Presents . . .

The PSP Impact

- A Quarterly Snapshot of the PSP Network -

January–March 2022

Quarterly Site Highlights:

PSP Virtual Resources Webinar

In order to acclimate the 2021 PSP sites and provide a refresher course for all active PSP sites, the PSP Support Team hosted a virtual event on the various virtual resources PSP has to offer. The topics included:

The PSP Website (secure-access): Contains a plethora of on-demand webinars, podcasts, and other notable training and technical assistance.
Training and Technical Assistance (TTA) and access to newsletters and annual reports.
The Public Safety Clearinghouse and Mobile App: A one-stop shop for violence reduction and public safety resources from the U.S. Department of Justice.
Communities of Practice (CoP): PSP promotes CoPs to address shared challenges, needs, and lessons learned in PSP sites and in the broader criminal justice community.
The PSP Virtual Academy: Interactive, virtual courses available to participating sites on law enforcement topics identified to be of great importance and shared interest among the PSP network.
The Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance Consortium (LETTAC): A single, streamlined point of entry for Office on Violence Against Women (OVW) grantees and the field to request law enforcement TTA. The program assists all law enforcement in best responding to, investigating, and prosecuting intimate partner violence and Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) crimes.

To view the recording of this webinar, please click the link: PSP Virtual Resources Web Event (login required)

Amarillo Police Department

The Amarillo, Texas, Police Department’s (PD) Neighborhood Police unit collaborated with some of their local refugee organizations to teach the criminal and traffic laws of the United States and Texas. The officers taught a class and then demonstrated safe bicycle and pedestrian roadway options.

Baton Rouge Police Department

In March 2022, the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, PSP team convened to develop a violence reduction strategic plan. Strategic Site Liaison (SSL) Nola M. Joyce, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Program Champion David Lewis, and Program Advisor Jessica Dockstader attended the strategic planning session in Baton Rouge, along with the site partners from the Baton Rouge PD; East Baton Rouge Parish Mayor’s Office; East Baton Rouge District Attorney’s Office; East Baton Rouge Sheriff’s Office; U.S. Attorney’s Office—Middle District of Louisiana; Baker PD; Zachary PD; Central PD; Baton Rouge Community College PD; Louisiana State University PD; Southern University PD; Baton Rouge City Constable; Louisiana State Police; United States Marshals Service; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The aforementioned groups formed the East Baton Rouge Gun Violence Collaborative (EBRGVC) and will continue to convene to implement this strategic plan. This three-year plan presents the long-term strategic outcome for the EBRGVC, along with the necessary goals and strategies for accomplishing the outcome and creating the desired future state.

Communities of Practice (CoPs) bring together those with common interests and/or professions to share lessons learned and promising practices, address today's challenges, refine skills through interactive engagements, and introduce members to new methods.

PSP has established CoPs in the areas of law enforcement leadership, crime analysis, prosecution, public information officers, and technology. Click here to learn more!

The PSP team encourages all active PSP sites to participate in the CoPs. Please contact info@pspartnership.org if you would like to join or learn more.

Communities of Practice:
Events From January to March 2022

Crime Analysis Community of Practice (CACoP)

The CACoP promotes crime analysis as a core and integrated element of participating agencies. The CACoP provides opportunities to share strategies and work products and to discuss concepts to turn data into actionable information. The CACoP leverages BJA's varied and customizable array of TTA to support the crime analysis needs of PSP sites.

CACoP: Peer Analyst Roundtables

Wednesday, February 9, 2022

This Crime Analysis Peer Analyst Roundtable focused on sharing crime maps with the public. Ms. Annie Mitchell, lead subject-matter expert (SME) for CACoP, presented on this topic and provided examples of crime maps that agencies are providing to their communities. Ms. Mitchell utilized live polling questions to determine how the PSP sites were sharing data with the public. Site analysts discussed various platforms, as well as what types of data they share with their communities.

CACoP: Crime Analysis Presentations

Wednesday, January 12, 2022

This CACoP focused on Gunstat and how agencies can use this data-driven strategy to address gun crime. Ms. Sheryl Goldstein from Pluck Consulting presented to the CACoP members, and Ms. Annie Mitchell, the CACoP lead SME, moderated a discussion with the attendees based on the information provided in Ms. Goldstein's presentation.

Wednesday, March 9, 2022

This CACoP session focused on data cleansing and preventing bad/dirty data. Ms. Annie Mitchell provided a brief presentation, which included examples of bad data, how to prevent bad data, and tools analysts can use to clean their data. After the presentation, Dr. Joelle Lee-Silcox provided a brief summary of how the Miami, Florida, PD found solutions for their bad data. Following the presentations, Dr. Lee-Silcox and Ms. Mitchell answered questions from the CACoP members.

