On November 13, 2018, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) released Hate Crime Statistics, 2017, the Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program’s latest compilation regarding bias-motivated incidents throughout the nation. The 2017 data, submitted by 16,149 law enforcement agencies, provides information about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of hate crimes.

In 2017, law enforcement agencies reported 7,175 hate crime incidents, up from 6,121 in 2016.  The incidents included 8,437 offenses motivated by bias toward race, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender, and gender identity. Please note that the UCR Program does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not submit reports.

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) recently released the report Animal Cruelty as a Gateway Crime.  The National Sheriffs’ Association and the National Coalition on Violence Against Animals collaborated with the COPS Office on this report to increase awareness of the dangers of animal cruelty and abuse.  Animal abuse has long been linked with other forms of antisocial behaviors and criminal violence.  It is estimated that animal abusers are five times more likely to commit violent crimes against people, four times more likely to commit property crimes, and three times more likely to have records for drug or disorderly conduct offenses.

This project was designed to build the capacity of all participating law enforcement agencies to recognize that animal cruelty crimes can serve as precursors to more violent crimes, as co-occurring crimes to other types of offenses, and as interrelated crimes to other offenses such as domestic violence and elder abuse. Armed with this knowledge, law enforcement officers can take steps both to solve current crimes and to prevent future crimes.

The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices recently released a white paper, Using Emergency Declarations to Address the Opioid Epidemic: Lessons Learned From States.  This paper provides details on how states have used their emergency powers to provide governors with new avenues to enhance their capabilities, coordination, and collaboration across state and local agencies to inform opioid response efforts. The following eight states have activated their emergency powers in response to the opioid epidemic: Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia.

During this no-cost webinar, hosted by the Justice Clearinghouse and sponsored by the International Association of Law Enforcement Planners, justice practitioners will learn how the National Institute of Justice is developing a framework for evidence-based policing that is rigorous and practical. It identifies the types of data, analysis, research, and evidence that any law enforcement agency should want to have to be as effective as possible.

Date:  November 27, 2018

Time:  1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m., ET

The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) has created the NFPA 3000TM (PS) Standard for an Active Shooter/Hostile Event Response (ASHER) Program.  This new provisional standard from the NFPA 3000TM (PS) addresses all aspects of community response to an active shooter, from identifying hazards and assessing vulnerability to planning, resource management, incident management at a command level, competencies for first responders, and recovery. It applies to all communities regardless of size or geographic location.

The standard is based on four main principles: unified command, integrated response, planned recovery, and whole community involvement.