National Police Week 2020

VALOR Initiative:  Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability

The Officer Robert Wilson III Preventing Violence Against Law Enforcement Officers and Ensuring Officer Resilience and Survivability (VALOR) Initiative is an effort to improve the immediate and long-term safety, wellness, and resilience of law enforcement officers.  Through a multifaceted approach that includes delivering no-cost training (professional education), conducting research, developing and providing resources, and establishing partnerships that benefit law enforcement officers, VALOR seeks to provide our nation's law enforcement officers with innovative, useful, and valuable resources.

VALOR is continuously evolving to address the various issues, concerns, and trends that law enforcement officers face and integrates the latest research and practices to address all aspects of officer safety, wellness, and performance.  These issues continue to emerge and can have a direct effect on an officer's ability to prevent or survive the rigorous challenges and threats that she or he may face in the line of duty.

The Department of Justice and the Bureau of Justice Assistance are dedicated to helping our law enforcement officers and the communities they serve stay safe and well.  Because officer safety and community safety are intrinsically bound, requiring a strong and positive partnership, VALOR provides a holistic approach to addressing law enforcement officers' needs and to building those strong and positive partnerships with the communities they serve through its several VALOR Initiative programs.

BJA Publications:

Overview of Law Enforcement-Mental health Resources
How to Reduce Repeat Encounters
Police-Mental Health Collaborations
Sharing Behavioral Health Information Tips and Strategies

The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) measures crime, criminal victimization, criminal offenders, law enforcement incidents and personnel, as well as the operation of criminal and civil justice systems at the federal, state, tribal, and local levels.  BJS collects, analyzes, and reports on law enforcement agencies throughout the nation.

BJS established the National Crime Statistics Exchange (NCS-X) as a means of providing law enforcement, policymakers, and the public with detailed information about crime incidents and their circumstances.  While many law enforcement agencies collect incident-level data—information about victim and offender characteristics, relationships, location of the incident, use of a weapon, seriousness of injuries, and more—this depth of information on crime is currently unavailable at the national level.  NCS-X is a statistical system capable of generating detailed national estimates of the volume and characteristics of crimes known to law enforcement.  More information on the program, including answers to frequently asked questions, can be found at the BJS NCS-X webpage (https://www.bjs.gov/content/ncsx.cfm).

The BJS Law Enforcement Unit maintains more than a dozen national data collections, covering federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as special topics in law enforcement.  Most data collections are conducted every 2 to 4 years and focus on aggregate or agency-level responses from police departments, sheriffs’ offices, law enforcement training academies, and crime labs.

BJS Publications:

Local Police Departments, 2016:  Personnel is based on data in the 2016 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey, the BJS report Local Police Departments, 2016: Personnel presents findings on the count of sworn officers and non-sworn personnel employed by the approximately 12,300 local police departments in the United States. It covers trends in agency size, discusses the ratio of officers to population served, and provides national demographic data on full-time sworn officers, first-line supervisors, intermediate supervisors, and chiefs.

Sheriffs’ Offices, 2016:  Personnel presents findings on the number of sworn officers and non-sworn personnel employed by the approximately 3,000 sheriffs’ offices that provide primary law enforcement services in the United States.  The report covers trends in agency size and provides national demographic data on full-time sworn officers, first-line supervisors, intermediate supervisors, and sheriffs.  Findings in this report are based on the 2016 Law Enforcement Management and Administrative Statistics (LEMAS) survey.

Federal Law Enforcement Officers, 2016 – Statistical Tables provide information on the approximately 132,000 full-time federal law enforcement officers employed by 83 federal agencies.  The tables in this report provide statistics on the number, functions, and demographics of federal law enforcement officers.  The report’s findings are based on the 2016 Census of Federal Law Enforcement Officers.

NIJ Journal Issue No. 280 highlights seven feature articles addressing improvement in officer safety on the roadways, new approaches to digital evidence acquisition and analysis, research by police agencies, body armor, using officer-driven research, using artificial intelligence to address criminal justice needs, and data on body-worn cameras.

Body armor news and information.

NIJ Resources:

Safety, Health and Wellness Strategic Research Plan describes the current and projected efforts of NIJ to promote the safety, health, and wellness of individuals affected by, or employed within, the criminal justice system, March 14, 2018.

