Observation and Visual Threat Detection
Threat Observation
Learn to establish behavioral baselines, identify meaningful deviations, dismiss non-threats with confidence, and detect persons of interest through disciplined, systematic observation. Grounded in DoD-funded research and validated by social scientists.
Observation that informs appropriate action.
This course is designed for military, law enforcement, and security professionals who are responsible for recognizing and interpreting behavior and maintaining safety in real-world environments. Enrollment requires verification of military, law enforcement, or security affiliation. Not sure if you qualify? Check eligibility ▸
Past Trainees Include:
Military Police and Security
Police Officers and Sheriff’s Deputies
Surveillance Officers
Corporate Safety Teams
Executive Protection Professionals
School Security Officers
Federal Agents
Loss Prevention Personnel
After 294 participants completed this course:
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92.5%
felt better prepared to use visual behavior to identify a suspicious person.
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92.2%
indicated they had new tools to help me articulate their decisions.
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91.7%
shared course techniques would assist them in their job.
Trainee Testimonials
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“It will help identify suspicious persons, including armed suspects or people with drugs or other contraband.”
-Law Enforcement Officer
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“My routine assignments require the observation of persons within my facility. By understanding a baseline and being able to articulate that baseline I am better prepared to complete reports and investigations relative to my observations and deviations from our facility baseline.”
-Security Team Lead | Healthcare
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“This training will allow me to better observe our guests and employees. This training provided me with a totally different outlook on how I previously monitored guests and traffic within our facilities.”
-Security Manager | Gaming and Hospitality
What you will learn
A 4-hour self-paced online course that trains military, law enforcement, and security professionals to systematically observe any environment, establish behavioral baselines using the Behavioral Baseline Instrument (BBI), and identify persons of interest through disciplined observation rather than intuition. Developed through research with law enforcement officers and validated by social scientists under the DoD-funded Just Doesn't Look Right (JDLR) Project.
The course includes lecture-style material, videos, knowledge checks, and video-based exercises with increasing complexity. Progress is saved automatically — the course can be completed over multiple sessions, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Establish a behavioral baseline using the Behavioral Baseline Instrument (BBI)
Identify the roles, deviations, and objectives of individuals under observation
Detect meaningful behavioral deviations from the established baseline
Identify persons of interest (POI) in any operational environment
Articulate observations clearly to support defensible decisions
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Duration: 4 hours
Format: Self-paced (online) or in-person (instructor-led)
CPE Credits: 4 credits
POST credit: Applicable toward POST or state in-service requirements (as appropriate)
Exam: Theory and practical exam — 70% average required to pass
Prerequisites: None
Eligibility: Military, law enforcement, and security professionals — verification required after purchase and prior to enrollment
Starting at $199 per participant
Volume discounts, subscriptions, and instructor-led pricing available — buy online training or schedule a meeting with the Second Sight team to learn more about getting this training for your team.
Continue Your Training
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Threat Awareness for Law Enforcement
In the Threat Awareness for Law Enforcement program, learners are provided a research-validated system for recognizing early indicators of threat, interpreting behavioral deviations, and clearly articulating professional judgment in ways that withstand legal and supervisory scrutiny.
In-person and online versions of this program are available.
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Threat Awareness for Security Professionals
The Threat Awareness for Security Professionals program equips learners with a comprehensive system for identifying early indicators of risk, assessing threat levels through visible behaviors, and articulating defensible decisions before situations escalate.
In-person and online versions of this program are available.
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Threat Awareness in Practice
This is an online refresher course designed to help learners review key concepts and practice their active threat assessment skills. Access is limited to those who have completed the Threat Awareness training program.
Frequently Asked Questions
4 hours | Online and Instructor-Led | Law enforcement, security, military
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This course is designed for law enforcement officers, security professionals, and military personnel whose role involves observing, interacting with, or making decisions about members of the public. It assumes no prior formal observation training.
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Threat Observation introduces a more structured, operationally focused observation process. Learners develop skills in establishing behavioral baselines, identifying meaningful deviations, and applying a standardized framework to make and document defensible field decisions.
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Four hours. We recommend completing it in multiple sessions, one to two hours at a time, over the course of a week or two for optimal retention and skill integration.
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Yes. Like all Second Sight observation and visual threat detection training, Threat Observation is grounded in validated behavioral research, including findings from the Department of Defense-funded Just Doesn't Look Right project conducted by the Naval Research Laboratory.
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Yes. Roughly 30–40% of the course consists of practical exercises and applied exams that require learners to actively use the structured observation process in realistic scenarios.
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Yes. Threat Observation is the first course in the Threat Awareness for Law Enforcement and Threat Awareness for Security Professionals programs. It can be taken separately or as part of either Threat Awareness program.
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Yes. A certificate of completion is provided upon successful course completion.
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Threat Observation is the entry point to our security and law enforcement observation visual threat detection training path. It can be taken as a standalone course or as the first step in the Threat Awareness for Law Enforcement or Threat Awareness for Security Professionals programs.