Law enforcement agencies from across the state gathered in Cullman Tuesday, July 26, to gain a better understanding of the escalating trend of school violence and learn effective ways of protecting Alabama students.

Criminal profiler and true-crime writer/podcaster Phil Chalmers spoke to attendees of the Cullman County Sheriff’s Office-sponsored event. Chalmers offered an up-close glimpse into the the causes, warning signs and triggers of teen killers, school shooters and mass murderers.

While the CCSO typically partners with the Cullman County Board of Education each summer to prepare for the school year, Cullman County Sheriff Matt Gentry said that recent acts of violence led him to see a need this additional training which was made available to law enforcement and school administrators statewide.

“After Uvalde, the idea of child and student safety really weighed on my heart. So, we wanted to do something before school started,” Gentry said, “This teaches about the triggers, who and what to look for, and shows law enforcement and administrators how to prepare daily to keep our schools safe.”

With crime scene photographs and video footage, Chalmers discussed youth culture diving into violent music, torture films and first person shooter video games along with social media and potentially dangerous cell phone apps in hopes to shed light on the lives of what he described as a “generation of death.”

Chalmers said that Cullman schools are ahead of the curve in one key aspect:preventing acts of violence by having mental health experts on staff as an available resource to students and teachers schools are able to better identify warning signs of potentially harmful behaviors. Chalmers advised that schools have three experts on hand — one that deals with sexual issues, one to handle suicide prevention and one to handle violent situations.

“I would say that any proactive measures you can take [are good] and then when you do see signs, any intervention you take, whether it’s talking to one person or being sent away to a facility for a few months, there are things you can do. It depends on what the situation is,” Chalmers said.

Chalmers also discussed safety measures such as safety glass and lockdown procedures, but said that these are merely methods to prepare for the inevitable continuation of the trend of school violence.

“There is not a 100% solution. It’s just ways to be proactive. You try to intervene as much as you can. You cannot stop these 100%. You know what you do is you limit the damage,” Chalmers said.