Webinars and Podcasts
This page features PSP-sponsored webinars and podcasts on topics of interest related to increasing public safety and reducing violence.
Social Network Analysis
Social network analysis (SNA) can be a useful tool for criminal investigations and police community efforts to reduce violent crime. Understanding how data is compiled and structured, how it may be utilized, and the limitations that it has is critical for leaders considering the use of SNA. This webinar outlined the concept of SNA and how this tool can be utilized to further crime-reduction strategies. Topics included visualizing a network and types of network data related to SNA, understanding group dynamics and the utilization of SNA in focused deterrence, SNA associated with hotspots as well as NIBIN linkages, and potential implementation challenges and legal considerations.
Managing the Recovery of Digital and Video Evidence
As video camera and cellular technology has advanced, digital and video evidence recovery has become critical to a successful criminal investigation. The proliferation of privately and publicly owned video cameras presents an unprecedented opportunity to build stronger cases supported by extensive digital evidence. The advancement and abundance of digital and video evidence have also presented new challenges to law enforcement and prosecutors who are now trying to recover, manage, and prepare large amounts of data and video evidence for trial. The Chicago, Illinois, Police Department (CPD) has recently established several Area Technology Centers (ATCs) and has integrated select personnel into these units to augment CPD’s investigative and patrol personnel in the recovery of digital evidence. Topics addressed during this webinar included: an outline of the ATC’s organizational structure, methods of deployment, and response protocols; technology utilized to capture digital evidence within the ATC; and CPD’s digital evidence recovery efforts, including case-specific summaries.
Crime Analysis for Executives
Crime analysis has become an essential tool in law enforcement’s efforts to enhance public safety, identify emerging trends, allocate resources, apply new technology, and plan crime-prevention strategies. Successful data-driven strategies such as hot-spot policing, problem-oriented policing, and intelligence-led policing use the work of an effective crime analysis unit. This webinar provided insight on how a crime analyst can support chiefs, sheriffs, and other police executives or managers with strategic or tactical decision making. Topics included: what to expect from your crime analyst, and how to make effective use of crime analysis; supporting and managing crime analysts, as well as staffing levels and placement; methods to improve data quality, including necessary tools and training; and Records Management System (RMS) and Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) connectivity.
Focused Deterrence
Focused-deterrence initiatives commonly include such aspects as identification of prolific offenders, scripted offender notification meetings, coordinated and strategic prosecution, provision of social services to individuals willing to accept them, and careful monitoring of individuals’ actions. When carefully and properly implemented, focused-deterrence initiatives have great potential to enhance the perceived legitimacy of the police and the public’s trust in them in communities where these have often been lacking. This webinar provides an introductory overview of the fundamentals of focused deterrence, research on and implementation of focused deterrence in major cities, and virtual tools to further focused deterrence efforts.
Please note, due to technical difficulties with the audio service provider during this presentation, viewers may experience minor audio impairments when viewing this webinar. For questions regarding this webinar or the topic of focused deterrence, please contact info@pspartnership.org.
The following materials have been archived from the PSP pilot program, the Violence Reduction Network (VRN).
Children Exposed to Violence in Law Enforcement
Today’s law enforcement officers are increasingly tasked with dealing with children who are exposed to violence, crime, and abuse. If not the victim, children witness the victimization of others and the resulting trauma, which if left unaddressed, can have far-reaching effects and result in an uncertain future for its victims. The U.S. Department of Justice’s VRN is pleased to host Ms. Cynthia Pappas in this podcast on Children Exposed to Violence. Ms. Pappas is a senior policy advisor for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), where she provides national leadership and coordination on issues surrounding child sexual abuse, child sex trafficking prevention and intervention, and youth and law enforcement engagement.
BJA Transition Update and Site Updates
The purpose of this webinar is for
BJA to share information regarding
VRN activities moving forward through the transition process and to highlight
the
VRN site resource delivery plans and sustainability efforts.
