National

BDI quarterly trend watch reports identify current and emerging trends to inform early planning and rapid response.

The seventh quarterly survey provides updated findings from the Q1 2024 nationally representative BDI-CivicPulse survey of local elected officials and school board members on their experiences of hostility. This wave surveyed over 400 local elected officials and over 200 school board officials, putting the total number of participants across all seven surveys at more than 2,900. In order to address a persistent research gap, this survey wave has added school board officials to the sampled population for the first time. While other types of local officials (e.g. state legislators, election officials) have been the focus of multiple research efforts, school board officials have remained under-examined. At a time when school board meetings have increasingly become flashpoints for backlash against local government, and as part of our effort to better understand the broader threat and harassment landscape, this expansion of the survey allows us to further investigate how hostility faced by school board officials compares with experiences reported by other local elected officials, such as mayors, council members, and county commissioners, in order to support tailored policy responses. This research is produced as part of an ongoing joint project launched by BDI and CivicPulse in August 2022 to conduct quarterly national surveys of local officials on their experiences facing threats and harassment. These quarterly updates allow us to identify spikes or shifts in hostility and monitor important trends in threats and harassment as we enter the 2024 election cycle.

Local monitoring is essential for identifying early warning signs. BDI produces regular national situation reports (SitReps) on key risk trends at the national and state level, disseminated to a vetted list of community leaders and organizations.

Local monitoring is essential for identifying early warning signs. BDI produces regular national situation reports (SitReps) on key risk trends at the national and state level, disseminated to a vetted list of community leaders and organizations.

The April 2024 incident bulletin summarizes key political violence and conflict events in all 50 states.

Local monitoring is essential for identifying early warning signs. BDI produces regular national situation reports (SitReps) on key risk trends at the national and state level, disseminated to a vetted list of community leaders and organizations.

The May 2024 incident bulletin summarizes key political violence and conflict events in all 50 states.

BDI quarterly trend watch reports identify current and emerging trends to inform early planning and rapid response.

Students at colleges and universities across the United States have established protest encampments over an array of issues related to the Israel-Palestine conflict, prompting a wide range of responses from school officials, law enforcement, counter-protesters, and local communities. This Issue Brief analyzes the latest data on the campus protests to map key trends in demonstration activity and responses to the encampments as of May 12, with a specific focus on incidents of physical violence and destructive activity, such as assaults, clashes, substantial property damage, and use of force by police.1 The Brief also reviews ongoing dialogue and de-escalation efforts to manage tensions among campus communities, as well as the protest movement’s trajectory going into the summer.

Local monitoring is essential for identifying early warning signs. BDI produces regular national situation reports (SitReps) on key risk trends at the national and state level, disseminated to a vetted list of community leaders and organizations.