Background
The National Policing Institute is an independent, non-membership, non-partisan, non-profit organization dedicated to improving policing through innovation and science. For more than 50 years, the National Policing Institute has conducted research on all aspects of policing and has led the way in promoting and sharing evidence-based practices among law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.
In 2018, the National Policing Institute established the Center for Targeted Violence Prevention (CTVP). The CTVP staff and advisory committee engages in rigorous and actionable research, training and consultation to assist law enforcement, public and behavioral health practitioners, policy makers, and community leaders prevent mass violence and counter extremism. In those instances in which an event couldn’t be stopped, the CTVP helps law enforcement, other first responders and communities respond, heal and recover.
Critical Need
During the last decade, persons motivated by a range of ideological beliefs and individual factors have engaged in acts of mass violence targeting innocent civilians and disrupting peaceful 1st Amendment events. Mass violence events, violent criminal acts that result in physical, emotional or psychological injury to a large number of persons, have increased in frequency as well as lethality. The effects of these events are devastating for individuals, families, communities and first responders. Targeted mass violence events challenge emergency response and behavioral health protocols and demand actionable research, innovation and science to inform and re-imagine policies, practices and interventions.