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Health care organisations in the United States have been urged to adopt new violence prevention strategies after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released comprehensive guidance to help identify, assess, and prevent targeted violence in health care settings.

The initiative is part of a broader effort to safeguard facilities, staff, and patients from intentional acts of violence and to promote proactive, behaviour‑based threat assessment.

The guidance, released on 9 March 2026, reflects a first‑of‑its‑kind collaborative effort between the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit (BAU) and the American Hospital Association (AHA). Seventeen subject‑matter experts, including law enforcement officials, mental health professionals, and medical practitioners, contributed to the development of the materials.

Violence in Health Care: A Growing Concern

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Health care environments, from hospitals to community clinics, have increasingly been recognised as vulnerable to acts of targeted violence. These can consist not only of physical assaults, but also threats, harassment, and other harmful behaviours directed at staff, patients, or the facilities themselves.

The FBI's guidance aims to help organisations move beyond reactive responses to violence by equipping managers and security personnel with tools to recognise early warning signs, assemble multidisciplinary behavioural threat assessment teams, and implement preventive interventions.

According to the FBI, the guides include templates, models, and implementation references designed to support hospitals and health systems in establishing formal behavioural threat assessment and management (BTAM) teams. These teams are intended to identify and mitigate potential threats before they escalate into actual acts of violence.

What the Guides Include

The publicly available resources consist of two core documents:

  • A Leadership Guide for Preventing Targeted Violence in Health Care Settings, which outlines practical strategies for strengthening threat assessment and management efforts, and advice on involving local law enforcement and the FBI in prevention work.
  • A Resource Compendium for Further Reading, which provides hospitals and health organisations with expanded content from researchers, security professionals, and federal agents to deepen understanding of BTAM implementation.

Both documents emphasise a proactive approach, including staff training to recognise behavioural indicators of concern and building partnerships with law enforcement and community stakeholders to ensure a coordinated response to potential threats.

The Role of Behavioural Threat Assessment

Central to the FBI's guidance is the concept of behavioural threat assessment and management. This involves evaluating an individual's behaviour to determine whether they pose a risk of committing targeted violence, and implementing appropriate interventions to reduce that risk.

Behavioural threat assessment has been shown to be an effective measure in preventing violent incidents before they occur, particularly when teams are trained to observe concerning behaviours and when clear protocols are in place to report and manage potential threats.

Experts stress that these assessments do not predict violence with certainty, but provide a structured method for recognising patterns that may indicate escalation, enabling employers to act early and reduce risk.

Voices from the Field

In announcing the materials, FBI officials highlighted the importance of collaboration between federal law enforcement and health care professionals. They described the guidance as a valuable tool for hospitals, health systems, and security teams to identify and manage threats before they cause harm.

Meanwhile, the AHA, which represents hospitals and health systems nationwide, has underscored the need for health care organisations to build a culture of safety that incorporates violence prevention into daily operations. In related statements earlier this year, the association's leadership noted that violence against health care workers and facilities significantly impacts the delivery of care and the well‑being of staff.

Partnership and Prevention

This latest guidance builds on earlier collaborative efforts between the FBI and healthcare organisations to address targeted violence. The partnership between the FBI's Behavioural Analysis Unit and the AHA's Hospitals Against Violence initiative aims to foster lasting connections among clinical leadership, security teams, and law enforcement agencies to address threats holistically and safely.

The FBI encourages all health care organisations, regardless of size or location, to access and implement the guides as part of a broader violence prevention strategy. Organisations can incorporate these resources into emergency planning, staff training, and behavioural threat assessment programmes to strengthen readiness and resilience.

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