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January 24, 2021—The National Police Foundation, with funding support from Arnold Ventures, recently published the results from a national survey that examined how small law enforcement agencies are preparing for incidents involving persons in crisis as a result of mental health or substance abuse issues.

Police frequently respond to calls involving persons with behavioral health needs, particularly those with mental illnesses and/or substance use disorders. These calls are often time-consuming and potentially dangerous for officers and the persons experiencing crisis. Large and medium-sized law enforcement agencies have increasingly adopted specialized police response models, such as Crisis Intervention Teams (CIT) and Co-responder programs, that entail collaboration between law enforcement, mental health agencies, and medical facilities. However, little is known about the adoption of specialized responses by small agencies with fewer resources, less occasion to see persons in crisis, and fewer nearby mental health facilities.

Between February and October of 2020, NPF distributed a national survey to a random sample of 380 municipal police and sheriff offices with between 10 and 75 sworn officers. The survey aimed to explore the extent to which small law enforcement agencies have adopted specialized response models for dealing with calls involving persons in crisis, the amount of training provided in this area among small agencies, and what percentage of small agencies employ CIT-certified officers or are part of a regional CIT partnership.

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January 22, 2021/via www.csgjusticecenter.org—In partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), The Council of State Governments Justice Center is seeking applicants to expand the Law Enforcement–Mental Health Learning Sites Program. This program is designed to identify and highlight agencies from across the country with successful police-mental health collaborations (PMHCs) between leaders from law enforcement and behavioral health systems who are willing to serve as examples of effective PMHC response models.

Learning sites will be chosen, not just for their programmatic successes, but also for their ability to provide insight and guidance to other jurisdictions interested in starting or expanding a PMHC. While learning sites do not receive funding directly from BJA or the CSG Justice Center, they are reimbursed for approved costs associated with hosting site visits from other jurisdictions or travel to other jurisdictions to provide training and technical assistance. They also have access to no-cost, expert technical assistance provided by CSG Justice Center staff.

Following a competitive application process, selected jurisdictions will gain national recognition as members of the Law Enforcement–Mental Health Learning Sites Program and will work closely with the CSG Justice Center to provide peer-to-peer learning opportunities to programs nationwide. They may also be called on to collaborate with fellow learning sites and stay abreast of current research and best practices.

Learn more and apply here: https://csgjusticecenter.org/2020/12/01/apply-now-to-join-the-nationally-recognized-law-enforcement-mental-health-learning-sites-program/

*Apply no later than Friday, January 29, 2021 by 11:59 p.m. E.T.*

#lawenforcement #police #mentalhealth #collaboration

January 13, 2021—The year 2020 will be remembered as an incredibly difficult and challenging year for many for good reason. With the death of George Floyd and on the heels of other controversial deadly force incidents, we witnessed a spring and summer of unrest with a serendipitous outcome—people across all backgrounds came together to declare that Black lives matter. Furthermore, in a number of these events, we saw law enforcement officers and leaders marching in solidarity.

As unrest and deadly force incidents continued, including the June 2020 shooting of Rayshard Brooks in Atlanta, calls for police reform and defunding emerged. Key demands included less force and violence, decreased militarization and enforcement, the elimination of racism, increased relationship building and trust, and a fair, and just unbiased response when and where needed. Local and state governments took steps to reduce police presence and restricted the types of force that were used, including the prohibition of certain tactics, such as tear gas and other less lethal tools. The failure to use such tools is legitimately being questioned today.

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PRESS RELEASE
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U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Office of Public Affairs
Email: cops.office.public.affairs@usdoj.gov
Phone: (202) 514-9079
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December 22, 2020, WASHINGTON—The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has established the first-ever Community of Practice for state, local and tribal grantees  to connect, learn, share experiences, and network in an effort to continue the growth of law enforcement mental health and wellness work. Good mental and psychological health is just as essential as good physical health for law enforcement to be effective in keeping our country and our communities safe from crime and violence. The Community of Practice recently launched its work with a virtual meeting establishing short and medium term goals.

“Supporting the health and well-being of the nation’s front-line law enforcement as they ensure public safety is paramount to the Department of Justice,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith. “The Department has dedicated resources to critical areas of concerns for officers including resilience; officer suicides; felonious and other assaults on officers; and mental health peer support networks. Establishing this new Community of Practice will provide the guidance, assistance, resources and support needed to further develop solutions to keep law enforcement safe and well, as they keep our communities safe and well.”

