Countering a threat and carrying on while under assault, even after being struck, is a skill that officers must learn. It's a daunting prospect, but one that hundreds of thousands of brave men and women sign up knowing they may have to face.

 And our nation is stronger for it.

~Alan R. Hanson, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General

In a recent Office of Justice Programs (OJP) Blog article, “Backing the Blue,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Alan Hanson focused on OJP’s efforts to protect and support law enforcement.  He provides examples of how, through agency programs and partners, OJP supports the wellness and safety of law enforcement.  One of these efforts is the VALOR Officer Safety and Wellness Program, providing tactical instruction on handling violent incidents.

Due to the complex nature of the crime, perpetrators often operate unnoticed, and those who suffer are not likely to self-identify as victims of human trafficking.  Trafficking victims do not always see themselves as victims, often blaming themselves for their situation. This makes discovering this crime more difficult because victims rarely self-report, and the time and resources required to uncover violations can be significant.

Developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and Bureau of Justice Assistance, this guide is a resource to support established task forces and provide guidance to agencies that are forming task forces.  Its purpose is to assist in the development and day-to-day operations of an anti-human trafficking task force and to provide fundamental guidance for effective task force operations.

The content has been carefully screened and evaluated by anti-human trafficking victim service providers, law enforcement officials, and prosecutors.  It is a living document; as new practices and resources that have proven helpful to these task forces become available, OVC’s Training and Technical Assistance Center will incorporate them to enhance the effectiveness of this guide.

The Association of Prosecuting Attorneys, in partnership with the Center for Court Innovation and NORC at the University of Chicago, in collaboration with and administration by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, developed the Prosecutor-Led Diversion Initiative to sustain and create pre-trial prosecutor-led diversion programs with a substance abuse, mental health, and/or human trafficking component.

Although the concept of diversion has been an important part of the criminal justice system for many years, the challenges of rising incarceration costs, limited system resources, and the desire for more effective criminal justice system outcomes have led prosecutors to apply diversion to new and more challenging populations. 

This online toolkit is intended as a resource to help prosecutors design, implement, and evaluate these new prosecutor-led diversion options.  More broadly, this toolkit is also a resource for other criminal justice system stakeholders (law enforcement, the defense, the judiciary, probation and pretrial services, social service providers, policymakers, and the general public) to better understand prosecutor-led diversion and why it matters.

In an age of brand-name breaches, we must think beyond the defense of specific assets—and confront systemic risks that affect everyone from tech giants to homeowners.  Our strategy outlines how DHS will leverage its unique capabilities on the digital battlefield to defend American networks and get ahead of emerging cyber threats.

~Kirstjen M. Nielsen, Secretary, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

In May 2018, DHS released a new five-year strategy that provides a framework to execute DHS’s cybersecurity responsibilities in order to keep pace with the evolving cyber risk landscape.  The intent is for this strategy to enable the harmonization and prioritization of DHS planning, programming, budgeting, and operational activities across all DHS cybersecurity mission areas.  It will focus on coordinating departmental cybersecurity activities to ensure a unity of effort.

This strategy sets forth a five-part approach to manage national cyber risk aimed at ensuring the availability of critical national functions and fostering efficiency, innovation, trustworthy communication, and economic prosperity in ways that are consistent with our national values and that protect privacy and civil liberties:

• Risk Identification
• Vulnerability Reduction
• Threat Reduction
• Consequence Mitigation
• Enable Cybersecurity Outcomes

Incidents of mass violence and terrorism—bombings, mass riots and shootings, hijackings, bioterrorism attacks, and other human-caused disasters—present unique challenges to the communities in which they occur.  These incidents require a coordinated, cross-sector approach among federal, state, local, and tribal governments; private entities; and nonprofit organizations to drive an effective response.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC)—in coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Office for Victim Assistance and the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Justice for Victims of Overseas Terrorism—developed the Helping Victims of Mass Violence & Terrorism: Planning, Response, Recovery, and Resources Toolkit, to help communities prepare for and respond to victims of mass violence and terrorism in the most timely, effective, and compassionate manner possible.

Lessons learned from past incidents indicate that through advanced planning (which includes the establishment of victim assistance protocols), and by developing and maintaining multidisciplinary partnerships, communities are better prepared to engage a holistic approach to victim assistance to ensure that each victim’s needs are met. However, this toolkit also contains materials that will aid communities’ responses to victims even if they have not planned for an incident. 

This Web training series highlights the importance of communities, states, and regions planning a response to incidents of mass violence and terrorism using the OVC Toolkit resource.  This webinar provides a detailed overview of how to use the Toolkit. Customized technical assistance is available to city, county, and state-level organizations to help implement the Toolkit.  If you would like to request mass violence and terrorism customized technical assistance, please contact OVC by email at TTAC@ovcttac.org.