Introduction and Purpose: Technology​ including Cybersecurity

Because technology plays an increasingly important role in all areas of public safety, we have included it as a separate area for content ideas to be incorporated into training and education. Many of these instructors may find these articles and resources useful and want to incorporate some into their lessons or student resource material. 

Here we do not include technology as a technique for transferring ideas and skills for trainees.  For this use of technology, see Training Techniques, Lessons and Ideas.

1. Policing the Connected World: Using Social Network Analysis in Police-Community Partnerships

Recently the Community Oriented Policing Office funded a study focused on community collaboration and the use of technology to gang and violence prevention in New Haven, Connecticut. The abstract of this study reads as follows:

Law enforcement agencies are increasingly using social network analysis (SNA) to understand the organization of gangs and other criminal networks, to identify their relationships, and to analyze data that can be used to focus crime prevention efforts.

This report details the implementation of a SNA program developed by the COPS Office in partnership with Yale University. Created as part of a violence prevention initiative in New Haven, Connecticut, the Project Longevity SNA program emphasizes the value of community collaboration when gathering critical information such as the location and membership of these groups.

Noting that transparency and community involvement in data collection encourage community support, the report also describes the benefits of focused deterrence activities, thereby reducing arrests and increasing efficiency. In addition to a detailed introduction to SNA and the ways it can be adapted to community and law enforcement needs, this report provides examples of SNA strategies used in other cities and practical guidelines for implementation. 

You can get the full study on a PDF  here.

2. Protect Your School with a Click of an APP

This app from the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC) allows you do conduct a physical assessment of your campus. It takes you step by step through your school to identify and address problem spots. This can also be used as a training tool.

3. Developing a Cyberattack Curriculum To Improve Emergency Response

A pilot version of a new course was offered for the first time in January to Utah’s state government. The course is meant to provide a better understanding of how traditional emergency operations staff, and their IT counterparts, can most effectively work together in the event that a cyber attack harms critical infrastructure, or has other physical consequences. The developers (Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, or TEEX) contend that “the connection between the IT folks and the emergency operation center folks, or emergency management folks, doesn’t happen on a consistent basis.” TEEX is part of the National Cybersecurity Preparedness Consortium, a partnership among five universities. The consortium looks to provide research-based training, exercises and technical assistance, related to cybersecurity, to local governments, states and private industry. In 2014, the Federal Emergency Management Agency awarded the group a grant to develop the recently-piloted course. TEEX took the lead putting together the curriculum.Titled “Cybersecurity Incident Management and Response,” the course is 24 hours and is spread out over three days. Read more….