Law Enforcement Leadership Community of Practice (LELCoP)

The LELCoP provides PSP site leadership with opportunities to hear from other leaders and discuss the unique challenges and responsibilities they face daily. The LELCoP provides an environment for PSP site leaders to discuss issues, strategies, and solutions they are engaging in to drive positive change in their communities.

LELCoP Roundtables

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

The January 18 LELCoP Roundtable session was hosted by Mr. Arif Alikhan and Dr. Geoffrey Alpert, of Taclogix. This was the third and final follow-up discussion to the PSP Consent Decree and Constitutional Policing Webinar Series. LELCoP members discussed their thoughts on the series and specifically focused on the topic of innovative ways to engage community partners to build public trust and reduce crime.

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

The February 15 LELCoP roundtable focused on proactive media messaging. Principal Deputy Director of BJA Ms. Kristen Mahoney provided welcoming remarks and introduced the topic. Chief Sylvia Moir (retired) introduced the 2021 PSP sites to the CoP and then turned it over to Ms. Laura McElroy, communications strategist and lead SME for the PIOCoP, to present on how leadership can assist with proactive media messaging. Charleston, South Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; and Richmond, Virginia, provided examples of how they are communicating the work they are doing to combat violent crime within their communities.

Prosecution Community of Practice (PCoP)

The PCoP encourages outreach and relationship-building among all prosecutors and district attorneys throughout the PSP network. The PCoP shares best and promising practices and innovative strategies to reduce violent crime, supports collaboration with law enforcement and the community, and supports PSP’s efforts to drive evidence-based prosecution and enhance public safety.

PCoP Roundtable

Thursday, February 3, 2022

The February PCoP event focused on the topic of specialty courts. Specialty courts, or problem-solving courts, include courts addressing issues such as homelessness, mental health, and substance abuse. Former associate judge on the Baltimore, Maryland, City Circuit Court’s 8th Judicial Circuit Karen Friedman, who currently serves as Director of Criminal Justice Innovation Development and Engagement at BJA, presented on this topic, and the presentation was followed by a question-and-answer session with the PCoP members.

Public Information Officer Community of Practice (PIOCoP)

Public information officers (PIOs) communicate critical information to the public and are frequently viewed as the “face” of an agency. To support the PIO’s critical role and responsibilities, the PIOCoP facilitates learning and networking opportunities among PSP site PIOs about community engagement strategies, proactive messaging, and media relations.

PIOCoP Roundtable

Thursday, February 10, 2022

The PIOCoP held a virtual event regarding proactive media messaging. Communication strategist and lead SME Ms. Laura McElroy led the discussion and emphasized the need for proactive messaging specifically when it comes to increases in violent crime. Ms. McElroy shared examples from PSP sites Charleston, Cleveland, and Richmond and then led a moderated discussion with all participants.

Technology Community of Practice (TCoP)

PSP established the TCoP to provide an opportunity for PSP site technology professionals to collaborate and discuss the increasingly critical and expansive role that technology plays in daily crimefighting. The TCoP shares promising practices and innovative methods to help address law enforcement’s technology-related challenges and needs in procuring, implementing, and leveraging technology to build capacities in areas that are critical to fighting crime.

TCoP Roundtable

Thursday, March 24, 2022

The TCoP hosted a virtual event in March focusing on digital trust. The presentation by SME Daniel Gomez included how to create digital trust policy, how to communicate that information with the community, and how to continue to ensure digital trust internally and externally. Mr. Ben Gorban from the National Policing Institute (NPI) presented on a new NPI project with BJA, Technology Innovations in Public Safety, which offers resources on digital trust. The presentations were followed by a moderated discussed hosted by TCoP lead SME Sergeant Patrick Kinney of the Chicago, Illinois, PD.

- On-Site Peer Exchanges and Assessments-

The PSP team is excited to start delivering on-site engagements again, including peer exchanges, and assessments, to support law enforcement agencies and PSP partners. The following engagements, held between January and March 2022, covered a variety of topics aimed at reducing violent crime and enhancing public safety.

Tulsa to Las Vegas Real Time Crime Center (RTCC) Peer Exchange

February 24–25, 2022

The Mayor and Police Chief of Tulsa, Oklahoma, were accompanied by members of the Tulsa City Council and the Tulsa PD on a visit to the Las Vegas, Nevada, Metro PD to learn about their RTCC. Tulsa leadership is considering a full-scale implementation of the RTCC concept, and the visit provided the Tulsa leadership a firsthand look at the resources needed to build an RTCC. Further, the Tulsa group was able to learn about the various technologies associated, staffing needs, and performance metrics utilized by Las Vegas’s RTCC. The exchange was very productive, and the attendees were able to ask questions and see the center in operation during a peak call-for-service timeframe.

