WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) is meeting at its 109th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota between October 5 and October 9, 2002, and

WHEREAS, the IACP Private Sector Liaison Committee (PSLC) has collaborated with the Department of Defense (DOD) Personnel Security Research Center (PERSEREC) to produce “Guidelines for Improved Automated Criminal History Record Systems and Effective Screening of Personnel”; and

WHEREAS, incomplete and inaccurate automated criminal history information can jeopardize law enforcement investigations and place police personnel and the public at risk; and

WHEREAS, the DOD, law enforcement, local, state, and federal government agencies, non-profit and for-profit agencies all draw on the same criminal justice agency resources through their shared interest in appropriate and reliable criminal background screening of personnel; and

WHEREAS, incomplete and inaccurate automated criminal history information at state criminal history data repositories increases the need for requestors to also seek criminal information from individual criminal justice agencies, which can risk wasting scarce agency resources, and

WHEREAS, the guide has been prepared in a similar manner to earlier joint efforts between the PSLC and PERSEREC, entitled Combating Workplace Violence: Guidelines for Employers and Law Enforcement and Guide for Preventing and Responding to School Violence; and

WHEREAS, representatives of the IACP, PERSEREC, DOD, SEARCH, NASCO, IASIR, FBI’s CJIS, state repositories, state licensing agencies, international agencies, and the private sector have reviewed and edited the input from content experts from around the world and from 10 focus groups held across America involving national, state, and local law enforcement, state criminal records repositories, social services, and private industry; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED that the IACP encourages all criminal justice agencies to submit complete and accurate criminal history information to their state criminal history repositories and recommends the use of the Guidelines for Improved Automated Criminal History Record Systems and Effective Screening of Personnel as a tool for enabling and supporting appropriate use of centralized, automated criminal history record information to screen personnel for positions of trust.

WHEREAS, victims of domestic violence often need to seek safety from their abuser and relief from their living situation, and

WHEREAS, victims seek that support from government agencies, usually the police, in the form of orders of protection, and

WHEREAS, many of the court facilities and locations handling those protective orders are remote, in poor condition, uninviting and lack privacy for the victim, and

WHEREAS, these factors are often impediments to victims seeking orders of protection, and

WHEREAS, police departments and the justice system should take every reasonable action to encourage positive victim action; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police Victims Services Committee calls for the Office of Justice Programs and local police agencies to work collaboratively to improve the quality of those facilities in police departments, courthouses and prosecutor's offices; anywhere victims of domestic violence seek protection.

WHEREAS, soft body armor is available to law enforcement personnel to protect against life threatening or potentially disabling injuries; and

WHEREAS, currently, two American police officers are feloniously shot every twenty-four hours, and statistics have shown that since 1987, more than 2,325 law enforcement officers have survived life threatening injuries because they were protected by their body armor; and

WHEREAS, studies of all previous incidents in the past sixteen years where law enforcement officers were fatally shot indicate that 42% of those officer deaths were preventable if they had been wearing body armor; and

WHEREAS, existing statistics confirm that a law enforcement officer is fourteen times more likely to survive a ballistic firefight if he/she is wearing a protective vest than not wearing one; and

WHEREAS, based on studies that even when available, soft body armor is only being worn by 15-20% of the officers who have been issued the equipment, due to mixed messages from management concerning their department's policies on mandatory wear; and

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police recognizes the responsibilities of law enforcement executives to do all that is possible to protect on-duty field and investigative personnel, now therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police recommends that all police executives communicate the importance of wearing body armor and that all law enforcement agencies take the following steps:

• Obtain proper fitting body armor for all law enforcement officers of their agency.
• Establish an ongoing program to educate all members about their obligation to protect themselves, as well as the "life and death" advantages of the routine wear of body armor.
• Adopt a wear policy for all on-duty field and investigative personnel.
• Conduct periodical inspections of issued soft body armor to ensure proper fit and useable condition, replacing defective armor as needed.

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police represents Law Enforcement Executives from around the world; and

WHEREAS, the prevalence of electronic evidence is now a routine issue in all crimes and at most crime scenes; and

WHEREAS, the evolution and development of Communication Devices has had a significant impact on Law Enforcements ability to conduct Electronic Surveillance and recover valuable evidence and records from communication devices; and

WHEREAS, the Law Enforcement Executive Forum (LEEF) comprised in part by members of the IACP has worked with Law Enforcement Executives from across the spectrum to address the issues related to Electronic Surveillance and Communication devices; and

WHEREAS, the LEEF created a document entitled the National Domestic Communications Assistance Center Business Plan that calls for various improvements in Law Enforcements capability to conduct Electronic Surveillance and creates ongoing process to address these issues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the IACP does hereby commend the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their continued support and assistance to local law enforcement agencies in this area of concern; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP request that Congress and the White House support the National Domestic Communications Assistance Center Business Plan; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP recommend to Congress that funding is made available to establish the National Domestic Communications Assistance Center.

