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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…

Twenty-eight shootings in 2019 have been designated as active shooter incidents. The report, Active Shooter Incidents in the United States in 2019, focuses on active shooter incidents – a specific type of shooting situation. The FBI defines an active shooter as one or more individuals actively engaged in killing, or attempting to kill, people in a populated area. Implicit in this definition is the shooter’s use of one or more firearms. The active aspect of the definition inherently implies that…

Crime scene bullets are often deformed from collisions which can make direct comparison difficult. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) have developed a new algorithm which makes matching them more accurate by dividing the markings on deformed bullets into segments and correlating those segments with reference bullets. You can read the full NIST article at https://tinyurl.com/st9waa8

The Patrick Leahy Bulletproof Vest Partnership (BVP), created by the Bulletproof Vest Partnership Grant Act of 1998, is a unique U.S. Department of Justice initiative designed to provide a critical resource to state and local law enforcement. Since 1999, the BVP program has awarded more than 13,000 jurisdictions a total of $467 million in federal funds for the purchase of over one million vests (1,395,976) as of February 2020. The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) is pleased to announce the…

In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impact on law enforcement and other first responders, the National Police Foundation (NPF), in collaboration with the National Alliance for Public Safety GIS (NAPSG) Foundation and Esri, has developed a COVID-19 situational awareness tool for law enforcement agencies. The tool, featuring a real-time dashboard, provides critical insights to assist executives, commanders, administrators, and other decision makers in assessing and monitoring the impact of COVID-19 on our nation’s first responders, including officer…

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has released the 2020 edition of Drugs of Abuse, A DEA Resource Guide which is designed to be a reliable resource on the most commonly abused and misused drugs in the United States. Because education plays a critical role in preventing substance abuse, this comprehensive guide is intended as a tool not just for medical practitioners and law enforcement officials, but also for educators, families and communities.  A copy of the 112 page guide…

Stephenie Slahor, Ph.D. The federal government’s response to the COVID-19 world public health crisis includes the unprecedented nearly $2 trillion emergency relief package presented in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES) – an amount equal to about ten percent of the total US gross domestic product. While much of the financial relief is targeted to individuals, businesses, unemployment compensation, and measures to restore the thriving economy, $150 billion of the package will apply to state, local and…

New 34th Annual Police Security Expo Dates Announced Event Rescheduled for Late August In light of ongoing Coronavirus (COVID-19) developments and after much consideration, the 2020 Police Security Expo has been rescheduled for August 25-26, 2020, in Atlantic City, NJ. The health and safety of our exhibitors, attendees, partners, and employees has always been our highest priority. Rescheduling this 34th annual event will enable show organizers and their partners to provide the type of event which both attendees and exhibitors…

“Families and communities in rural America have been hard hit by the crisis of addiction, and face unique challenges in developing effective responses to this disease. The Rural Community Action Guide empowers local leaders to meet these challenges head on with recommended action steps and best practices for local solutions which will create real change.” – Jim Carroll, Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy The Trump Administration recently released a new tool to assist rural community leaders in…

In the “Research for the Real World” video from the NIJ, the speakers discuss how law enforcement culture plays into stress and wellness. They argue that a culture of not showing weakness may deter some officers from getting much needed help, especially if they are suffering from mental health issues. The experts in the video recommend acknowledging that it is acceptable and normal to have an emotional response to the intensity of issues most officers experience in the line of…