Home

    November 09, 2015

    The Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) recently published “Trust is the defining safety issue of our time,” an article that covers the impact of the Byrne Criminal Justice Innovation (BCJI) Program in neighborhoods across the United States. The BCJI Program is a Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) initiative supporting data-driven, comprehensive responses to crime in some of the country’s most troubled communities.

    LISC was chosen as the training and technical assistance (TTA) provider for the program and has since been working to nurture partnerships among law enforcement, residents, and others in order to fight crime. With LISC providing TTA and mentorship, the BCJI Program now backs crime reduction efforts in 60 cities and rural areas. This fall, another 14 neighborhood sites were added, bringing the federal investment to more than $40 million since 2012.

    To read the LISC article, please click here.

    October 26, 2015

    As an accompaniment to the Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Body-Worn Camera Toolkit, the Body-Worn Camera Podcast Series, which is now available on iTunes, provides insight from leaders in the body-worn camera field who share practical experience on research, implementation, and policy development. Throughout this series, you will hear presentations from civil rights groups, early adopters, and more from across the United States.

    The first episode in the series features Dr. Mike White, a professor in the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Arizona State University and the Associate Director of their Center for Violence Prevention and Community Safety. He is also a subject matter expert for BJA’s Smart Policing Initiative and a Senior Diagnostic Specialist for the Office of Justice Programs Diagnostic Center.

    The podcasts can be found on iTunes by searching “BJA BWC” in podcasts, or by clicking here. Questions? See the Justice Podcast Series Frequently Asked Questions for more information on how to download BJA’s podcasts through iTunes.

    You can also access the podcasts from BJA’s website by clicking here and selecting the BWC Podcast Series.

    For additional body-worn camera information, check out the Body-Worn Camera Toolkit, a comprehensive clearinghouse for criminal justice practitioners interested in planning and implementing a body-worn camera program. 

    October 20, 2015

    By Chief Sean Whent, Oakland (CA) Police Department Police Chief

    Imagine your agency has experienced an officer-involved shooting and social media is full of damaging misinformation. A line such as “The man was unarmed and surrendering when he was viciously executed by the police,” can be incredibly damaging, even if it is not true.

    What would it be worth to you to have the actual incident captured on video?

    In situations such as critical incidents, it is essential for law enforcement to be able to get the truth out quickly. Public mistrust and instant social media messaging can be a dangerous combination. As Mark Twain once said, “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”

    In this post-Ferguson era of policing, public trust in law enforcement is in short supply. The days when a police chief could simply tell local media what occurred are over. Television and newspapers are no longer the public’s only source of information.

    Law enforcement professionals will all agree that public trust and support are absolutely essential for the police to effectively carry out the mission of enhancing public safety. Open and clear communication strengthens that community trust.

    Having a dependable source of information regarding critical incidents is paramount to our relationship with the community. Body-worn camera video footage provides reliable information that can be shared with the public to allay concerns or clarify what happened.

    With the prevalence of cell phone cameras, many police-community interactions, particularly highly contentious ones, are already being captured on video and released to the public. While cell phone recordings can be an additional source of information, police cannot always access cell phone footage quickly in the aftermath of a critical incident. Nor do such recordings show the officer’s perspective.

    It would be devastating to a department’s reputation for its chief to recount a version of events to media that is later disproved by a citizen’s video. This is unlikely to happen if the department uses body-worn cameras and the chief can review the footage before making a statement.

    The fact that body-worn camera footage can be viewed immediately following an incident means that police departments can develop a factual narrative to share with the public and provide the information to the media before social media runs away with the story.

    As we in Oakland have learned, and, as outlined in the case study below, it may also become necessary for departments to release video footage if misinformation begins to drive the public dialogue. A picture speaks a thousand words, and body-worn camera footage can immediately bring an element of objectivity to the narrative.

    While there are many complex issues to consider when law enforcement agencies embark on a body-worn camera program (e.g., data storage, cost, personnel training), the value of the evidence gained makes the venture worthwhile. Rather than ask whether your budget can cover the costs of a body-worn camera program, the real question is this: can you afford to be without them?

    Case Study: Body-Worn Camera Footage and Public Trust

    • Situation: On August 12, 2015, the Oakland (CA) Police Department (PD) was called to a situation that ended in the death of carjacking suspect Nathaniel Wilks (“Joe Bart”).
    • Public Reaction: Social media was quick to point fingers at the Oakland PD, including a post on Twitter that said “At the scene yesterday, an eyewitness told me he was shot in the back 5 times and was surrendering. #JoeBart.” One day after the incident, this hashtag had been shared nearly 5,000 times, demonstrating the amplifying effect of social media.
    • Outcome: On August 19, 2015, the Oakland PD shared body-worn camera footage with the media in order to dispel misinformation. The footage showed the suspect pointing a gun in the direction of officers before they shot him. Body-worn camera footage provided irrefutable evidence that there had been no police misconduct.

    Is your organization interested in developing a body-worn camera program? Check out BJA’s Body-Worn Camera Toolkit, a comprehensive clearinghouse for criminal justice practitioners interested in planning and implementing a body-worn camera program.

    For a prosecutor’s perspective on body-worn camera programs, check out this TTA Today post by the National District Attorneys Association’s Kay Chopard Cohen.

    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.    