Insight Policing—Command Through Curiosity
The purpose of this webinar is to provide law enforcement officials with an overview of the Insight Policing training program available from George Mason University that teaches officers to apply insight policing skills to identify, understand, and defuse escalating conflict behavior and increase cooperation and trust among community members and for law enforcement to share lessons learned and experiences with implementing Insight Policing strategies.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) NIBIN and eTrace Overview
The Violence Reduction Network is pleased to present this podcast of the ATF National Integrated Ballistics Information Network (NIBIN) and the Electronic Tracing System (eTrace) networks. The focus of this podcast is to provide an overview of these resources and the services they provide to law enforcement.
Resources related to this podcast are considered law enforcement sensitive and are available to site representatives and team members only.
Please
log in to view the resources.
License Plate Reader Best Practices
The purpose of this webinar is to provide law enforcement officials with an overview of the value of license plate readers (LPRs), including how to establish a program, the development of policies for LPR use, LPR successes, and the development of implementation plans.
Podcast: Department of Justice Community Relations Service
The Violence Reduction Network is pleased to present this podcast on the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) Community Relations Service (CRS). CRS is
DOJ's "Peacemaker" for community conflicts and tensions arising from differences of race, color, national origin, gender, gender identity,
sexual orientation, religion, and disability. During this discussion, the speakers will provide an overview of the CRS department and describe how CRS works with local communities to resolve conflict and tension.
CRS Website
Recruiting a Diverse Police Department Through Digital Outreach
A police department that reflects the ethnic, gender, and racial makeup of the communities it serves helps to build trust and improve relationships. Commitment to encouraging diversity in the police force has immense value, both internally and externally. This past winter, candidates were invited to apply to the Chicago Police Department for the first time in three years. Of the 14,000 applicants who responded to the announcement, 71 percent identified as a minority. Maintaining a police force that represents the community it serves is a top priority in Chicago and across the country. The webinar highlights the importance of diversity for building trust in the community and describes how Chicago developed a 12-week digital outreach campaign to bolster minority recruitment and lessons learned that will improve efforts in the future.
Exploring Active Shooter Response and Training
The goal of this webinar is to provide law enforcement officials with an overview of the research and analysis of active shooting incidents from the last several years and to share information regarding training strategies and best practices for law enforcement response to an active shooter. It will also provide information regarding current DOJ training and resources available through the FBI and the BJA VALOR Initiative and the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Program.
Casualty Care and Rescue Tactics
“Today’s law enforcement officers are facing increasing threats from not only non-traditional events such as terrorist attacks and active shooter events but a continuation of traditional threats and assaults that occur during traffic stops, domestic disturbances and the like.” ~Chief David Flory (Ret.)
Being prepared with the necessary skills and knowledge to provide immediate life-saving aid to oneself as well as to an injured individual has never been more critical for law enforcement. The U.S. Department of Justice’s Violence Reduction Network (VRN) is pleased to host Chief David Flory (Ret.) in this podcast discussion on casualty care and rescue tactics, otherwise known as self-aid/buddy-aid.
Casualty Care and Rescue Tactics flyer 
| David Flory Biography 
Prosecution Strategies for Violence Reduction
In today’s environment, the role of the prosecutor in overall violence reduction extends far beyond the courtroom. Across the country, some communities have adopted unique and multifaceted approaches to reducing violent crime by establishing trust and providing opportunities for success through community outreach, call-in sessions, and strong partnerships among the community, prosecutors, law enforcement, probation and parole, academia, and social services. Join this webinar to learn about two innovative, data-driven programs and the benefit of prosecutorial involvement in violence reduction strategies for the communities they serve.
Resources:
Braga, Anthony A. and David L. Weisburd. 2014. “Must We Settle for Less Rigorous Evaluations in Large Area Based Crime Prevention Programs? Lessons from a Campbell Review of Focused Deterrence.” Journal of Experimental Criminology, 10 (4): 573 – 597.
