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Following is a list of training initiatives specifically designed to support Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) as well as other courses and trainings that could be used to implement or expand various aspects of Project Safe Neighborhoods.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Exsplosives (ATF) Office of Training and Professional Development. Please contact Special Agent Mark Kraft, Project Safe Neighborhoods training program manager, 202-927-3130, or Special Agent Bill King, chief of ATF’s State and Local Training Branch, 202-927-3138.
Characteristics of Armed Gunmen (minimum of 50 students)—This four-hour course, designed for State and local police officers in support of the Youth Crime Gun Interdiction Initiative (YCGII), provides officers with skills and abilities needed to recover crime guns from the street prior to their use in additional crimes of violence. The course includes detailed instruction on identifying characteristics of persons who carry concealed firearms, understanding legal issues concerning stop and frisk, and articulating probable cause for searches. (Designed to be delivered in conjunction with Firearms Identification and Tracing Techniques or as a stand-alone class.)
Customized Training in Support of PSN (minimum of 75 students)—ATF’s Office of Training and Professional Development can work with your office, in conjunction with the ATF Field Division in your area, to custom design training that contains blocks of instruction from any of the classes listed above. Classes can be designed for law enforcement officers, prosecutors, or combined classes. Core materials frequently contain, but are not limited to
* firearms trafficking—Where do crime guns come from?
* firearms tracing and On-Line LEAD
* characteristics of armed gunmen
* firearms identification and tracing procedures
* federal firearms laws.
Firearms Trafficking Techniques Course (60 to 100 students)—This week-long course is primarily designed for ATF special agents, inspectors, auditors, intelligence personnel, and tracing personnel, as well as state, local, and international law enforcement officers who are involved in or support firearms trafficking investigations. The course provides students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to detect, investigate, and aid in the prosecution of those individuals and criminal organizations that divert firearms out of lawful commerce into the hands of violent criminals and unsupervised juveniles. Includes instruction on tracing procedures, On-Line LEAD, diversion at gun shows, FFL burglaries and robberies, international trafficking, sources of information, prosecution strategies, and getting started. This course is currently scheduled for one delivery in fiscal year 2002 at a site to be determined.
International Firearms Trafficking—Canadian American Trafficking School (course limited to approximately 40 to 50 U.S. students)—This course, hosted by Toronto’s Provincial Weapons Enforcement Unit (PWEU) and co-sponsored by ATF’s Office of Training and Professional Development, specifically addresses the issue of firearms trafficking between the United States and Canada. The course is designed to provide students from both sides of the border with the contacts, knowledge, and skills needed to identify, investigate, and prosecute international firearms traffickers. Numerous presentations on programs, agencies, laws, and services available in both countries to investigators actively working cross-border trafficking cases. This course is currently scheduled for one delivery in fiscal year 2002 at a site to be determined.
ATF Firearms Serial Number Restoration Course (10 to 12 students based on host facilities)— Applications for this intensive three-day training are only accepted from law enforcement laboratories. This course supports the identification and tracing of firearms recovered in criminal investigations by providing firearm and tool mark examiners or other forensic laboratory employees with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to restore obliterated serial numbers. Students receive hands-on training in the restoration of obliterated serial numbers using a number of cutting edge techniques. Students will restore serial numbers and document their findings at their own laboratory facility using firearms actually recovered by their police department during the training. Topics covered include
* stamping techniques used to mark firearms
* methods of obliteration
* restoration process
* Magnetic Particle Inspection (MPI)
* chemical etching restoration
* electrolytic restoration
* note writing and protocol considerations
* technical considerations in court presentation.
