JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- A Prevention Assistance and Response, or PAR, program is starting up at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson with the objective of reducing workplace violence within Department of Defense entities.
In response to the increasing instances of active-shooter events and workplace violence events across the United States and within the military, 17 installations have been chosen to initiate this program. PAR focuses on connecting and gathering information from across many different organizations in order to prevent these tragedies.
“The PAR program is a DOD initiative geared at connecting all of the information stovepipes from all the different agencies and uses collaboration…to come up with holistic perspectives and assessments for things like risk and behavioral analysis,” said John Shaw, the PAR coordinator for JBER.
With a focus on providing commanders and civilian equivalent leaders with risk assessment within their prospective organizations, this program uses trained professionals who address indicators of workplace violence to prevent brutality before it happens.
“The [Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency/Department of Defense Insider Threat Management Analysis Center] PAR Program is currently building capacity to better support the JBER military, civilian, and family members that live and work on the installation to continue the mission and enhance safety and security,” said Craig Colean, the PAR office chief for Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and JBER. “The team assembled has a long history of supporting Alaska both as active-duty, contractors, and Department of Defense civilians.”
As the program develops, Shaw says he wants to work on ways to collect information and connect interservice agencies across JBER.
“In a collective grouping of agencies, the hope is that we can come up with something that forces the information flow and sharing, which we're directed to do,” said Shaw. “They want us to be in the trenches with unit-level commands, helping them to understand the holistic approach to what their organizations look like, being able to take pattern analysis, turn it into predictive analysis, and form collaborative organizations and committees.”