Hosted by the Justice Clearinghouse and funded by the Police Executive Research Forum, this webinar discusses persons experiencing homelessness (PEH) and the reliance on police officers dealing with homelessness. Many agencies have moved away from arrest-focused methods in favor of approaches that are designed to foster positive relationships with PEH, assess individual needs of each person or area, and guide homeless or unsheltered individuals to the services they require.  This webinar reviews the background of homelessness and law enforcement in the United States, the challenges in studying the topic, and some high-priority needs to advance research and understanding.  These needs cut across four main topic areas: promising law enforcement practices; partnerships and collaboration with service providers and the community; data collection, analysis, and evaluation; and basic research and public education.  Finding ways to address these needs is especially important given public discussions regarding the desired scope of law enforcement and potential budget shortfalls within communities.

When: Thursday, April 1, 2021
Time: 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m., ET

This United States Sentencing Commission published a report presenting an overview of the Commission’s work in FY20. The report discusses how COVID-19 impacted the Commission’s daily work. The Commission’s website traffic increased by more than 20 percent for the second year in a row, demonstrating that interest in the Commission's work by sentencing courts, Congress, the Executive Branch, and the general public continues to increase. The Commission launched a new interactive data analyzer—a tool for Congress, judges, litigants, the press, and the general public to easily and independently analyze sentencing data by their states, districts, or circuits and refine their inquiries by a specific crime type or time period. The Commission collected, analyzed, and reported data on the implementation of the First Step Act of 2018 and continued its recidivism research to help inform Congress and others on how best to protect public safety while targeting scarce prison resources on the most dangerous offenders.

Sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime—Human Trafficking Capacity Building Center, this webinar discusses data as a valuable tool in reaching potential victims of human trafficking; recognizing patterns and tactics of perpetrators; identifying vulnerabilities in the industry; and informing an organization’s policies, protocols, and partnerships in serving victims. Three national experts will offer insight and answer participants’ questions during this hour-long session. The discussion will include information on data sources, applications of data, data analysis from multiple sources, and vulnerable population data to better understand human trafficking in a specific community.

When: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Time: 3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m., ET

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and hosted by the Comprehensive Opioid, Stimulant, and Substance Abuse Program (COSSAP), this webinar is part of a three-part series that raises awareness of the complex needs of men and women involved in the criminal justice system through an in-depth discussion. With the increased awareness of the impact of stress, adversity, and trauma on people’s lives, criminal justice and behavioral health professionals are considering what this means in their specific settings. There is a growing evidence base documenting the impact of child neglect and abuse (as well as other forms of traumatic stress) on the health, mental health, and behavior of men and women with justice involvement. In addition, many correctional agencies struggle with organizational stress and trauma, which creates additional challenges in the environment and culture of the workplace. Today the language “trauma-informed” is common in many settings and yet often misunderstood. The process of moving from trauma-informed to trauma-responsive to implement trauma-informed care is also challenging to administrators and staff members. Examples of trauma-focused interventions are also provided.
 

When: Wednesday, March 31, 2021
Time: 2:00 p.m. – 3:15 p.m., ET

Funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and published by the National Public Safety Partnership (PSP), this toolkit includes several documents and relevant resources related to hate crime. The toolkit titles include Police Legitimacy and Reducing Victimization in Immigrant Communities; Lessons From a Hate Crime Detective; Uniting Communities Post-9/11: Tactics for Cultivating Community Policing Partnerships with Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian Communities; Responding to Sexual Violence in LGBTQ+ Communities: Law Enforcement Strategies and Considerations; NYPD and Victim Assistance; Improving the Identification, Investigation, and Reporting of Hate Crimes; FBI 2019 Hate Crime Statistics; Responding to Hate Crimes as a Police Officer: A Police Officer’s Guide to Investigation and Prevention; and Federal and State Hate Crime Laws and Statues.