ATF National Firearms Examiner Academy (Academy accepts individual applications from apprentice/entry level firearms and tool mark examiner trainees who are assigned full time to a law enforcement forensics laboratory. Other requirements also must be met.)—The mission of the National Firearms Examiner Academy is to provide training for apprentice/entry level firearm and tool mark examiners for federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. The curriculum is composed of the fundamentals of firearms and tool mark examinations and will serve as the basis for the trainee, under supervision, to develop into a qualified firearm and tool mark examiner. The four phases of instruction are
* a four-month period during which the students complete and submit on a timely basis a series of pre-course assignments in preparation for reporting to the Academy
* a 15-week intense instructional session at ATF’s Forensic Science Laboratory in Rockville, MD, highlighted by classroom instruction; hands-on practical exercises; field trips to forensic laboratories, museums, and manufacturers of firearms and ammunition; and academic study and research
* a four-month period in which the students return to work at their own laboratories while they complete a pre-approved research project and also complete simulated cases provided by the Academy that will be presented by them in moot courtroom scenarios in the final phase
* a two-week session in the Washington, D.C., area that guides the students in preparation for the presentation of expert testimony, including pretrial conferences and the preparation of exhibits for trial; students will make formal presentations of their research projects completed during phase three.
Contact: ATF Forensic Science Lab
1401 Research Boulevard
Rockville, MD 20850
Attn: Sheila Hopkins
Gang Resistance Education and Training (G.R.E.A.T.)
Contact ATF Special Agent Herb Drake, Chief, G.R.E.A.T. Training Section, 202-927-3065, or ATF Special Agent Donald J. Soranno, Chief, G.R.E.A.T. Program Branch, 202-927-3140.
G.R.E.A.T. Officer Training (G.R.E.A.T. Program accepts applications from federal, state, and local law enforcement officers.)—The G.R.E.A.T. Program is a cooperative partnership between ATF and law enforcement agencies in more than 1,000 cities nationwide. It is designed to prevent youth crime, youth violence, and gang involvement, while developing positive relationships among law enforcement, families, and our youth to create safer communities. The program’s goal is to educate our nation’s youth, providing them with the life skills to resist the pressure to join gangs and engage in youth violence. The G.R.E.A.T. Program is an ideal component within the community outreach element of any PSN program, and it is already in place in all 50 states, in the District of Columbia, and on military bases worldwide. Interested law enforcement agencies can submit applications for officers to be trained to deliver the G.R.E.A.T. Program. The program consists of a classroom curriculum of 13 lessons, a summer component, and a family component. The program contains classroom curricula for the 3rd/4th grades and the G.R.E.A.T. core curricula for 6th/7th grades. There are five regional training sites strategically located through out the country.
For more information about G.R.E.A.T., call 800-726-7070 or visit the Web site at
www.atf.gov/great/.
Department of Justice, National Advocacy Center
Contact the Office of Legal Education, 803-544-5100.
Gun Violence Reduction Training (course size varies, class offered annually)—The course, designed exclusively for Department of Justice employees, is an educational forum that provides each district’s point of contact on the gun violence reduction initiative to exchange ideas and focus on how to refine and enhance their district’s gun violence reduction plan. The focus of the course will be on various common elements of the district’s plans, offering advice on how to best implement their individual strategy. Topics will include crime gun mapping, firearms tracing, and publicizing the district’s plan in their community. The course will also focus on commonly encountered problems and obstacles.
Violent Crimes Seminars (course size varies, class offered annually)—The course, designed exclusively for criminal attorneys who prosecute federal crimes of violence, is limited to Department of Justice employees. Topics include prosecution strategies, making historical cases, charging decisions, prosecution of juveniles, managing victims, forensic evidence, interagency coordination, witness protection, death penalty issues, gang cases, meeting common defenses, firearms prosecution, and domestic terrorism. Firearms-related blocks of instruction specifically include firearms statutes and recent changes in federal firearms laws, firearms initiatives, overcoming obstacles, and changing decisions in firearms cases.
Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services
Contact the Office of Community Oriented Policing, 202-514-6022.
COPS in Schools: Keeping Our Kids Safe (course size varies, class offered annually)—The course is designed to assist both school resource officers (SROs) and school administrators in addressing the issues related to the planning, implementation, and management of a strategy to ensure a safe school environment. The training covers such topics as strategy development, problem solving, legal issues, cultural fluency, policy issues, mental health interventions, crisis intervention, and classroom teaching skills and strategies. During the course of the training, SROs and their school administrative counterparts will actually begin to plan out their program. By attending the program, the teams will emerge as leaders and as a resource for all stakeholders of their school and community.
