The “Why”

We have done this before. We can do it again.

For nearly seventy years, not a single child in an American school has fallen victim to a fire-related incident. That is not luck. It is the result of a comprehensive national policy, a defined fire code, rigorous inspections, alarms and sprinkler systems, instructional signs, regular drills, trained marshals, and active community engagement. The lives lost in the past laid the foundation for a system that now saves countless lives. It is time to harness the essence of that success to address the escalating pattern of violence; the ultimate solution lies in prevention.

Too often, organizations rely on a quieter strategy: it will never happen here. That belief feels like comfort, but it leaves people unprepared when the worst arrives unannounced. We do not accept that gap, and we have spent our careers closing it for everyone, from children to adults.

Our work is never built on fear, because fear comes from not knowing what to do during a critical incident; it’s built on capability. People leave our training calmer and more confident than when they arrived, and we say it plainly: Be Prepared, Not Scared.

Why We Will Not Stop

The Framework

Prevention first, then Response, then Options.

The ASPP P.R.O. Model™ focuses on prevention first. It is a return on investment versus a return on regret, three pillars built to give the gift of time and save lives.

~ E Pluribus Unum ~ Out of Many, One

The Community of Experts.

Prevention, Response, and Options are not three separate programs. They are one model, and what holds them together is people: the ASPP Community of Experts. This is the heart of the P.R.O. Model™, and the reason the framework holds when others come apart.

It represents more than eight hundred years of combined experience across law enforcement and SWAT, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team, DHS, CIA, the Marine Corps, Navy SEALs, Army Rangers, Air Force, Coast Guard, intelligence, behavioral threat assessment, teaching, training, and technology. Our subject matter experts are spread across twenty-one states and four countries. But titles tell only part of the story. Their deeper qualification comes from moments that demanded courage, empathy, and judgment. This collective experience is not about prestige. It is about purpose: to change the outcome before tragedy occurs, and to ensure prevention becomes the standard, not the afterthought.

Why It Holds

What it means to be a national standard.

For years, there was no national standard focused on prevention first. That absence is what led to the founding of the Active Shooter Prevention Project. A standard is repeatable, measurable, and transferable, a baseline that holds whether it is applied in a school, a hospital, a stadium, or a federal facility. Maintaining consistent standards is also how we identify trends, define terms clearly, and cut through an industry crowded with conflicting acronyms and shiny new objects.

The P.R.O. Model™ is in use as “A” National Standard by the U.S. Department of Justice, not once, but twice. First adopted as a national prevention standard beginning in 2022, it was brought back in 2026 for an updated standard, filmed and released as official training for the entire Department of Justice and beyond. That training was built as four parts: a Community of Experts overview, a recorded keynote presentation, a question-and-answer session, and the core training module. A second federal selection is not something an organization can purchase; it is earned, and it means a great deal to us.

Chris Grollnek with Chuck Savickis during the 2022 filming for the U.S. Department of Justice (EOUSA), where the P.R.O. Model™ was recognized as “A” National Standard for prevention.

We deliberately call it “a” standard, not “the” standard. The work of protecting people is bigger than any one organization or any one name, and we would rather earn that trust again every day than claim more than we have built.

It is a return on investment versus a return on regret.

The Architect

Chris Grollnek, Active Shooter Prevention Expert.

The P.R.O. Model™ was architected by Chris Grollnek, M.S., widely recognized as the nation’s leading Active Shooter Expert and Active Shooter Prevention Expert. He is among the very few prevention professionals in the country who bring both direct, personal involvement in an active shooter event, as a responder to the well-documented 2010 attack in McKinney, Texas, and an advanced degree devoted to the subject, having completed his Master of Science at the University of Phoenix in 2012 with research focused on the phenomenon of active shooter events. Over 35 years spanning executive, C-suite, and board roles, he has been a pioneer in shifting the industry from reactive responses to proactive prevention.

He founded and scaled the Active Shooter Prevention Project from a bootstrapped startup into a nationally recognized initiative with 140 partnerships and 28 strategic partners, and his thought leadership reaches across more than 1,000 television appearances and speaking engagements. He hosts the Destination #NeverHere™ podcast and continues to guide the mission as Chairman.

The Active Shooter Prevention Project, featured on the Justice Television Network (JTN).

The P.R.O. Model™ is available for licensing and delivered as a commercially licensed LMS course, so organizations of any size can consistently, at scale, bring a proven national standard inside their own walls.

How We Deliver It

Built around your people, not a template.

Go Deeper

Read more about Lockdown Generation Safety and the youth perspective shaping prevention-first leadership.