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Local leaders face plenty of hurdles in funding and sustaining their efforts to reduce the number of people in jails who have mental illnesses or substance use disorders. They might struggle to work across sectors to leverage available resources or encounter difficulties interpreting complex regulations about federal funding eligibility and usage. Meanwhile, the sheer number of available federal funding opportunities can be overwhelming. To respond to this need, The Council of State Governments Justice Center created “Financing the Future of…

It is with great sadness that we mark the passing of P&SN’s Technology Editor, William D. Siuru, Jr. Bill passed away on July 12, 2020, in Banning, California. He was born on January 29, 1938, in Detroit, Michigan, to William B. Siuru and Bertha Siuru. Like most kids who grew up in Detroit during the golden age of the American automobile, Bill loved cars – not just driving them, but taking them apart and putting them back together. His fascination…

Recently, the NRA and the Association of New Jersey Rifle & Pistol Clubs filed an amicus brief in support of retired, federal law enforcement officers, who brought suit against the state of New Jersey under the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act (“LEOSA”). LEOSA allows current and retired qualified officers with identification issued by their agency to carry a concealed firearm nationwide, regardless of state law. The plaintiffs here meet those qualifications. Yet the state of New Jersey, in violation of…

A new publication from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), this guidebook offers a practical framework for understanding Evidence-Based Policing (EBP). The framework is presented in 45 small “bytes” – a number which illustrates the broad function of policing in a society which expects a lot from its police agencies.      The guidebook covers topics such as gauging external and internal conditions; assessing performance; identifying and analyzing problems; and evaluating practices and testing alternatives. The guidebook emphasizes which data, analysis…

The Police Executive Research Forum brought together prosecutors and police executives from 11 jurisdictions in 2019 to look for common ground on criminal justice reform. Leaders from the group recognized that, in the growing national debate over criminal justice reform, police chiefs and prosecutors were often talking past each other instead of to each other. This new report from that forum details the discussions and presents a set of 12 common-ground principles agreed upon by the attendees. To read a…

A new National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) Clearinghouse toolkit has been curated by the PSP team to provide a suite of timely resources dedicated to assisting law enforcement with best practices for building community trust, strengthening relationships and increasing cultural understanding with diverse communities. The resources included also address officer resiliency and ways to mitigate the impact of stress on the duties of policing. For more information or to build your own customized toolkit, visit the PSP Web site at…

The Department of Justice recently announced nearly $400 million in grant funding through the Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) COPS Hiring Program (CHP). The Attorney General announced funding awards to 596 law enforcement agencies across the nation which allows those agencies to hire 2,732 additional full-time law enforcement professionals. The awards are inclusive of the $51 million announced in May 2020 as part of Operation Relentless Pursuit.   “The Department of Justice is committed to providing the police…

The US Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Service (COPS Office), the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), and the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) convened a two-day conference in Washington, DC, in 2019 to discuss policy and operational issues regarding the implementation and use of drones. This new publication, Drones: A Report on the Use of Drones by Public Safety Agencies – and a Wake-Up Call About the Threat of Malicious Drone Attacks, synthesizes information presented at the conference;…

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Download Full PDF Press Release Here As a result of the continued effort to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, officials from the state of New Jersey have cancelled August 2020 events scheduled at the Atlantic City Convention Center. The New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police and Police Security Expo Management (Sitework Associates, Inc.) have been informed by the New Jersey Department of Emergency Management that the State of New Jersey has exercised their option to…

Administered by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits (PSOB) Program provides death benefits to the eligible survivors of public safety officers who are fatally injured in the line of duty; disability benefits to public safety officers catastrophically injured in the line of duty; and education benefits to the eligible spouses and children of fallen and catastrophically injured officers. With the recent outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease or COVID-19, America’s law enforcement officers, firefighters and…