Cross Country

20th National Conference on Preventing Crime in the Black Community

This conference, to be held June 1-4, 2005, in Tampa, FL, is a collaborative effort sponsored by Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist and Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker. The conference will address issues relating to the disproportionate number of African-Americans who are under the supervision of the criminal justice system. The agenda is designed to showcase successful programs and promote a positive exchange of ideas on the subject. Focal points include plenary sessions, luncheon presentations, break-out sessions for teens and adults, and a teens "listening" summit. For more information, please visit http://victims.firn.edu/pcbc.

Register Now for the 8th Annual Crime Mapping Research Conference

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will hold its 8th Annual Crime Mapping Research Conference in Savannah, GA, September 7-10, 2005. The conference theme is Research and Practice Affecting Public Policy. The conference, which is hosted by NIJ's Mapping and Analysis for Public Safety program, will bring together researchers and practitioners to learn about recent research and share useful experiences dealing with crime mapping and analysis. For registration information, visit www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/maps/savannah2005/. 

Don't Miss the NIJ Annual Research and Evaluation Conference

Join more than 800 of your professional colleagues at the National Institute of Justice's Annual Conference on Research and Evaluation July 18-20, 2005, in Washington, DC. This year's focus will be evidence-based policies and practices. Learn what works, what doesn't, and what the latest research shows as promising. Hear what criminal justice practitioners around the country are doing to make their systems more effective with evidence-based programs. Talk to policymakers and researchers about how to make your work more productive. This year, get a special lower registration fee if you are part of a researcher/practitioner team. Watch for details about the special price break. Registration will be open soon at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij.

OJJDP Newsletter Now Available Online

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) now provides its bimonthly newsletter online only. OJJDP stopped mailing print copies at the close of 2004. Readers are encouraged to visit www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ojjdp/ to subscribe and access the new online edition.

NIJ Releases Two New Publications

The National Institute of Justice has released Community Policing Beyond the Big Cities. Community Policing studies eight different law enforcement agencies in small to medium-sized cities and rural areas in California, Idaho, and South Dakota. This publication helps explain how police and sheriffs in small communities can implement and initiate aspects of community policing. The report can be found online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/pubs-sum/205946.htm.

ONDCP Releases New Publications Regarding Drug Use

The Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) has released What You Need To Know About Starting a Student Drug-Testing Program and The Challenge in Higher Education: Confronting and Reducing Substance Abuse on Campus.

What You Need to Know About Starting a Student Drug-Testing Program lays out the steps that schools and parents need to take when instituting such a program. The book guides the reader through the process while offering assistance and advice on issues such as how to evaluate a school's drug problem, how to acquire funding for the program, what needs to be done before the testing begins, how some schools select students for  testing, and what kinds of tests are used. This document can be found at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/student_drug_testing/.

The Challenge in Higher Education: Confronting and Reducing Substance Abuse on Campus helps administrators of higher education understand the illegal drug use among the college population. The book reminds administrators of their responsibility to provide a safe and drug-free environment and strongly urges them to work to end the culture of drugs on campus. Sidebars describing inventive programs at several colleges exemplify how small initiatives can go a long to fight substance abuse on campus. This document can be found at www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov/publications/challenge_higher_ed/.

Juvenile Arrests 2002 Now Available

The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) announces the availability of the new 12-page bulletin Juvenile Arrests 2002, a summary and analysis of national and state juvenile arrests reported in 2002 in the FBI report Crime in the United States 2002. The bulletin reports that, in 2002, the juvenile arrest rate reached its lowest point since 1980. The rate had been decreasing for eight years after increasing in the 1980s and peaking in 1994. In 2002, the rate was reported at nearly half of what it had been in 1994. The juvenile arrest rate for violent crimes (murder, forcible rape, robbery, and aggravated assault) has steadily decreased since the mid-1990s. By 2002, the rate for murder fell a significant 72 percent from its 1993 peak. The bulletin is available at www.ojjdp.ncjrs.org/publications/PubAbstract.asp?pubi=11822. 

Policing Smarter Through IT: Lessons in Enterprise Implementation

This report is a companion piece to the Policing Smarter Through IT: Learning From Chicago's Citizen and Law Enforcement Analysis and Reporting (CLEAR) System. It provides useful strategies for developing an integrated criminal justice information system. This publication is available online at www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.asp?Item=1331. 

National Fraud Conference in September

The National Fraud Conference, sponsored by the Association of Certified Fraud Specialists' will cover such topics as internal fraud, investigating by computer, information management, forensic accounting, following the money trail, and identity theft. This conference, to be held September 27-29, 2005, will give anti-fraud professionals practical tactics and advice to help them work smarter and more effectively. For more information, visit http://conference.acfsnet.org or email ronda@acfsnet.org.