The resolution calls for increased law enforcement awareness of and agency participation in the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) as well as expanded federal funding to enable every state, Tribe, territory, and the District of Columbia to be included in the NVDRS.

WHEREAS, approximately 16,000 people die as a result of homicide and 33,000 die from suicide in the United States each year; and

WHEREAS, violent deaths, including homicides and suicides, cost the United States more than $52 billion in medical care and lost productivity every year; and

WHEREAS, the number of violent deaths tell only part of the story. Many more survive violence and are left with permanent physical and emotional scars; and

WHEREAS, violence also erodes communities by interfering with quality of life, decreasing property values, and overburdening social services; and

WHEREAS, violence prevention has been hampered by fragmented and incomplete information on the circumstances surrounding homicides and suicides that does not afford an accurate assessment of factors associated with violent death; and

WHEREAS, the Centers for Disease Control and Preventions (CDC) National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) collects data on violent deaths from a variety of sources, including law enforcement reports, death certificates, medical examiner and coroner reports, and crime laboratories. Individually, these sources provide data that explain violence only in a narrow context. Together, these sources offer a comprehensive picture of the circumstances surrounding a homicide or suicide. As a result, NVDRS provides insight into the optimal points for intervention, thus informing and improving violence prevention efforts at the state and local levels; and

WHEREAS, NVDRS seeks to link records on violent deaths that occurred in the same incident to help identify risk factors for multiple homicides or homicides-suicides; provide timely preliminary information on violent deaths (e.g., basic counts of murders and suicides) through faster data retrieval; describe in detail the circumstances that may have contributed to a violent death; and to better characterize perpetrators, including their relationships to victim(s).

WHEREAS, current annual funding for NVDRS supports the collection of information in only 18 states; and

WHEREAS, the mission of the International Association of Chiefs of Police to promote officer, citizen, and community safety is actively undertaken through a broad range of programming commitments including: Safe Shield, Project Safe Neighborhood, the National Center for the Prevention of Violence Against the Police, officer suicide prevention, and a national gun violence reduction initiative; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, promotes increased law enforcement awareness of and agency participation in the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) as well as expanded federal funding to enable every state, Tribe, territory, and the District of Columbia to be included in the NVDRS.

WHEREAS, in the United States there are approximately 6.2 million Americans, aged 12 years and older who have abused psychotherapeutic drugs non-medically in the past month. Of those, 4.7 million persons abused narcotic pain relievers. (SAMHSA, 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health); and

WHEREAS, in the United States there are more current non-medical users of prescription controlled substances than the number of cocaine, heroin, and hallucinogen abusers combined (SAMHSA, 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health); and

WHEREAS, one in five teens report abusing prescription controlled substances to get high at least once in their lives and 1 in 7 in the past year and the presence of unused controlled substance prescription drugs in the household is likely contributing to increasing rates of prescription drug abuse among teens who believe they are safer than street drugs (Partnership for Drug Free America); and

WHEREAS, the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) recognizes that there is a proliferation of illicit pain clinics in the United States whose doctors are prescribing or dispensing significant amounts of narcotic pain relievers for nonmedical purposes; and

WHEREAS, the IACP recognizes that many of the doctors who work in these illicit pain clinics also hide behind a shield afforded to doctors who legitimately provide narcotic treatment/detoxification services (42 Code of Federal Regulations Section 2.67); now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, strongly encourages states to develop and initiate Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs and further encourages the use of these systems by practitioners and pharmacists to detect and prevent the diversion of controlled substances for nonmedical purposes; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP urges consideration of the passage of statutory restrictions prohibiting convicted felons from owning, operating, or directing facilities that prescribe or dispense controlled substance pharmaceuticals to individuals; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP urges consideration of amendments to statutory and regulatory requirements under 42 Code of Federal Regulations Section 2.67 that currently hinders law enforcement by providing an unnecessary level of protection to practitioners or employees of pain clinics who are directly contributing to the prescription drug abuse problem in the United States.

