The criminal investigations process is one that begins with call takers and ends when cases are prosecuted.  The following areas will be addressed during this no-cost webinar, hosted by the Justice Clearinghouse:

• Effective quality control for preliminary investigations and use of preliminary investigation information for case screening
• Elements of agencywide case management and workload measurement process
• The development of goals and performance measures for specialized investigative units
• Development of plans for gang-, drug-, and vice-related units

Date:  Thursday, June 13, 2019

Time:  1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., ET

Recently, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas announced the indictment of a darknet drug dealer, who has been indicted for leveraging Bitcoin’s apparent anonymity to sell fentanyl online.  The charges against him stem from the U.S. Department of Justice’s first nationwide undercover operation targeting darknet vendors.   

The investigation was part of Operation Dark Gold, a year-long, coordinated national operation that used the first nationwide undercover action to target vendors of illicit goods on the darknet.  Special agents of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) New York Field Office posed as money launderers on darknet market sites, exchanging U.S. currency for virtual currency.  Through this operation, HSI New York identified numerous vendors of illicit goods, leading to the opening of more than 90 active cases around the country.

Heading farther into the 21st century, digital ethics and trust have become increasingly important issues for police officers.  Law enforcement agencies are also expected to utilize data analysis and technology in a secure and ethical manner. The injudicious use of data, analytics, or technology by a police department may have a negative impact on public trust and may increase the difficulty of achieving effective policing in contemporary law enforcement. Leaders within law enforcement agencies will benefit from a deeper understanding of digital trust and its implications for their organizations and profession.

This no-cost webinar, coordinated as part of the National Public Safety Partnership, will explore the importance of building digital trust in law enforcement agencies. Transparent data and digital ethics create digital trust. Digital trust between police departments and their stakeholders allows for the use of promising technology while mitigating risks associated with the implementation and use of this technology.

Date:  June 20, 2019

Time:  2:00 p.m., ET.

The recently released annual report Indicators of School Crime and Safety 2018, produced jointly by the Bureau of Justice Statistics and National Center for Education Statistics, presents data on school crime and safety from national surveys of students, teachers, principals, and postsecondary institutions. It contains findings on 22 indicators of school crime and safety.  Data sources include the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the School Crime Supplement to the NCVS, the School-Associated Violent Death Surveillance System, the School Survey on Crime and Safety, the Schools and Staffing Survey, the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, and the Campus Safety and Security Survey.

The Vera Institute of Justice’s Policing Program develops the quarterly digest Emerging Issues in American Policing to deliver information on innovations in the field of policing to police practitioners and community members. Vera’s Policing Program gathers the material presented in the digest from leading academic journals and research publications, compiling them for easy access and analysis by justice professionals.

The latest edition of the digest, Emerging Issues in American Policing, Volume 7, focuses on topics including the following:

• Reviewing mental health calls in a rural police department
• Assessing government reliance on fines and fees, as related to clearance rates, police behavior, and public safety
• Addressing racial disparities in traffic stops
• Evaluating the impact of body-worn cameras on procedural justice
• Providing crisis intervention training for youth
• Examining the impact of police agency size on officer stress

To browse more policing topics, access the online archive of digests.