    October 01, 2015

    On Monday, September 28, Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates announced that the Department of Justice awarded more than $2 million in funding for the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI). SPI is a collaborative consortium composed of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), CNA, and over thirty local law enforcement agencies that are testing solutions to serious crime problems in their jurisdictions.

    Specifically, SPI works to tackle public safety challenges such as neighborhood drug markets, gun violence, domestic violence, and the chronic violent offenders who perpetrate such crimes. It encourages innovative use of analysis, technology, and evidence-based practices, while seeking community input on ways to improve policing practices and increase transparency, accountability, and legitimacy. 

    Monday’s announcement was made at the second annual Violence Reduction Network (VRN) Summit. To learn more about the VRN and how it supports coordinated training and technical assistance (TTA), check out this TTA Today blog post.

    More information on the evidence-based assistance BJA NTTAC can provide. 

    September 08, 2015

    Please join the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) on Friday, September 18 from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. ET for the “Strengthening Law Enforcement-Community Relations” seminar. This seminar is part of NIJ’s Research for the Real World seminar series where forward-looking figures in the law enforcement community discuss their contributions to the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety. The goal of these sessions is to examine how law enforcement can be improved through the adoption of community-minded policies.

    The seminar will be held in-person at the Office of Justice Programs (OJP) in the 3rd floor ballroom (810 7th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001). OJP Assistant Attorney General, Karol Mason, will be the moderator. Panelists for the seminar include:

    This seminar is free, but you must RSVP to gain access to the OJP building. For more information and to RSVP, please click here.

    National Institute of Justice Seminar – Strengthening Law Enforcement-Community Relations

    September 03, 2015

    The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) recently launched the National Criminal Intelligence Resource Center in collaboration with the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) Program, the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program, and the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC) to expand officer safety event deconfliction coverage nationwide. Event deconfliction is the process of determining when law enforcement personnel are conducting an event in close proximity to one another at the same time. Events include law enforcement actions, such as surveillance and executing search warrants. When certain elements are matched, such as date, time, and location, between two or more events, a conflict can result. Immediate notification via an event deconfliction system is important to help officers identify operational conflicts and leverage each other’s information.

    The center is the first nationwide officer safety event deconfliction solution, and will helps support and protect law enforcement officers. This is a significant milestone in enhancing officer safety throughout the country.

    For more information, visit the Nationwide Officer Safety Event Deconfliction website.

    NCJA Webinar - Adult Sex Offender Management & Juvenile Registration

    Event Type: 
    Training Delivery - Webinar
    Monday Sep 21, 2015 - 02:00pm to 03:30pm EDT
    Event Description: 

    Join the National Criminal Justice Association webinar, "Adult Sex Offender Management and Juvenile Registration", which will cover sexual offending or sex offender management and treatment topics. This webinar is the eighth in the "What Do We Know About Sexual Offending and Sex Offender Management & Treatment?" series. 

     

    Organizer Information
    Provider: 
    National Criminal Justice Association
    Program Areas: 
    Crime Prevention
    Victims of Crime
    Groups audience: 
    - Private group -

    NIJ Seminar - Strengthening Law Enforcement-Community Relations

    Event Type: 
    Focus/Advisory Group Working Session
    Friday Sep 18, 2015 - 10:00am to 11:30am EDT
    Event Description: 

    Moderator: Karol V. Mason, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs (OJP)

    Panelists:

    Description: Recent events on the national stage such as the events in Ferguson and Baltimore, combined with media images of officers atop armored vehicles, dressed in military fatigues and armed with rifles, have thrust the issue of police-community relations to the national spotlight. With the public demanding increased legitimacy and accountability from law enforcement agencies, how do police executives develop and support a culture of policing that reinforces the importance of community engagement in managing public safety — while also enhancing officer morale?

    Join the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) for this upcoming Research for the Real World seminar where forward-looking figures in the law enforcement community discuss their contributions to the Executive Session on Policing and Public Safety and examine how law enforcement can be improved through the adoption of community-minded policies.

    This seminar is free, but you must RSVP to gain access to the OJP building. Please allow 20 minutes to get through security.

    For more information, please click here. 

    Location: 
    Office of Justice Programs, 3rd Floor Ballroom
    810 7th Street NW
    Washington , DC
    United States
    See map: Google Maps
    Event URL: 
    Event Information
    Organizer Information
    Event Organization: 
    National Institute of Justice (NIJ)
    Program Areas: 
    Law Enforcement
    Groups audience: 
    - Private group -
    August 24, 2015

    Please join the Smart Policing Initiative (SPI) on Wednesday, August 26 from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m. ET for the “Less Lethal Technologies in Law Enforcement” webinar. This webinar will describe devices/weapons classified as less-than-lethal used by law enforcement departments. The goal of this webinar is to provide a basic understanding of less lethal technologies and to enhance the knowledge of those who use such devices in the performance of their duties.

    This webinar will be presented by Mr. Charles Stephenson, a SPI Subject Matter Expert. Mr. Stephenson will provide a brief introduction to less lethal technologies along with notes on the effectiveness of several devices in use today. He will address the issue of training, policy, and what is considered legal use of force in the United States, to include a short explanation of rights under the 4th Amendment. He will also provide an overview of the various technologies including existing, newly developed, and future devices.

    To register for this webinar, please click here.

    SPI Webinar – Less Lethal Technologies in Law Enforcement

    Pages