News & Announcements

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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WASHINGTON, Oct. 22, 2020/PRNewswire/ — With the 2020 election fast approaching, the National Police Foundation, in partnership with data analytics firm Elucd, conducted a new survey measuring U.S. public sentiment about the role of local police in safeguarding voters and their access to polling places. This research is part of the National Police Foundation’s ongoing efforts to provide guidance and support to law enforcement agencies as they prepare to provide policing services as polls open for in-person early and election day voting.

The survey was conducted from October 8-13, 2020, and was based on a nationally representative sample of 1,291 Americans aged 18 and older. The survey included questions about the upcoming election and sentiment about the police in relation to the voting process.

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The Council of State Governments (CSG) Justice Center and the National Police Foundation (NPF) are hosting a three-session, virtual Community of Practice focused on how data can inform police-mental health collaboration (PMHC) strategies for addressing the needs of people experiencing homelessness. The Community of Practice will be led by law enforcement data expert and former police chief, Dr. Frank Straub, and will also feature presentations from peer jurisdictions. Participants will have opportunities for mutual learning and dialogue and will collaborate with CSG Justice Center and NPF staff in the development of a data dashboard, which will allow PMHCs to collect and analyze data to guide and evaluate their efforts.

Upon completion, participants will also have several strategies they can use in their own communities to guide data collection and analysis efforts, with the ultimate goals of improving housing and mental health outcomes and reducing the number of people coming into contact with the justice system.

These three sessions are funded by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance.

Dates: Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Tuesday, November 17, 2020

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Time: 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET

Apply by Tuesday, October 20, 2020 if interested in participating.

If you have any questions, contact Charles Francis at cfrancis@csg.org.

WASHINGTON, October 8, 2020,/PRNewswire/—The National Police Foundation (NPF) announces the formation of the Council on Policing Reforms and Race (“Council”), a majority African American led nonpartisan initiative that will use research and evidence to consider and offer recommendations to resolve some of the most significant and pressing issues with regard to policing reforms and race. In launching this effort, NPF is acknowledging the role that racism, bias, culture (societal and organizational), and patterns and practices have played and continue to play and will encourage the Council to offer commentary, recommendations, and solutions for addressing these issues, which have substantially led to the deterioration of trust and respect between law enforcement and Black communities. While various national panels and blue-ribbon commissions have been put forth previously to address similar areas of concern, this effort is distinguished by its aims of bringing together a broad cross-section of perspectives, infusing what we know and don’t know from science in relation to these issues, elevating the voices of Black American working inside and outside of the policing profession, and with the support of an organization such as NPF that aims to see these recommendations through to implementation.

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September 8, 2020—The National Police Foundation (NPF) has partnered with the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) through the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC) to develop and share resources with the law enforcement community based on the continued impact of COVID-19.

In March 2020, the NPF launched a real-time COVID-19 Law Enforcement Impact Dashboard to collect data and monitor workforce impacts, including the number of officers unable to work/placed in off-duty status due to possible or confirmed exposure, the number of officers that have been tested and diagnosed, as well as personal protective equipment (PPE) needs. The NPF has revised the dashboard to expand on key measures to better track the ongoing impact of COVID-19 and related operational challenges that agencies are facing.

The NPF, IACP, and other CRI-TAC partners encourage law enforcement agencies to submit their data here: https://www.policefoundation.org/covid-19/. Data collected through the COVID-19 Law Enforcement Impact Dashboard will assist the field with understanding the scope and impact of COVID-19, as well as informing CRI-TAC tools and resources for the field.

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August 25, 2020—The National Police Foundation, in partnership with MovementForward’s signature program, the OneCOP Initiative, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, and the Near West Collaborative Advisory Board is confronting violent crime through cross-sector community partnerships that facilitate police-community communication and advocate for public safety awareness in the community. As part of this ongoing initiative, its CBCR Crime Reduction Program is using social media and cutting-edge technology to reduce violent crime in the Near West Collaborative of Indianapolis, Indiana. “Community by MovementForward,” a new social media app in development, will support communities and law enforcement by relaying information, data, and statistics about local, neighborhood crime “hot spots.” This will serve as an important tool in reversing the negative bias toward law enforcement by promoting the spread of positive stories, information, and images through real-time communication, and by allowing law enforcement to proactively engage their communities and faith-based organizations in order to build safer and healthier neighborhoods. 

August 19, 2020—The National Police Foundation is at the forefront at providing technical assistance and organizational assessments to local police departments. Our work with the North Charleston Police Department highlights our focus on evidence-based and data-centered assessment and technical assistance. In our initial phases working with the agency, we gathered and analyzed data from the department, as well as local government, non-profit, and community stakeholders. Our data analysis included (but was not limited to) use of force, traffic and pedestrian stops, arrests, and civilian complaints. This is critical work for fulfilling our organization’s mission as these data analysis insights are now being used to provide technical assistance for the North Charleston Police Department’s recruitment, hiring and personnel practices, training, use of force, traffic and pedestrian stops, civilian complaints, accountability and transparency, violence prevention and reduction, and strengthening of police-community relationships. By strengthening our police departments through rigorous training and assistance, we are strengthening our work in the local communities they also serve. 

August 13, 2020—The National Police Foundation (NPF), in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), is pleased to release the National Survey on Officer Safety Training: Findings and Implications, along with its accompanying Executive Brief, and interactive website. The report presents the results of a national survey developed and administered by NPF to examine the officer safety and wellness training and resource needs of law enforcement officers and executives.

The survey is part of the BJA Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) Initiative. BJA created the VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Initiative to improve officer safety training resources and opportunities available to the law enforcement community in the United States. The goal of the Initiative is to increase officer safety and resilience and strengthen officer wellness. Since the creation of the Initiative, more than 123,000 law enforcement personnel have received some form of VALOR-related training. A critical piece of the VALOR Initiative is to understand the future officer safety training needs.

For more information about the VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Initiative, please visit: https://bja.ojp.gov/program/valor/overview