Critical Releases in Homeland Security: November 21, 2018

"The 2018 'National Preparedness Report' provides an overview of key developments in national preparedness--incorporating findings and lessons learned from incidents in 2017 in combination with data and inputs from federal interagency and whole community partners. The report evaluates and measures progress in building, sustaining, and delivering five selected core capabilities that have faced emerging and persistent challenges. Refining the scope of the 2018 edition of the report to focus on these challenging elements concentrates the discussion on what the whole community--including individuals, businesses, nonprofit organizations, and all levels of government-- needs to address to increase the Nation's preparedness. The in-depth assessment of the targeted areas provided in this report will be particularly important in the years to come, as the Nation looks to address long-term trends that will influence national preparedness--including rising disaster costs, new technology, an older and more diverse population, and evolving threats such as cybersecurity."

This report is from a Briefing Before the United States Commission on Civil Rights on "Police Use of Force": "The relationship between law enforcement and many communities in the U.S. is fraught and challenging, particularly for those who experience violent crimes coupled with intensive police presence and surveillance. [...] While allegations that some police force is excessive, unjustified, and discriminatory continue and proliferate, current data regarding police use of force is insufficient to determine if instances are occurring more frequently. The public continues to hear competing narratives by law enforcement and community members, and the hard reality is that available national and local data is flawed and inadequate. A central contributing factor is the absence of mandatory federal reporting and standardized reporting guidelines. [...] Without accurate data on police use of force, allegations by community members and actions by law enforcement not only sow distrust among communities and the police, making policing more dangerous, but also jeopardize public safety. Research consistently shows that positive relationships between community members and law enforcement are essential for safer communities. [...] Against this backdrop, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights (Commission) investigated rates of police use of force; questioned whether rates and instantiations of that use of force violate the civil rights of persons of color, persons with disabilities, LGBT communities, and low-income persons; and evaluated promising or proven policies and practices worth replicating to minimize unnecessary use of force and the perception and reality of discrimination in police use of force."