Miami and Louisville to Phoenix Investigative Best Practices Peer Exchange

March 8–9, 2022

Members of the Miami, Florida, and Louisville, Kentucky, PDs conducted a peer exchange with the Phoenix, Arizona, PD to learn about their homicide and nonfatal shooting (NFS) investigative practices. During the visit the PSP teams were exposed to techniques and strategies utilized by the Phoenix PD and were able to interact with their personnel firsthand on a variety of issues including case review, the solvability matrix, community engagement, critical incident responses, nonsworn investigators, technology, and much more. In addition, the teams were able to tour and see in operation Phoenix PD’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center, which is one of the highest functioning centers in the United States.

Baltimore Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS) Peer Exchange

March 28–29, 2022

The Baltimore PD is implementing a GVRS. To support the implementation, the Baltimore PSP site conducted a three-day training event with 35 members of the newly formed police unit that will support the GVRS. At the request of the Baltimore PD and Mayor’s Office, Group Violence SME and retired Chief of Police Joe McHale, senior research associate at the Institute for Intergovernmental Research, provided instruction to GVRS call-ins, custom notifications, shoot reviews, community outreach, and several other areas related to organizational structures and implementation. Chief McHale also presented a case study on his experience in Kansas City as the project manager of the Kansas City No Violence Alliance. The training was well-received and provided critical context from a police Commander/SME (Chief McHale) who had implemented a GVRS.

Louisville NFS Assessment

NFS assessments provide evidence-based recommendations to enhance the quality of NFS investigations and reduce gun violence. This ongoing assessment is being conducted at the request of the Louisville Metropolitan PD and is anticipated to be complete by June 2022.

- Virtual Peer Exchanges and Assessments-

The PSP team is continuing to deliver virtual engagements to the PSP sites. Interested in participating in a peer exchange or assessment, or need additional information? Contact the PSP team at info@pspartnership.org.

Baltimore and Milwaukee Virtual Peer Exchange

January 7, 2022

The City of Baltimore is in the early stages of implementing a Group Violence Reduction Strategy (GVRS). In response to new GVRS personnel being added to the Baltimore Mayor's Office, PSP arranged an opportunity for the Mayor's Office to connect with the Milwaukee, Wisconsin, PD. Assistant Chief Paul Formolo from the Milwaukee PD and Mr. Terrance Nash from the Baltimore Mayor's Office connected on a variety of issues. Topics included shoot review process, crime strategies, and crime analysis. This opportunity to connect virtually resulted in the progression of an in-person peer exchange for the Baltimore team to travel to Milwaukee in April 2022. The follow-up event will allow Baltimore to interact with the Milwaukee PD and dig deeper into their strategies and processes.

-Virtual Academy-

PSP, in collaboration with leading law enforcement experts and practitioners, has developed interactive, virtual courses on law enforcement topics identified to be of great importance and shared interest to PSP network-wide and beyond.

These courses are available nationwide to requesting law enforcement professionals as part of the PSP Virtual Academy. All the courses within the Virtual Academy are self-paced, and students can access the platform using computers, smartphones, and tablets. Upon completion, students are given an opportunity to print and save a completion certificate. This can then be shared with their training staff or placed in their training records.

Click here to learn more: Virtual Academy (nationalpublicsafetypartnership.org)

Featured Toolkit: Violent Crime Surges

The PSP team is featuring the Violent Crime Surges Public Safety Clearinghouse toolkit, consisting of various federal resources focusing on increases in violent crime, specifically during the summer months.

Download Toolkit

The Public Safety Clearinghouse is a public online tool that serves as a one-stop shop for violence reduction and public safety resources from DOJ program components and other federal entities. The Clearinghouse functions as an online catalog for users to browse, search, and ultimately build a custom toolkit of resources that can be downloaded in one package and shared with others.

Designed for maximum functionality on your smartphone or tablet, the Public Safety Clearinghouse mobile app offers a convenient, single point of access to DOJ violence reduction and public safety resources for the criminal justice field. Download the Public Safety Clearinghouse mobile app today by scanning the QR code, clicking on the Apple or Android link, or visiting your mobile app store.

If you have questions or would like to recommend any DOJ-sponsored resources to the Clearinghouse, please contact info@pspartnership.org.

Get It on Google Play

Download on the Apple Store

-Contact Us-

We want to hear from you! Do you have a success story or information that you would like to feature in future editions of The PSP Impact?

Please contact info@pspartnership.org for suggestions on items to spotlight.

This project was supported by Grant No. 2016-DG-BX-K006 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. The Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs, which also includes the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the National Institute of Justice, the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, the Office for Victims of Crime, and the Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART). Points of view or opinions in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.

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