TECHBeat, May 2018

• NCJ Number: 251748
• Journal: Techbeat Dated: May 2018
• Date Published: May 2018
• Length: 10 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2014-IJ-CX-K404
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description; Instructional Material

Annotation

Feature articles describe a vicarious trauma toolkit that helps agencies establish priorities and develop a response, the features of a desktop version of School Safe, the components of a North Carolina county's fresh approach to school security, the influence of forensic evidence on justice outcomes in sexual assault cases, and police personnel's interaction with crime victims.

Abstract

"Vicarious Trauma Toolkit Helps Agencies Establish Priorities, Develop Response" profiles the U.S. Justice Department's Office of Justice Programs' toolkit made available to public safety agencies, which will enable them to identify and treat their personnel's vicarious trauma due to frequent encounters with the suffering and trauma of people they serve. "JTIC (Justice Technology Information Center) Releases Desktop Version of School Safe" describes the recent availability to desktop computers its free app that guides schools in assessing their security and safety. "School Safe Gives Winston-Salem/Forsyth County School Fresh Angle on Security" describes the school system's effort to have school resource officers in the county install the School Safe app on their phones, so they can use it to assess their buildings' security features. "Forensic Evidence and Criminal Justice Outcomes in Sexual Assault Cases" reports on a study funded by the National Institute of Justice that examined how collected biological evidence and the type and frequency of victim injuries were linked to arrests in sexual assault cases. "Defining the Difficulty of Fingerprint Comparisons" reports on a project funded by the National Institute of Justice that had the goal of developing an accurate and quantitative metric for measuring the difficulty of latent fingerprints for any given comparison. "Law Enforcement and Victims of Crime" describes a new video released by the Office for Victims of Crine (OVC) that discusses OVC-sponsored programs and resources for enhancing law enforcement agencies' delivery of victim services.