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Published by the National Suicide Awareness for Law Enforcement Officers Program (SAFLEO), this brief discusses the reluctance of some law enforcement officers to seek mental health treatment. The people closest to them often hold a special kind of influence when trying to convince their loved ones to seek help. This SAFLEO issue brief provides ways for family members, friends and others to support their law enforcement loved ones and shares practical strategies for helping officers in need.  The brief can…

Published by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), this publication discusses the importance of victim centered, trauma informed approaches to crime. These approaches enhance victim and community safety while helping law enforcement solve and prevent crime. The Agency Self-Assessment Tool for Law Enforcement Victim Support is designed to assist law enforcement agencies in reviewing practices related to victim response – specifically the integration of victim centered, trauma informed practices into the overall operating philosophy and culture of the…

Published by the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), this report is part of PERF’s Critical Issues in Policing series. The report discusses the current state of recruitment training, with its demand that we rethink – and remake – the system for how new police officers are trained. We need national consensus and national standards on what the training contains, how it is delivered and by whom. While this report may present a grim picture of the current state of recruit…

Law enforcement have long used online escort advertisements to identify sex trafficking victims and investigate cases. Investigators have used and shared several indicators with each other in practice over the years, but these indicators have not been empirically tested for predictive power to support investigative decisions or the use of ads as evidence in court. This study has two objectives: Examine whether there are indicators which can differentiate escort ads related to sex trafficking from ads for consensual, non-trafficking sex…

Alien Gear Holsters® offers customers a chance to support law enforcement charities by rounding up their purchase at checkout. Alien Gear  Holsters®, designers and manufacturers of American-made holsters and firearms accessories, and the Rapid Force™ line of Level 2 and Level 3 Duty Holsters, announce that in honor of Law Enforcement Appreciation Day, Alien Gear Holsters have launched a new way to support law enforcement on their website. “At Alien Gear Holsters, we want to show our deep appreciation for…

Published by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), this article discusses an analysis of data collected from 2017 to 2019 on law enforcement suicide deaths. The analysis revealed ten risk factors present in many cases. Of these, five were noted as significant among police and corrections officers: interpersonal relationships, substance abuse and addiction, sleep and related disorders, physical and mental health, and access to firearms. Careful examination of these issues will help reduce negative outcomes. In addition, changing the paradigm…

Published through support from the US Department of Homeland Security, the Best Practices Leveraging Computer-Aided Dispatch to Enhance Suspicious Activity Reporting resource was developed to provide law enforcement and fusion centers with promising practices and recommendations on how to develop or enhance the process of querying Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) data to derive or develop information, tips and leads, or suspicious activity. This includes Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) meeting the requirements outlined in the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting Initiative. The guidance…

The Bureau of Justice Assistance and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) have released a new training module on privately made firearms, commonly known as ghost guns, as part of the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP) Virtual Academy. Working collaboratively, ATF and BJA developed the PSP Virtual Academy Ghost Guns course to provide law enforcement with a readily accessible, on-demand, and no-cost way to gain insight into what constitutes privately made firearms and how they may be…

Published by the National Institute of Justice, this report examines the impacts of School Resource Officers (SROs) on outcomes related to school climate and student suspension rates, with a focus on racial differences and the role of school context. This study also examines how SROs perceive their roles and how these roles may be shaped by school contexts. A copy of the report can be viewed at https://tinyurl.com/yucxa3an

Published by the National Institute of Justice, this brief discusses evidence for detecting, preventing and responding to school shootings through NIJ-sponsored research. Preventing mass shootings in the United States, particularly those occurring in school settings, is an important priority for families, government leaders and officials, public safety agencies, mental health professionals, educators, and local communities. The brief provides potential solutions for preventing these shootings, as well as additional NIJ reports related to school shootings. A copy of the brief can…