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December 22, 2020—To support the efforts of the City of Baltimore and the Baltimore Police Department (BPD) in implementation of the consent decree, through funding from the Ford Foundation, the National Police Foundation (NPF) currently serves as a Technical Advisor to BPD. NPF is providing subject matter expertise and other support to BPD on a broad array of reforms the department is currently undertaking. So far, NPF has supported BPD in completing a Technology Resource Study and a Staffing Study, and supported BPD’s development of a Community Policing Plan. NPF staff are currently assisting BPD with their implementation of “Ethical Policing is Courageous” training, a peer intervention program, and development of neighborhood policing plans.

Keywords: Baltimore, BPD, Baltimore Police Department, EPIC, Active bystandership, training, police training

December 10, 2020—Although the use of body-worn cameras (BWCs) has expanded rapidly, the capacity to efficiently analyze the enormous amount of data collected by BWCs lags far behind. As a result, the wider potential of BWCs to improve practices and outcomes of policing has gone largely unrealized. With funding from the National Institute of Justice, the National Police Foundation will conduct a new study entitled: “Multi-Modal Analysis of Body Worn Camera Recordings: Evaluating Novel Methods for Measuring Police Implementation of Procedural Justice.”

The purpose of this project is two-fold: (1) develop novel techniques to automate analysis of BWC recordings of police-community interactions and evaluate officers’ adherence to principles of procedural justice and; (2) use a randomized controlled trial to assess the accuracy of those techniques by systematically comparing them to evaluations of BWCs recordings done manually by human raters under conditions of high and low procedural justice.

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The National First Responder COVID-19 Grant Relief Program is still continuing to take applications to help first responders and essential public safety staff in need during this difficult time. This program provides first responders an opportunity to request a grant of up to $1,000 to reimburse COVID-related expenses such as counseling sessions for mental health, dependent care, isolation lodging, disinfecting expenses and similar costs.

To date, the National Police Foundation and its partners have awarded over $100,000 to 151 first responders in need, the majority of which have been law enforcement. The below charts show types of first responders that have been awarded so far, as well as the types of COVID- related expenses recipients have requested.

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The National Police Foundation is pleased to announce it has been awarded funding to complete a new research study examining the adverse impacts of organizational stress on officer health and wellness.

“Adverse Impacts of Organizational Stress on Officer Health and Wellness: Causes, Correlates, and Mitigation” funded by the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) under the NIJ’s Research Evaluation in Safety, Health, and Wellness in the Criminal Justice System, will examine how organizational stressors are related to negative outcomes for officers and their agencies, and what are mitigating or facilitating factors at the individual and organizational levels. This research study will seek to enhance officer health and wellness while promoting organizational effectiveness.

The dangers and critical exposures associated with police work have long been presumed to be the most stressful aspects of a police officers’ job, despite them being lower in frequency than more routine stressors. However, while traumatic events associated with the work itself can lead to post-traumatic stress or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, a considerable body of research has also demonstrated that officers’ perceptions of organizational stressors and/or “daily hassles” far outweigh operational stressors on the job, including trauma-related incidents.

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October 30, 2020—The American Psychological Association (APA) has appointed Dr. Karen L. Amendola, Chief Behavioral Scientist at the National Police Foundation, to serve on the APA’s Presidential Task Force on Police Use of Force Against African Americans. The Task Force will assist the APA’s effort to inform a national movement toward greater racial justice through recommendations for implementing evidence-based practices to successfully eliminate racial disparities in police use-of-force. Furthermore, this work will aim to highlight the role of psychological research in improving community-police relations, as well as the importance of law enforcement partnerships with behavioral health experts.

The Task Force meetings will begin on November 1, 2020 and will end on January 31, 2021. The Task Force will meet three or four times for as much as four hours for each meeting.

The emphasis of the Task Force will be on implementation and ongoing evaluation of evidence-based practices by communities, their local jurisdictions, and the law enforcement agencies that serve them. According to Amendola, “the reduction of disparities in police use of force as well as the improved health and well-being people of color and their communities are not likely to be achieved by reactive or unsystematic efforts, but instead must be driven by scientifically-tested approaches, especially those  generated from the field of psychology whose aim is to examine human behavior, its origins and its social impacts.”

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