News

Published by the Office of Community Oriented Policing, “Domestic Violence 101: How Should a Law Enforcement Agency Respond?” discusses best practices for police agencies responding to domestic violence; what resources exist to support their work; and how law enforcement officers and departments can build skills, capacity and comfort to address these crimes and the individuals involved with expertise and care. The article provides the essentials which officers should know about domestic violence and the importance of having a departmental domestic violence policy….

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has released a comprehensive report on threats to American security. The “October 2020 Homeland Threat Assessment” is specifically intended for public consumption and factors in all the new challenges DHS faces in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The inaugural report arranges the topmost threats to America in seven sections, including the cyber threat to the homeland, foreign influence in the homeland, threats to the US economic security, the terrorist threat to the homeland,…

Super Seer Corporation has released Lazer-Shield to effectively protect police offers from the growing threat of laser beam attacks during protests. The shield is a universal self-adhesive protective strip which reduces a green, blue or violet laser beam from one watt to a harmless 1/1000 watt. Inexpensive high-powered handheld lasers have led to an increasing number of attacks on law enforcement officers, often in riot situations. Attackers direct the laser toward an officer’s eyes. If struck without protection, the officer…

The Office of Community Oriented Policing (COPS) Office School Safety Working Group, composed of representatives from eight national law enforcement organizations, has identified ten essential actions which can be taken by schools, school districts and law enforcement agencies to help prevent critical incidents causing loss of life or injury in our nation’s schools and to respond rapidly and effectively when incidents do occur. These actions, published by COPS, are applicable to school shootings as well as to other areas of…

A new training course, Understanding Digital Footprints, funded through the Bureau of Justice Assistance and presented by the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), introduces participants to the concept of digital footprints and best practices in protecting personally identifiable information. Some topics include limiting your digital footprint, protecting privacy on social media, opting out of data aggregator sites, oversharing personal information, and recovering after becoming a target of doxing. To take this course, visit https://tinyurl.com/y3cxzrz2

The National Police Foundation (NPF), in partnership with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, has released the National Survey on Officer Safety Training: Findings and Implications, along with its accompanying Executive Brief, and an interactive Web site. The report and Web site present the results of a national survey developed and administered by NPF to examine the officer safety and wellness training and resource needs of law enforcement agencies across the United States. To download a copy of the report, visit https://tinyurl.com/y367ls96

The COPS Office recently released a new publication, Unique Needs and Challenges of Border Law Enforcement and Promising Practices for Establishing a Criminal Interdiction Unit. The US Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) hosted a series of roundtable and focus groups, supplemented by a needs assessment, to determine the needs, promising practices and challenges of sheriffs’ offices along the northern and southern borders of the United States. The report…

In a new, no-cost book from the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), Chapter 2: How Police Chiefs and Sheriffs Are Finding Meaning in Retirement, retired police chiefs and sheriffs share their stories about what they are doing and give advice for how to plan for life after being on a police force. Chapter 2 is intended for everyone in the policing profession, while recognizing that the concept of retirement is changing in many professions. Four short videos featuring retired police chiefs and…

A new report, Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2019, is the 22nd in a series of annual publications produced jointly by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, in the Department of Education. It provides official estimates of school crime and safety from a variety of data sources, including national surveys of students, teachers, principals, and post-secondary institutions. You can visit https://tinyurl.com/y3bcst4p to download a copy of the new report

Jurisdictions around the country are exploring strategies to improve the outcomes of encounters between law enforcement and people who have mental health needs. In an effort to expand the knowledge base for law enforcement agencies interested in starting or enhancing a comprehensive police/mental health collaboration, the Council of State Governments Justice Center, with assistance from a team of national experts and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, selected ten law enforcement agencies to serve as national law…