NJ Cops april2 | Page 22

NAPO CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

The establishment of an interoperable broadband network dedicated to first responders was one of the recommendations of the 9 / 11 Commission. In 2012, Congress authorized FirstNet, an independent authority within the Commerce Department, to develop, build and operate a national public safety broadband network that will allow first responders to communicate between agencies and within their own departments in all 50 states.

It is expected that AT & T will spend close to $ 40 billion over the life of the 25-year contract to build, deploy, operate and maintain the network. The buildout is expected to begin later this year. FirstNet has faced many challenges over the past five years and has struggled to get off the ground. This contract is a victory for first responders, who have been waiting for more than 15 years to get a dedicated broadband network.

NAPO participates in Policing Strategy Summit

On March 24, NAPO Executive Director Bill Johnson participated in a Policing Strategy Summit hosted by The Heritage Foundation and run by former Attorney General Ed Meese. The summit brought together some of America’ s foremost law enforcement professionals, including leadership of national organizations, former police executives, prosecutors and academics, for a frank discussion on current challenges faced by law enforcement and best practices for fighting crime. NAPO was one of only two rankand-file organizations that participated.

The Trump administration has set new law enforcement priorities, including establishing through an executive order a new Task Force on Crime Reduction and Public Safety, which is focused on reducing violent crime and supporting police. The Heritage Foundation arranged the summit to get input on a variety of challenges to the law enforcement community, from increased crime rates in major cities to immigration concerns for violence and hostility against police officers. The Heritage Foundation

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22 NEW JERSEY COPS ■ APRIL 2017

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will use this input to develop a white paper to advise the Trump administration on how to reverse the damage that the Obama administration did to the federal government’ s relationship with America’ s law enforcement community.

This summit was a great opportunity for NAPO to provide input to the administration on the direction that we want national policies affecting law enforcement to take and the best ways to support the line officers on the streets.

Briefing on Mental Health First Aid

On March 24, NAPO attended a briefing on the Hill regarding improving police response to persons affected by mental illness— specifically, Mental Health First Aid( MHFA) training for law enforcement. MHFA is an 8-hour course that gives officers the skills to help someone who is experiencing a mental health crisis and provides officers with effective response options in order to manage incidents without compromising officer and public safety. It is viewed as a complementary training to Crisis Intervention Team( CIT) programs, which are collaborations between law enforcement officers and mental health experts that focus on diversion and treatment.

Law enforcement officers are increasingly on the front lines responding to and intervening in mental and behavioral health crises. Officers must be given the tools and training they need to identify and respond to mental health issues in the communities they serve.

For these reasons, NAPO strongly supports federal funding and programs to help agencies establish CIT programs and train their officers to better respond to these situations. MHFA is a widely available resource that departments can use as a basis to support improved responses and outcomes to interactions between police officers and persons affected by mental illness.

More information on MHFA can be found at www. mentalhealthfirstaid. org. d

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