Policing Strategic Research Plan 2017-2022 describes the current and projected efforts of NIJ to advance policing practices in the United States, March 15, 2018.

NIJ Videos:

Law Enforcement Stress and Trauma Discussion Takeaways, January 29, 2020 (2:06)
Office Stress and Wellness:  Bringing Practitioners and Researchers Together, January 29, 2020 (1:28)
Key Points About Stress and Wellness for Law Enforcement Leadership, January 29, 2020 (2:14)

The mission of OJJDP is to prevent juvenile delinquency, improve the juvenile justice system, and protect children.  OJJDP accomplishes its mission by supporting states, local communities, and tribal jurisdictions in their efforts to develop and implement effective programs for juveniles.  The Office strives to strengthen the juvenile justice system's efforts to protect public safety, hold justice-involved youth appropriately accountable, and provide services that address the needs of youth and their families.

Through its divisions, OJJDP sponsors research, program, and training initiatives; develops priorities and goals and sets policies to guide federal juvenile justice issues; disseminates information about juvenile justice issues; and awards funds to states to support local programming.

OJJDP Publications:

Enhancing Police Responses to Children Exposed to Violence toolkit provides resources to assist police leaders and frontline officers in developing or improving responses to children exposed to violence, February 2017.

A Law Enforcement Official's Guide to the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model provides law enforcement leaders an overview of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model, which is an evidence-based framework for the coordination of multiple data-driven, anti-gang and violence-reduction strategies to address serious, violent, and entrenched youth street gang problems, March 2017.

The Gangs In Schools guide provides schools and law enforcement agencies with proven practices and collaborative techniques for identifying, assessing, and addressing gang activity in schools, March 2019.

The In Focus:  Mentoring Youth fact sheet includes funding and technical assistance being provided by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention for youth mentoring programs, which provide participating youth a relationship with a caring adult who can provide the youth guidance and support, April 2020.

Interactions Between Youth and Law Enforcement Model Programs Guide Literature Review studies the engagement between police and youth which may result in informal solutions such as programs and services that divert youth away from system involvement and further entry into the criminal and juvenile justice systems, January 2018.

Youth Focused Policing:  Agency Self-Assessment Tool guides agency executives through an assessment of an agency’s policies and practices regarding police interactions with youth, March 2015.

Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT)

The Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT) was developed on the premise that exposure to the traumatic experiences of other people—known as vicarious trauma—is an inevitable occupational challenge for the fields of victim services, emergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, and other allied professionals; however, organizations can mitigate the potentially negative effects of trauma exposure by becoming vicarious trauma-informed.

The VTT includes tools and resources tailored specifically to these fields that provide the knowledge and skills necessary for organizations to address the vicarious trauma needs of their staff.

Victim Resources:

Achieving Excellence: Model Standards for Serving Victims and Survivors of Crime
DUI Crashes:  Real Crimes, Real Victims
Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV)
First Response to Victims of Crime Guide
Gaining Insight, Taking Action:  Basic Skills for Serving Victims Guide
Helping Victims of Mass Violence & Terrorism: Planning, Response, Recovery, and Resources
If You're a Victim of Crime, Help is Available, October 25, 2016 (2:29)
In Their Own Words:  Domestic Abuse in Later Life Guide
It's Not an "Accident":  It's a Crime!
Law Enforcement's Role in Victim Compensation
National Mass Violence Victimization Resource Center
OVC Training and Technical Assistance Center (TTAC)
OVC Partnerships With Law Enforcement, May 2, 2018 (6:05)
Responding to Elder Abuse:  What Law Enforcement Should Know
Responding to Transgender Victims of Sexual Assault
Service, Support & Justice:  Law Enforcement Response to Crime Victims, July 23, 2018 (15:22)
The Vicarious Trauma Toolkit is based on the premise that exposure to the traumatic experiences of other people (vicarious trauma) is an inevitable occupational challenge for those working in the fields of victim services, emergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, and other allied professions.  The VTT includes tools and resources tailored to these fields that provide the knowledge and skills needed for organizations to address effectively the vicarious trauma needs of their staff.