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Mental Health Professionals

Protecting our Protectors: Using Science to Improve Officer Safety and Wellness

June 2012

Each year, 100-200 law enforcement officers die in the line of duty. Last year, 177 lost their lives — a 16-percent increase from 2010. As Attorney General Eric Holder noted, this is a devastating and unacceptable trend. NIJ has developed a robust research portfolio to improve officer safety and wellness and, ultimately, save lives. This panel discussed some of NIJ's most promising work to reduce shooting and traffic-related fatalities — consistently the leading causes of officer line-of-duty deaths — and improve officer wellness, which is inextricably linked with officer safety.

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Speech to the National Association of State Forensic Mental Health Directors

The Mentally Ill Offender: Viewing Crime
and Justice Through a Different Lens

INTRODUCTION

Thank you for the kind invitation to address this conference of the National Association of State Mental Health Forensic Directors. Several months ago, I readily accepted Judy Cox's invitation to speak to you. At the time, it seemed like a pretty straightforward proposition -- I enjoy opportunities to speak with people who...