Innovative Behavioral Threat Assessment software solution powered by DataFlex

"It’s not the first time in our 30 plus years of existence that Data Access has come to the rescue with their rapid development philosophy.” Woody Spencer, USA Software.

Since 1989, USA Software has been providing technology solutions to public safety and law enforcement agencies of all sizes that need help managing information and improving communications.

With more than 150 installations in the Southeast US and nearly 100 years combined law enforcement experience on staff, USA Software offers expertise in computing and policing and develops software products to meet the demands of these specialized end-users - all powered by DataFlex.

In addition to USA Software’s extensive portfolio of solutions for law enforcement agencies, the Florida-based company now provides the innovative Behavioral Threat Assessment and Case Management System (BTAFile IMS®), for educational and workplace campuses.

The idea to extend USA Software’s product offerings into the realm of behavioral threat assessment solutions was a natural extension of the company’s existing software solution portfolio.

"Our target markets for BTAFile IMS® include high schools and charter schools, as well as colleges and universities, along with workplace campuses. Our first installation was over 10 years ago at one of our college Campus Police Departments, shortly after the Virginia Tech massacre occurred," says F.A. "Woody" Spencer, founder and president of USA Software.

Woody has specialized in law enforcement systems since 1986 and plays a strategic role in the design and strategy of the company’s law enforcement systems.

"The app didn’t get a lot of traction in the market because threat assessment wasn’t widely recognized as a way to prevent school shootings. And, quite frankly, there hadn’t been enough of them to move that ball forward. That all changed with Parkland…," says Woody.

USA Software’s Behavioral Threat Assessment application’s design follows the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG), a nationally proven violence prevention training program developed by Professor Dewey Cornell of the Curry School of Education at the University of Virginia. The program is also known as Safety Assessment and Intervention (SAI) by Sandy Hook Promise.

Dr. Cornell is a consultant to USA Software, and the company’s Behavioral Threat Assessment solution incorporate the concepts he developed and outlines in the CSTAG model.

Woody says that using the DataFlex Web Framework enabled the rapid development and deployment process to happen smoothly and efficiently.

“After Parkland, we knew we had a software solution. But it needed to be updated to use the latest assessment models such as Dr. Cornell’s CSTAG. And, because members of a school’s multi-disciplinary behavioral threat assessment team weren’t always in the same room, it needed to be ’mobile’ and available on a wide array of devices (browser-based). And, it needed to be developed FAST! It’s not the first time in our 30 plus years of existence that Data Access has come to the rescue with their rapid development philosophy.”

Data Access Worldwide President and CEO Chip Casanave says, “USA Software is an effective innovator in both technology and business. Their continually growing DataFlex-based application suite satisfies the broad demands of numerous of public safety departments large and small.

"Their business insight identified the market need for new solutions to prevent violence in our school systems. The flexible design of their existing applications allowed them to be quickly morphed into new mobile, behavioral threat assessment applications to rapidly fill that need.”

USA Software’s BTAFile IMS® solution provides data-driven analytics that provide
early warnings by threshold, threats by grade, threats by type, and more.