Published by the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, this guide details hate crime incidents during the pandemic and how to prevent and respond to these incidents.  The majority of hate crimes committed in the United States were based on race, ethnicity, or ancestry.  Overall, these crimes saw an increase of more than 30 percent during the pandemic, with anti-Asian hate crimes seeing the most drastic increase.  Several organizations, including the COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force and the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Equity Alliance, took note of the significant change and cultivated various responses to prevent such crimes.

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and hosted by the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP), the Advocates for Human Potential, the American Society of Addiction Medicine, and the National Commission on Correctional Health Care, this new resource center provides guidelines for managing substance withdrawal in jails. These guidelines support the effective management of substance withdrawal in local jails.  Collectively, these groups worked with an expert committee (EC) of medical and criminal justice professionals, who include addiction specialists, correctional health care providers, and jail administrators, to guide the development of the product.

Published by the National Criminal Justice Reference Service and funded by the Office of Justice Programs, this report analyzes data from mass shooting incidents in public and private spaces. For this report, a mass shooting was identified as “any incident where four or more victims were killed by firearm (not including the shooter) in a 24-hour period.”  Between the years of 1980 and 2018, a total of 720 mass shootings occurred.  Findings show that there was no significant change in the frequency of mass shootings between these years, although the consistency increased. The intent of this report is to assess the features of mass shootings and to code each incident according to specific characteristics. These characteristics include categorizations such as family-related, felony-related, hate/bias-motivated, shootings in suburban areas, and shootings in rural areas.  Existing publicly available databases use varying definitions of mass shootings.  A more comprehensive analysis of mass shootings will help bridge the disconnect between the reality of incidents and the public’s perception of their frequency.

Published by the National Institute of Justice, this article discusses the training that school personnel receive to help them prevent, prepare for, and respond to violence and student behavioral issues that can compromise both actual and perceived levels of safety among students and staff members.  Such training may also help provide support to students on these issues. Though the trainings vary, they may be focused on preventing an issue before it becomes an imminent threat or responding to a threat or crisis when it arises.  Research suggests that training school personnel to prevent and respond to a variety of situations impacting school safety can be effective. However, the degree of evidence varies by training topic and program type.  This article provides descriptions of a few of the most common training topics, followed by the evidence for each.

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and hosted by the National White-Collar Crime Center, this webinar shows participants how to strengthen their digital evidence as a strong basis for courtroom testimony when validated with phone records, cell coverage, and other sources. This webinar will answer questions about whether information from mobile extractions, Cloud Source, and Google Timeline is solid evidence and how to prove data and set a solid foundation for justice. 

When: Tuesday, October 4, 2022
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:15 p.m., ET