International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)
Contact Laura J. Nichols, Project Coordinator, 800-THE-IACP, ext. 270.
Firearms Trafficking Interdiction Technical Assistance Project (class size varies)—The IACP provides technical assistance, funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, offered through group training and symposiums. Group training occurs over two and one-half days. Law enforcement agencies are selected to participate in this training in groups of up to five departments, most often from the same region. Course elements include crime reduction and crime gun interdiction strategies, the IACP Crime Gun Interdiction Continuum, and Dynamic Partnerships. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms supports the training, which delivers segments on firearms tracing and Project LEAD. Participants identify jurisdiction-specific issues and challenges; develop strategies that address those issues; and share information and ideas with their colleagues. Symposiums are delivered in two forums. IACP is a partner in the Project Safe Neighborhoods Enforcement Training and will also deliver a modified version of this training focused on school-based firearms reduction.
Police Executive Research Forum
Contact Drea Morrozoff, Project Director, 202-454-8319.
National Guns First Training (50 students)—The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) of the U.S. Department of Justice awarded the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) a grant to develop and deliver a national training program on crime gun interdiction for state and local law enforcement officers. The training, coordinated through U. S. Attorney’s Offices and with the ATF, informs and educates state and local police officers about federal and state firearms statutes and provides information to improve police investigation of firearms offenses. The training encourages officers to trace all crime guns and sensitizes police to the value of gathering and sharing information that will assist in the interdiction of illicit firearms. By using a train-the-trainer format, PERF offers the programs to law enforcement trainers and supervisors. Those trainers and supervisors then have materials to tailor and deliver the training to officers in their own agencies. Program materials include an instructor’s binder, student handouts, video, and PowerPoint presentation. For further information, please contact Drea Morrozoff (see above) or write
Police Executive Research Forum
1120 Connecticut Ave., NW, Ste. 930
Washington, DC 20036
National Shooting Sports Foundation, Inc. (NSSF)
Contact John Badowski, Director of Retail Partnerships, 203-426-1320 or fax 203-426-1087.
“Don’t Lie for the Other Guy” Firearms Seminars (minimum of 50 students)—The National Shooting Sports Foundation, in partnership with ATF, offers training seminars for federally licensed firearms dealers and their employees designed to deter straw purchases of firearms. The training, which features the “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy” campaign theme, provides training for firearms retailers and their employees to aid them in identifying and deterring potential straw purchasers and to help them educate the public on the consequences of purchasing a firearm for someone who legally cannot. The seminar also includes other topics of unique concern to retail firearms dealers, including safety and security issues, securing business inventory, preventing Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) burglaries and robberies, and record keeping requirements.
NSSF can also provide “Don’t Lie for the Other Guy” dealer kits, which contain display and training materials as well as an employee training video that provides FFL’s and their employees with specific examples of straw purchase scenarios to further aid them in identifying and deterring firearms diversion.
National Crime Prevention Council
Contact Colleen Copple, Senior Advisor to the President on Coalition and Legislative Issues, 202-261-4129, or cminson@ncpc.org.
The Cutting Edge—The purpose of the Cutting Edge Executive Seminar is to provide key Project Safe Neighborhood stakeholders an interactive forum to exchange information, skills, and resources that will assist in the design and implementation of their strategic plan and broader community engagement in the project. This workshop would prepare the task forces/partnerships formed by U.S. Attorneys to accomplish their work. Workshop goals include
* building and strengthening a team’s cohesiveness
* applying the principles of the strategic-planning process
* sharing techniques for mobilizing key stakeholders and the community
* developing effective needs assessments and asset mapping
* utilizing problem solving and crime mapping
* harnessing the potential of collaborations and partnerships
* sharing what we know works—the research base and best practices for gun violence reduction
* increasing access to informational, programmatic, and fiscal resources that will assist in implementation
* developing a process to both document and assess the implementation of the strategic plan.
The training is designed for teams of between 5 to 12 key stakeholders; 8 to 10 teams can be trained at a time. The training is two and one-half days in length.
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