WHEREAS, law enforcement agencies throughout the United States and the world need the ability to identify, analyze, and, most importantly, share critical criminal and terrorism-related information to effectively address violent crime, drug trafficking, and terrorism; and

WHEREAS, the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program consists of six regional centers (Western States Information Network, Rocky Mountain Information Network, New England State Police Information Network, Regional Organized Crime Information Center, Middle Atlantic-Great Lakes Organized Crime Law Enforcement Network, and Mid-States Organized Crime Information Center) that serve the unique needs of their region while working together on national-scope issues; and

WHEREAS, RISS provides investigative support services to more than 97,000 access officers in more than 8,500 criminal justice agencies at the local, state, federal, and tribal levels in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, U.S. territories, Australia, Canada, and England, including 575 state agencies, 1,008 federal agencies, 40 tribal agencies, 433 prosecutorial agencies, and 150 corrections agencies; and

WHEREAS, RISS links thousands of criminal justice agencies through secure communications and provides information sharing resources and investigative support to combat multijurisdictional crimes, including violent crime, gang activity, drug activity, terrorism, human trafficking, and identity theft; and

WHEREAS, RISSNET is a secure intranet that connects disparate systems nationwide and enables users to select one or all connected systems to conduct a federated search for public safety information, providing immediate information to law enforcement officers on the street; and

WHEREAS, RISS provides valuable investigative and safety resources such as the RISS Intelligence Databases (RISSIntel), the RISS Officer Safety Event Deconfliction System (RISSafe), the RISSGang program, the RISS Automated Trusted Information Exchange (RISS ATIX), the RISSLeads secure electronic bulletin board, the RISSLinks data-visualization took, the RISS Center Web sites, among others; and

WHEREAS, more than 3.1 million inquiries were made to the RISSIntel system in FY 2009 to support investigative priorities at all levels of criminal justice; more than 35,000 analytical products were developed by RISS analysts in FY 2009 in support of investigators and prosecutors to help identify, detect, and apprehend suspects and enhance prosecutorial success in court; and more than 96,000 requests for database searches and research were received by RISS in FY 2009 which resulted in access to information by law enforcement officers that they otherwise might not have had access to; and

WHEREAS, RISSafe dramatically enhances officer safety by storing and maintaining data on planned law enforcement events with the goal of identifying and alerting affected agencies and officers of potential conflicts impacting law enforcement efforts, and has resulted in the identification of more than 55,000 conflicts since inception; and

WHEREAS, RISS supports fusion centers nationwide to connect systems to RISSNET, provide information sharing resources, provide analytical and research support, and offer training opportunities; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, acknowledges the Regional Information Sharing Systems (RISS) Program as indispensable to state, local, tribal, and federal law enforcement efforts against crime and terrorism; and, be it

FURTHER RESOLVED, that the IACP strongly urges the United States Congress to fully fund the RISS Program.

WHEREAS, the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) indicates that, on an average day during 2007, there were 3,695 adolescents aged 12 to 17 that used marijuana for the first time; and

WHEREAS, the NSDUH indicates that, on an average day during 2007, there were 563,182 adolescents aged 12 to 17 that used marijuana; and

WHEREAS, the NSDUH indicates that, on an average day during 2007, there were 263 adolescent admissions to treatment that presented with marijuana as the primary substance of abuse; and

WHEREAS, the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) reports that according to the 2006-2007 State Estimates of Substance Use, all five top states, and ten of the fifteen states with the highest percentage of past month marijuana users ages (12-17), are states with medical marijuana programs; and

WHEREAS, CADCA further reports that medical marijuana states now occupy all four top states, and eight of the top thirteen states with the highest rates for new marijuana initiates ages (12-17); and

WHEREAS, CADCA further reports that medical marijuana states rank as thirteen of the lowest twenty states for the perception of risk for smoking marijuana once a month ages (12-17); and

WHEREAS, CADCA further reports that research illustrates that the decline in the use of any illegal drug is directly related to its perception of harm or risk and social disapproval by the user; and

WHEREAS, CADCA further reports that research demonstrates that softening attitudes generally precede an increase in drug use rates by approximately two years; and

WHEREAS, CADCA further reports that according to the 2009 National PRIDE Survey data, there was an increase for all grades (6-12) in past 30-day use of marijuana; and

WHEREAS, the White House National Drug Control Strategy 2009 Annual Report (NDCS), relying upon the NSDUH, indicates that the risk of marijuana abuse or dependency for those aged 12 to 17 now exceeds that for alcohol, and tobacco; and

WHEREAS, the NDCS also states that recent studies suggest early marijuana use increases the risk of abuse or dependency on other drugs such as heroin and cocaine later in life;now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, recognizing the alarming rise in teen marijuana use in those states that have legalized medical marijuana reaffirms its continuing, strong opposition to the legalization by the states of marijuana cultivation, dispensation, and use for so-called medicinal purposes.

