In the mission to support the law enforcement leaders of today and develop the leaders of tomorrow, the IACP is constantly involved in advocacy, programs, research, and initiatives related to cutting-edge issues. This column keeps you up to date on IACP’s work to support our members and the field of law enforcement.
New Police Chief Website
Police Chief Online has a new and updated website. The website’s fresh look is accompanied by increased user-friendliness and new features for our members and readers, such as more bonus online-only content, enhanced search capabilities, the ability to find and sort articles by topic, and Google Translate functionality. The new website is also responsive, so you can read IACP’s magazine on your smartphone or tablet while on the go!
While select material is available to all, members and subscribers will need to log in to access most of the content. Online subscriptions come free with a print subscription, so there’s no need to sign up again.
Visit the new and improved Police Chief Online at www.policechiefmagazine.org.
One Mind Campaign
An advisory group of leading experts convened in early 2016 to examine and address law enforcement responses to persons affected by mental illness. A reoccurring theme during the symposium was that the mental health and public safety communities often work independently of each other, when in reality they should work together. Thus, the emerging campaign strategy became recognized as the One Mind Campaign, with the intent to unite local communities, public safety, and mental health in such a way that the three become “of one mind.”
The One Mind Campaign seeks to ensure successful interactions between police officers and persons affected by mental illness. To join the campaign, law enforcement agencies must commit to implementing four promising practices over a 12- to 36-month timeframe. Agencies demonstrating a serious commitment to implementing all four required strategies in a timely fashion will become publicly recognized members of IACP’s One Mind Campaign.
The four key strategies follow: (1) establish a clearly defined and sustainable partnership with one or more community mental health organizations; (2) develop and implement a model policy addressing police responses to persons affected by mental illness; (3) train and certify 100 percent of your agency’s sworn officers (and selected non-sworn staff, such as dispatchers) in Mental Health First Aid; and (4) provide Crisis Intervention Team training to a minimum of 20 percent of your agency’s sworn officers (and selected non-sworn staff, such as dispatchers). These four approaches will benefit law enforcement and the mental health community in many ways. Creating a partnership between law enforcement and mental health organizations serves to solidify effective and sustainable collaborative efforts.
For more information, visit www.theIACP.org/onemindcampaign.
Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court
The IACP has partnered with the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ), the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, the National Association of State Boards of Education, and the National Center for Mental Health and Juvenile Justice on the School-Justice Partnership Project: Keeping Kids in School and Out of Court. The project focuses on creating successful outcomes for students through strong collaboration among schools, law enforcement, and other disciplines involved in supporting youth and communities. Supported by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquent Prevention (OJJDP), U.S. Department of Justice, the NCJFCJ project hosts a National Resource Center on School-Justice Partnership to provide training and technical assistance (TTA), webinars, tools, and resources to support jurisdictions in creating effective and sustainable school-justice collaborations.
Please visit www.theIACP.org/schooljusticepartnership for IACP project-related information and TTA, or visit the NCJFCJ website at www.schooljusticepartnership.org.
