On January 20, 2016, the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) released a request for proposal (RFP) seeking a provider to work with the Rhode Island Department of Corrections (DOC) and the Rhode Island Parole Board.
The provider selected will be expected to accomplish the following objectives:
- Evaluate Rhode Island’s existing parole risk assessment instruments.
- Ensure the instruments are producing valid assessments of risk and criminogenic needs.
- Provide recommendations for recalibration or alterations to the tools to better supplement the paroling authority’s discretionary decisionmaking process.
- Assist in the synthesis of the instruments with Rhode Island’s existing parole standards.
Responses to this RFP are due via email no later than 5:00 p.m. ET on February 12, 2016. Please contact BJANTTAC@ojp.usdoj.gov with any questions and include ATTN: James Lah in the subject line.
Please join the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Diagnostic Center on Thursday, January 28 from 1:00 to 2:30 p.m. ET for a webinar on “Adapting to Change: Avoiding the Success Trap.”
A success trap can occur when businesses focus on their historically successful work and neglect to change and adapt with their industry. In this webinar, Dr. Steve Winegar from the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards and Training will examine how law enforcement leaders can an avoid the success trap of 21st century policing by taking a more strategic and proactive approach to current technological and operational changes.
Please join the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) National Training and Technical Assistance Center on Tuesday, January 26 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET for a webinar on “Police/Community Trust: Local and National Perspectives.”
This webinar will outline the reasons behind the success of a police/community trust initiative in Watts, CA. Topics covered include why the police were bought in, why the community was bought in, and what resources it took to sustain the effort.
Representatives from the National Initiative for Building Community Trust and Justice will focus on the community perspective. Additionally, a representative from the Police Foundation will reflect on changes in police-community trust-building practices in selected cities, as well as common challenges.
To learn more about how the Bureau of Justice Assistance National Training and Technical Assistance Center is helping law enforcement build trust in the community, check out the TTA Today blog post on T3™ - Tact, Tactics, and Trust training classes here.
As one of the first cities in the country selected for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Violence Reduction Network (VRN), Richmond, CA has faced ongoing challenges related to increasing community trust and public safety. One of the cornerstones of the Richmond Police Department’s (RPD) violence reduction strategy is ensuring officers maximize opportunities during every community interaction to build positive rapport, deescalate conflict, and minimize the use of force.
Richmond Chief Chris Magnus was looking for innovative ways to enhance his officers’ trust-building and tactical skills. The VRN and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) National Training and Technical Assistance Center (NTTAC) connected the RPD with a series of five, one-day introductory T3™ - Tact, Tactics, and Trust training classes, which are based on the idea that because tact, tactics, and trust are inseparable on the street, they must also be inseparable in training.
Specifically, T3™ instructors teach officers practical, evidence-based skills that they can use to create safer, more positive outcomes during their community interactions, especially in situations where tactical risk is high and trust is low. The training series integrates community policing, officer safety skills, and interpersonal communication skills using realistic, scenario-based exercises and other interactive training techniques. The goal is to create engaging opportunities for officers to learn, practice, and improve essential tactical, communication, and trust-building skills.
The Richmond trainings were attended by over 150 officers from the RPD, as well as from Oakland (CA), and other San Francisco Bay Area agencies. Instructors used a variety of evidence-based methods to build skills in four critical areas of performance called the “PDAT factors,” which refers to perception, decision, action, and trust. Specific topics covered in the Richmond trainings include:
- Deescalating people in emotional and mental crisis.
- Effective verbal communication with people being held at gunpoint.
- Tactical empathy.
- Dealing with angry bystanders with smartphones.
- Respectful, safe Terry stops.
- Non-arrest, trust-building resolution of minor offenses.
- Trust-building within the police department.
- Protecting against sudden, close-quarter gun attacks.
In advance of the Richmond classes, the instructor team consulted closely with RPD senior leadership and training staff to ensure that the training was tailored to address relevant department issues and align with relevant laws and policies.
“I think this program is excellent. [It] utilizes an innovative approach to help cops better understand that their safety is closely tied to how they communicate with others in a wide range of situations,” said Chief Magnus.
While the specific content was customized for the RPD, all T3™ training focuses on teaching skills related to Seven Core Principles of Tact, Tactics, and Trust.™
- Be Balanced
- Be Real
- Self-Control
- Be Smooth
- Be Empathetic
- Create Lasting Positive Effects
- Never Humiliate
A key lesson learned from the Richmond program is that the training will be most effective when introduced early during initial academy training, and then continually reinforced at strategic points in an officers’ career.
Participants also noted that the course pairs nicely with Blue Courage training; Blue Courage training helps promote the right mindset among officers, while T3™ training operationalizes that mindset through hands-on guidance and practical skills.
For more information about T3™ - Tact, Tactics, and Trust training, contact Dr. Jonathan Wender, jonathan.wender@polis-solutions.com. Dr. Wender is a twenty-year police veteran whose academic work focuses on the dynamics of human interaction.
If you are interested in submitting the work of your organization or jurisdiction for consideration to be featured in a future TTA Today blog post or to obtain information related to a particular topic area, please email us at BJANTTAC@ojp.usdoj.gov.
Points of view or opinions on BJA NTTAC’s TTA Today blog are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice, BJA, or BJA NTTAC.
Please join the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) on Monday, December 14 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET for the “Criminology 102: Busted Myths in Criminology” webinar. This webinar will identify ten public misconceptions about criminal justice and will discuss the evidence that disproves these misconceptions. The webinar will also examine how the research evidence can lead to data-driven solutions.
This webinar will be presented by Dr. Scott Decker, SPI Subject Matter Expert and Foundation Professor at the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University.
To register for this webinar, please click here.