PRESS RELEASE

Readout of Bureau of Justice Assistance Annual Convening of the Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab

This week, the Office of Justice Programs’ Bureau of Justice Assistance hosted the Annual Convening of the Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab in Denver, Colorado. The two-day convening brought together OJP leadership, DOJ staff, law enforcement leaders, mental health practitioners and stakeholder organizations to highlight the progress of the Lab over the past year while sharing about crisis response and constitutional policing. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta kicked off the event with virtual remarks.

“There is a consensus from stakeholders across the justice system that we must embrace the lessons learned from our past, learn how to effectively communicate with each other, and identify and implement best practices that create safer communities, protect officers and residents alike, and build community-police trust,” said Associate Attorney General Gupta. “The purpose and vision behind the Knowledge Lab is to help advance all of those goals, by providing law enforcement, along with community leaders, civil rights groups, and other stakeholders, critical tools, resources, and support to help build safer and stronger communities.”

Launched in April 2022, the Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab is designed to assist law enforcement agencies, communities and researchers in promoting public safety through constitutional policing and stronger community relationships. The Knowledge Lab serves as a “one-stop-shop” for reliable guidance, modern policies and best practices for fair and impartial policing.

During the convening, BJA Director Karhlton F. Moore announced the Lab’s partnership with BJA’s Mental Health Learning sites to establish opportunities for jurisdictions across the country to learn about constitutional policing practices in action when responding to individuals in mental health or substance use crisis. In March, the Denver Police Department joined 14 other BJA-funded Law Enforcement Mental Health Learning sites in the important task of improving criminal justice and mental health responses to people experiencing a crisis.

“Today is the kickoff of our efforts to leverage the outstanding work of these sites in a new way; to provide information and peer information sharing opportunities to sites seeking to improve their response to this high need population,” said Moore. “We must help them do so in ways that ensure fair, impartial and effective enforcement of the law that is consistent with constitutional principles, democratic values and community expectations.”

The policies, procedures and programs developed or shared by the Lab support and advance the Constitution's principles, ideals and requirements, as well as their intersection with 21st-century policing practice. The Lab both compiles helpful information about evidence-based and innovative policing practices and partners with law enforcement agencies to provide cost-free technical assistance to support the adoption of those practices in the field.

More information about the National Law Enforcement Knowledge Lab is available at https://bja.ojp.gov/program/law-enforcement-knowledge-lab/overview.

About the Office of Justice Programs

The Office of Justice Programs provides federal leadership, grants, training, technical assistance and other resources to improve the nation's capacity to prevent and reduce crime, advance racial equity in the administration of justice, assist victims and enhance the rule of law.

More information about OJP and its components can be found at www.ojp.gov.

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OFFICE: bja.ojp.gov
CONTACT: OJP Media at media@ojp.usdoj.gov