Assessing Threats to Reputation and Safety

In circumstances when a person or an organization confronts individuals whose backgrounds are not completely known, as a matter of personal safety or organizational risk management, a threat assessment helps understand whether he or she presents a safety or reputational risk.

To conduct a threat assessment, it is essential to consider nuanced details by reading into fragments of information that, when combined, point to the level of a potential threat. Seeking only prior criminal histories often reveals nothing. Many people who currently pose a threat have never had contact with law enforcement. That is why our assessments go beyond criminal records. The following presents some of the information we recommend reviewing:

• Lawsuits, focusing on restraining orders and divorces.

• Determine whether police have historically responded to the person’s residence.

• Seek criminal records as a matter of due diligence.

• If possible, speak with sources identified from records, such as former spouses, employers, and acquaintances.

• Review social media or other online posts that the subject has created or that others have created which mention the subject.

• Seek out content he or she has authored under different identities.

• When relevant, search for records showing the subject’s financial stability.

At Waterfront Intelligence we focus on specific issues important to each client or review the overall background of a subject. Our investigative methods involve a multistep process mining databases and utilizing personal contacts when necessary.