The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) leadership, in collaboration with the Comprehensive Opioid Abuse Program (COAP) team, is hosting a no-cost webinar to discuss first-responder burnout prevention.  This session will examine the causes of burnout with consideration given to stresses arising from response to the opioid epidemic.

Panelists will discuss:

• Methods to identify burnout in first responders or their partners.
• Impact of responding to a public health problem that is chronic in nature.
• Stress that arises from responding to calls involving critical incidents/accidents.
• Collateral consequences of the opioid epidemic regarding the abuse and neglect of children.

Date:  October 11, 2018

Time:  1:00 p.m., ET

Fentanyl is a dangerous, powerful Schedule II narcotic responsible for an epidemic of overdose deaths within the United States. The threat of fentanyl is real and is not limited to drug users.  It also poses a threat to law enforcement, public health works, and first responders who could unknowingly come into contact with the narcotic. 

The Alameda County, California, Narcotics Task Force was recently highlighted in a news story following firsthand use of naloxone/NARCAN® to save a task force member’s life.  In the video, Northern California HIDTA Director Mike Sena encourages first responders to expand the use of naloxone/NARCAN® and the Overdose Detection Mapping Application Program (ODMAP) in the field. 

ODMAP provides real-time overdose surveillance data across jurisdictions to support public safety and health efforts to mobilize an immediate response to an overdose spike.  It links first responders on scene to a mapping tool to track overdoses, stimulating real-time response and strategic analysis across jurisdictions. 

To strengthen critical infrastructure security and resilience, DHS works across government and industry to share timely and actionable information as well as provide training and incident response support.

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

In response to the increasingly complex threat environment and the corresponding demand from industry for greater integrated support from the U.S. federal government, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is refocusing its analysis and planning capabilities by establishing the National Risk Management Center (NRMC).  The NRMC provides a centralized home for collaborative, sector-specific, and cross-sector risk management efforts to better protect critical infrastructure.

In July 2018, the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC) released its 2018 Foreign Economic Espionage in Cyberspace report, which highlights current threats and future trends in foreign intelligence efforts to steal U.S. intellectual property, trade secrets, and proprietary information via cyberspace.

The Justice Technology Information Center (JTIC) has added an expanded subsite specific to unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) to JUSTNET, the website of the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) System.  As a program of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the NLECTC System is the conduit between researchers and criminal justice professionals in the field for technology issues.

JTIC staff members designed the UAS home page to showcase video content and provide direct links to a new page of agency success stories, frequently asked questions about public safety and UAS, and information on how an agency can start a UAS program. The new subsite also features an updated collection of resource materials and publications.