Law Enforcement Response to Child Abuse-like all the Portable Guides in this series-is designed to assist those working to help protect children from being victimized and to improve the investigation of child abuse cases. This guide arms law enforcement professionals with the information needed to ensure consistency in their investigation of child abuse. Pertinent considerations and helpful investigatory protocols are provided. Other useful materials include suggestions on working with physicians, responding to domestic disturbance calls, and placing children in protective custody....

Battered child syndrome is a tragic and disturbing phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is a crime that is often successfully hidden by its perpetrators. Law enforcement has an important role to play in uncovering cases of battered child syndrome and gathering evidence for their successful prosecution. This guide contains practical information on the circumstances that point to the willful rather than the accidental injury or death of an infant or child and the specific evidence required to prove it. It places special emphasis on obtaining an expert medical examination, immediately documenting the...

Our most defenseless children are the most likely to be burned intentionally. Child abuse burn victims are almost always under the age of 10 with the majority under the age of 2. Immediate identification of intentional burn victims by those individuals first responding to the call for assistance is crucial because most of the victims are unable to speak for themselves. It is also important that responsible caretakers not be unjustly accused. In this guide you will find information that will assist you to distinguish intentional burns from accidental contact with hot objects. Burn Injuries in...

The September 2014 Large Jail Network meeting took place at the National Institute of Corrections, National Corrections Academy in Aurora, Colorado. There were 63 detention agency staff in attendance. The meeting began with an informal dinner on Sunday, September 28, with an opening session and participant and guest introductions. Two days of presentations and discussion followed. Guests and speakers at the meeting included: - Carrie Hill, Esq., Maple Grove, Minnesota; - Jeff Woodworth, U.S. Bureau of Prisons; - Steve Cope, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, Counterterrorism Unit; - Bob Kasabian,...

When a child is the victim of abuse or neglect, it is the responsibility of each member of the child protective service and criminal justice communities to provide a timely and appropriate response. To promote the coordination and teamwork needed to ensure such a response-and to minimize additional trauma to children-a growing number of jurisdictions have established multidisciplinary teams (MDT's) comprising professionals from law enforcement, child protective services, prosecution, medicine, counseling, and related fields. Forming a Multidisciplinary Team To Investigate Child Abuse...

The overall drug threat to the Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) region in 2010 increased slightly from the threat posed in 2009. The HIDTA region remains a national-level transit, source, and distribution center for illicit drugs, especially cocaine, locally produced marijuana, domestic and imported methamphetamine, and MDMA (3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine, also known as ecstasy). More so than in 2009, methamphetamine poses the most serious drug threat to the region. Heroin abuse also poses an increasing risk to the region, especially in some rural areas. The...

The Arrest-Related Deaths (ARD) program is an annual national census of persons who die either during the process of arrest or while in the custody of state or local law enforcement personnel. The Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) implemented the ARD program in 2003 as part of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Program (DCRP). The DCRP was initiated to fulfill the data collection requirement of the Deaths in Custody Reporting Act of 2000 (DICRA, P.L. 106- 247). It collects in-depth information on deaths during arrest and incarceration, and it provides national-level information on the deaths of...

Although the overall number of youths involved in the juvenile justice system has been decreasing, on any given day in 2011 there were still more than 60,000 young people detained or committed to juvenile justice residential and secure care facilities. Many of these youths have experienced abuse or neglect, unsafe neighborhood environments, homelessness, and/or involvement in the child welfare system. A large percentage of committed youths exhibit mental health conditions and have, historically, failed to receive mental health services. In addition, there are three to four times more students...