Critical Releases in Homeland Security: November 7, 2018

From the executive summary: "The 2018 National Drug Threat Assessment (NDTA) is a comprehensive strategic assessment of the threat posed to the United States by domestic and international drug trafficking and the abuse of illicit drugs. The report combines federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement reporting; public health data; open source reporting; and intelligence from other government agencies to determine which substances and criminal organizations represent the greatest threat to the United States. Illicit drugs, as well as the transnational and domestic criminal organizations who traffic them, continue to represent significant threats to public health, law enforcement, and national security in the United States. Drug poisoning deaths are the leading cause of injury death in the United States; they are currently at their highest ever recorded level and, every year since 2011, have outnumbered deaths by firearms, motor vehicle crashes, suicide, and homicide."

From the introduction: "The National Insider Threat Task Force (NITTF) is charged under Executive Order (EO) 13587 with reviewing and, when appropriate, adding to or modifying the Minimum Standards and guidance in coordination with the executive branch departments and agencies (D/As) subject to the EO. The Minimum Standards provide the basic elements necessary to establish a fully functional insider threat program (InTP) and thereby serve as milestones in the InTP maturity process. The insider threat is a dynamic problem set, requiring resilient and adaptable programs to address an evolving threat landscape, advances in technology, and organizational change. The effort requires continual evaluation and updated perspectives and approaches. In furtherance of this effort, the NITTF has developed, in collaboration with executive branch D/As, an InTP Maturity Framework (hereafter referred to as 'Framework') to enhance the Minimum Standards. The Framework identifies key elements within the Minimum Standards construct to enable D/As to increase the effectiveness of program functionality, garner greater benefit from InTP resources, procedures, and processes, and tightly integrate InTP procedures and objectives with their distinct missions and challenges."

From the COPS [Community Oriented Policing Services] website: "In the course of executing their duties, law enforcement agencies are vulnerable to costly lawsuits by officers and community members for claims of misconduct, harm, or violation of rights - lawsuits that can undermine not only the financial security of the agencies but also the well-being of the officers and the public they serve. To help law enforcement identify and minimize these risks, the COPS Office and Strategic Applications International (SAI) convened a forum that included representatives of labor unions, local government, law enforcement agencies, and the community. This report, which details the discussions of that forum, covers all aspects of this critical subject, including departmental leadership's role, recruitment policies, and police-community relations. Readers will also find tools for sharing risk management and a description of the roles and responsibilities of government, risk managers, insurers, unions, and the community in this effort. The appendices provide a summary of the forum's recommendations and a list of resources for risk management."