The primary purpose of a threat assessment is to prevent targeted violence. The threat assessment process is centered upon on analysis of the facts and evidence of behavior in a given situation. The appraisal of risk in a threat assessment focuses on actions, communications, and specific circumstances that might suggest that an individual intends to mount an attack and is engaged in planning or preparing for that event. In a situation that becomes the focus of a threat assessment inquiry or investigation, appropriate authorities gather information, evaluate facts, and make a determination as to whether a given student poses a threat of violence to a target. If an inquiry indicates that there is a risk of violence in a specific situation, authorities conducting the threat assessment collaborate with others to develop and implement a plan to manage or reduce the threat posed by the student in that situation. Six principles form the foundation of the threat assessment process. These principles are: (1) Targeted violence is the end result of an understandable, and oftentimes discernible, process of thinking and behavior. (2) Targeted violence stems from an interaction among the individual, the situation, the setting, and the target. (3) An investigative, skeptical, inquisitive mindset is critical to successful threat assessment. (4) Effective threat assessment is based upon facts, rather than on characteristics or traits. (5) An integrated systems approach should guide threat assessment inquiries and investigations. (6) The central question in a threat assessment inquiry or investigation is whether a student poses a threat, not whether the student has made a threat. (US Secret Service and DOE, Threat Assessment in Schools, 2002)