Members of the uniformed services have unique occupational health risks. Tragically, each year countless men and women with law enforcement, fire and rescue services, and emergency management services lose their lives or suffer permanent disability from entirely preventable occupational health risks. Largely, this occupational risk includes fatal cardiovascular events. On November 14, 2019, the International Public Safety Association will host a no-cost webinar on health in the uniformed services.

Date:  November 14, 2019 
Time:  12:00 Noon – 1:15 p.m., ET

The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, has recently updated its toolkit to include the Sexual Assault Forensic Evidence Reporting (SAFER) Portal. The SAFER Portal is a collection of best practices and protocols that provide guidance on using a multidisciplinary approach that ensures effective communication and offers policy considerations.

These updates were developed in response to the National Institute of Justice SAFER guidelines, which are found in National Best Practices for Sexual Assault Kits: A Multidisciplinary Approach.

“[T]he work being done by the FBI is immeasurable; however, we cannot afford to be complacent. We must seek out new technologies and solutions for the problems that exist today as well as those that are on the horizon. We must build toward the future so that we are prepared to deal with the threats we will face at home and abroad and understand how those threats may be connected.” —FBI Director Christopher Wray

Last week, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray gave a statement before the House Homeland Security Committee. In his remarks, he discussed the current threats to the United States including homegrown violent extremism, cybercrime, and hostile foreign intelligence operations.

President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order last week to establish the Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice (the Commission)—the first comprehensive commission on criminal justice in nearly 50 years.

The Commission will conduct a comprehensive review of the nation’s criminal justice system, develop a strategic plan to include recommendations for moving forward, and provide guidance to federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial governments. The Commission will study issues that are critical to ensuring that our communities are safe and that those who enforce and administer the law are properly supported.

On Monday, October 28, 2019, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a pilot program which, for the first time, will allow federally deputized task force officers to use body-worn cameras while serving arrest warrants or executing search warrants. The DOJ partners with state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement on hundreds of federal task forces throughout the nation. Together, these task forces work to combat violent crime, stem the flow of illegal narcotics, and arrest dangerous fugitives. Several of DOJ’s partner agencies require their officers to wear body-worn cameras and have requested that their officers wear these cameras on federal task forces when the use of force is possible.