WHEREAS, license plate recognition (LPR) technology automatically collects an image of a vehicle and, through use of optical character recognition, is able to read the front and back license plate and , capture the vehicles profile, ; and

WHEREAS, LPR technology has a variety of useful functions and is commonly deployed in public areas as a method of electronic toll collection, monitoring of traffic activity, and monitoring of vehicles entering and departing from various public structures; and

WHEREAS, LPR technology provides near real-time collection and dissemination of useful investigative information to law enforcement entities; and

WHEREAS, the information gathered by LPR technology enhances law enforcements ability to identify, track, and interdict conveyances being utilized to transport bulk cash, drugs, weapons, as well as other illegal contraband, within the United States and along its borders; and

WHEREAS, the use of LPR technology is also an effective deterrent to many types of crime because of its effectiveness in capturing accurate identifying information; now, therefore be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, strongly encourages Congress to provide greater resources to state, local, tribal and federal law enforcement entities for the significant expansion of LPR programs to further combat drug trafficking, violence, and other criminal activity.

WHEREAS, the ability of state, local, tribal and federal law enforcement authorities to combat crime is greatly enhanced by the collection and dissemination of information on criminal activities; and

WHEREAS, according to the Fusion Center Guidelines: Executive Summary, fusion is the fundamental process to facilitate the sharing of homeland security-related and crime-related information and intelligence. Fusion manages the flow of information and intelligence across all levels and sectors of government and private industry; and

WHEREAS, according to the Fusion Center Guidelines: Executive Summary, a fusion center is an effective and efficient mechanism to exchange information and intelligence, maximize resources, streamline operations, and improve the ability to fight crime and terrorism by merging data from a variety of sources; and

WHEREAS, in 2004 and 2005, many states began creating fusion centers with various local, state, and federal funds; and

WHEREAS, collecting and sharing intelligence is a critical component in the countrys ability to analyze and share information by ensuring that investigative links are made to help combat crime; and

WHEREAS, many of those who commit violent crimes are also involved in other criminal activity such as drug trafficking, auto theft, alien smuggling, extortion, fraud, identity theft and weapons trafficking; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, recommends that, in an effort to strengthen efforts to combat drug trafficking, gang violence and other serious crimes, state, local, tribal and federal law enforcement fusion centers include greater collection and dissemination of information on all crimes as part of their integrated information and intelligence sharing missions.

Submitted by: Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs Committee
NDD.017.a10

WHEREAS, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH), the number of current heroin users age 12 and older increased from 153,000 in 2007 to 213,000 in 2008; and

WHEREAS, in some areas of the United States the increase in heroin use is even more dramatic as evidenced by Nassau County, New York, which experienced a 75% increase in heroin-related deaths in 2008; and

WHEREAS, according to the NSDUH, in 2008 there were 114,000 first-time heroin users as young as 12 years old; and

WHEREAS, drug trafficking organizations are providing free samples or marketing heroin in packaging designed to appeal to those under the age of 21; and

WHEREAS, the National Drug Threat Assessment 2010 reports that prescription opioid abusers, including adolescents, are switching to heroin which is often less costly and more powerful; and

WHEREAS, increased purity levels of heroin have enabled users to smoke and inhale the drug, avoiding the deterrent of injection, intensifying the high and significantly increasing the potential for addiction; and

WHEREAS, according to the 2009 Parents and Teens Attitude Tracking Study Report of the Partnership for a Drug-Free America and Metlife Foundation (PATS Report), adolescents report a decrease in learning about the risks of alcohol and drugs from traditional sources(parents, school and media) and an increase in using the Internet as a source of information for alcohol and drugs; and

WHEREAS, according to the 2009 PATS Report, adolescents report less exposure to anti-drug television commercials from 2004 to 2009; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that the International Association of Chiefs of Police, duly assembled at its 117th Annual Conference in Orlando, Florida, strongly supports programs which provide greater awareness and education at the middle and high school level for both parents and students regarding the growing popularity of heroin use among adolescents.

Submitted by: Narcotics & Dangerous Drugs Committee
NDD.018.a10