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New NCPC Resource: Be Smart and Safe With McGruff®

One of the most important things adults can do to prevent their children from joining gangs is to talk with them about how to stay safe. This booklet, which includes activities for parents and children to work on together, teaches children how to make smart decisions to stay safe and avoid gangs. Each activity takes about ten to 15 minutes to complete and helps parents strengthen their relationships with their children. To order, call NCPC’s Fulfillment Center at 800-NCPC-911 and ask for Item No. M107.

New NCPC Resource: Crime Prevention Month Kit 2008–2009: Empowering People To Help Prevent Crime

NCPC’s annual Crime Prevention Month Kit is full of reproducible brochures, tips, and resources to help prevent crime. Set in a 12-month calendar format, the theme of this year’s kit is Empowering People To Help Prevent Crime. It focuses on enlisting citizens to join the crime prevention effort and includes a special section on NCPC’s new initiative, Celebrate Safe Communities. To order, call NCPC’s Fulfillment Center at 800-NCPC-911 and ask for Item No. K21F.

18th Annual National Conference on Domestic Violence: October 4–7, 2008, San Diego, CA

The National College of District Attorneys will hold its annual conference during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in San Diego, CA. This year’s conference will include sessions on Teens, Technology, and Social Networking; Domestic Violence Among Individuals With Disabilities; and Safety Planning. For more information or to register, visit the NCDA website.

FBI’s ViCAP Is Now Online

The FBI’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Program, a nationwide data information center that collects and analyzes information on solved and unsolved homicides, murders, abductions, and missing persons cases, is now available online. All agencies will now have direct access to the national database to access, search, and update their own data. ViCAP Web will be available through the secure Law Enforcement Online portal. For more information on ViCAP, visit its website.

Project Safe Childhood National Conference: September 23–26, 2008, Columbus, OH

This third annual training conference, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice, will include trainings on child pornography cases, forensics methods, and the legal and technical aspects of childhood exploitation cases. Registration is free, but attendance is limited to prosecutors and members of law enforcement who handle Project Safe Childhood or Internet Crimes Against Children-related cases, and eligible individuals wishing to attend this conference must obtain agency approval before registering. To register, visit the ICAC Training website.

New Publication From COPS: Enhancing the Problem-Solving Capacity of Crime Analysis Units

The ninth of the Problem-Oriented Guides for Police series discusses how to develop the problem-solving capacity of a crime analysis unit by addressing nine fundamental concerns. The guide will be particularly helpful to police departments that have separate crime analysis units employing several crime analysts. To order a copy, call the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770, or download the PDF here.

Newsletter From the SMART Office

The Office of Sex Offender Sentencing, Monitoring, Apprehending, Registering, and Tracking (SMART) has launched a newsletter, SMART Watch. This online newsletter lists activities, news, resources, funding opportunities, and upcoming events useful to those in the field of sex offender management.