that fight, and I was able to locate the video.”

The training was focused on identifying the “behavioral baseline” of individuals exhibiting signs of violence directed towards themselves or others on the internet. For Officer Braswell, this is the crux of the DTA® training authored by the International Center for Digital Threat Assessment [I.C.D.T.A.]. It was sponsored by Law Enforcement Against Drugs and Violence [L.E.A.D.] in partnership with Safe Schools Together [S.S.T.].

This is an excerpt of the print article. For more on this story, read The Coast Star—on newsstands Thursday or online in our e-Edition.

For more information on L.E.A.D., please visit www.leadrugs.org

Original Excerpt: https://starnewsgroup.com/2023/03/02/belmar-officer-attends-digital-threat-assessment-training/