In the days after high-profile incidents, much of the discussion centers on security presence, threat recognition, and response capability. Those elements matter, but they rarely tell the full story. At PGI, we often see medical risk overlooked when the practitioner’s response time is running short. We stop the threat, but the medical necessity to [...]
Introduction The volume of Planned Active Violence has continued to trend upward over the past six years. We, meaning PGI, have increasingly discussed behavioral trends that we have always tracked in relation to Planned Active Violence (PAV). By Planned Active Violence, we refer to acts of violence that involve identifiable stages of grievance, behavioral [...]
PGI Protective Intelligence Brief #4: Safe Havens: The Pre-Identified Options That Buy Time In protective operations, the safest decision is rarely made under pressure the first time. It is made earlier, during planning, advance work, route review, and environmental familiarization. Safe havens are not improvised locations. They are pre-identified options that give a protection [...]
PGI Protective Intelligence Brief #3: When Controlled Space Breaks Down: The Hidden Failure Point in Executive Protection In the days after the incident at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, much of the public conversation focused on security presence and response capability. Those elements matter, but they rarely tell the full story. What often determines [...]
This article is a follow-up to our recent piece, When Reaction Replaces Reflection, which examined how behavior in our communities is changing and how reactions are outpacing reflection. This article takes a closer look at what unfolded, beginning with behavior in the days leading up to the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, when a serious incident [...]
Across our communities, patience is thinning, and reactions are happening more quickly. Everyday disagreements are more likely to escalate, and opinions are often treated as facts before the truth is known. These changes are not isolated incidents. They reflect a broader shift in how people respond to stress, uncertainty, conflict, and each other. This [...]
The Prologue Over the past several days, multiple violent incidents reported in the United States have attracted public attention. At first glance, they may seem connected. In some cases, witnesses reported statements referencing religion or ideology. In others, the targets themselves expressed concerns about identity-based violence. However, when analyzed through an investigative and behavioral [...]
In our last post, we talked about a growing mindset we’re seeing, especially among younger generations, in which meaning, trust, and hope are slowly disappearing. That mindset has a name, nihilism, but more importantly, it explains a lot of the behavior we keep reacting to. Now let’s talk about the harder part. How this shift [...]
Nihilism (NY-uh-liz-um) A light bulb went on for me this week. One of those moments where something you’ve been watching unfold for years suddenly connects the dots. If you dig into this a little, I think it will click for you, too. Because what we are seeing play out every day is not random. There [...]
Date Location Victims Incident Type July 2 Chicago, IL 4 dead, 14 wounded Mass shooting (drive‑by) August 1 Anaconda, MT 4 dead Mass shooting (bar) August 8 Atlanta, GA (CDC/Emory) 1 officer dead, suspect also dead Active-shooter August 11 Austin, TX 3 dead (two adults, one child) Target parking lot shooting August 9 Times [...]