Access HereBraga, Anthony A. and David L. Weisburd. 2012. “The Effects of Focused Deterrence Strategies on Crime: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of the Empirical Evidence.” Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 49 (3): 323 – 358.
Access Here
Social Media Analysis
Social media plays a valuable role in allowing people, businesses, and organizations to keep in touch and interact with one another in ways as never before. Unfortunately, social media can also be used by individuals to espouse criminal intentions, coordinate criminal activities, and even publicize acts of violence. This webinar orients the audience with tools, methods, and techniques to search for subjects, issues, or people on any number of social media sites. Participants also generate a more complete understanding of the concept and function of these sites, how some sites support analysis while others support targeting, and how social media tools and resources can be used to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and investigate criminal activity. By forming a more complete understanding of social media-associated investigative tools and techniques, law enforcement may be better equipped to gather timely information in the furtherance of crime prevention and the investigation of criminal activity.
The New Era in Community Policing
In the post-Ferguson era, as communities continue to voice concerns regarding police shootings and unfair policing practices and in the wake of the recommendations of the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, police agencies across the country are rethinking their tactics and their community relationships. Relatedly, as the concepts of procedural justice, constitutional policing, collaborative reform, collective efficacy, and community outreach and collaboration increase in importance in the world of policing, it is important to integrate or reintegrate these concepts and practices into police operations. For several reasons then, there is a need to build police agency interest and capacity in the areas of community policing and collaboration. This webinar reviewed key concepts and definitions, such as “procedural justice,” “collaboration versus engagement versus cooperation,” “intelligence-led policing,” and “smart policing,” and presented contemporary and promising police practices regarding outreach and collaboration in communities that are characterized by chronic high violence.
Strategies to Improve Homicide Investigations and Increase Clearance Rates
During this webinar, participants heard from Dr. David Carter and Mr. Brian Russell on successful and effective approaches in managing homicide investigations based on the collective experience of seven law enforcement agencies, the importance of a reciprocal relationship between law enforcement and prosecutors, and the critical tasks during the first 48 hours of a homicide investigation.
View the Presentation
View the Resources
Listen to the Recording
Virtual Forum
The U.S. Department of Justice hosted the VRN Virtual Forum as a collective Network update for all VRN sites and DOJ. This forum provided an opportunity for VRN site leaders and representatives to hear from each other regarding violence reduction efforts under way in each site and the DOJ resources that have been most helpful to them. Sites provided feedback on assistance that has been delivered through VRN, goals for the next six months, and ways VRN can better assist in the future. The VRN leadership team also provided a briefing on the future of the Network, including new sites, the fall summit, and more.
View the Webinar Recording
Community Engagement in High-Violence Neighborhoods
The recent events in Ferguson, Missouri, and New York City, New York, and subsequent protests across the country have highlighted the
importance for police to partner with the community to establish sustainable relationships. Community engagement provides tremendous
opportunities for working together and pooling resources to strengthen police legitimacy and reduce violence in our communities.
During this webinar on community engagement, participants learned about innovative approaches to engaging communities in high-violence neighborhoods.
Mr. Ed Chung of the DOJ National Center for Building Community Trust provided opening remarks about
national perspectives and strategies, and then participants heard from three chiefs of police (Chief Scott Thomson from Camden, New Jersey;
Chief Chris Magnus from Richmond, California; and Chief Bobby Cummings from Wilmington, Delaware) regarding their experiences and
expertise in community engagement before opening up the discussion to the entire VRN network.
View the Webinar Recording
Top Offender Lists
With research indicating that a relatively small number of offenders are responsible for a large number of the crimes that are committed, identifying top offenders for the targeting of scarce resources can be a successful strategy to address and decrease crime in the community. The objectives of this session were to learn how to develop and maintain a top offender list, discuss strategies and related challenges and prospects to using a top offender list, learn about the lists developed by different agencies and initiatives, and discuss the utilization of top offender lists with your VRN colleagues.
View the Webinar Recording
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 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 SMART Office. 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.