The Regional Institute for Community Policing, which has been a part of the University of Illinois Institute of Government and Public Affairs since 1997, will become the IGPA Center for Public Safety and Justice on Oct. 1, 2009.

The new name will more accurately reflect the mission of the Center, which has evolved since its creation in 1997 as part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing (COPS) program, said Patricia S. Rushing, director of the center. Over the years, the center has grown from concentration on community policing efforts to now include education, training and policy development solutions to an array of nationally critical issues affecting communities.

“Changing the name to the Center for Public Safety and Justice better describes the programmatic initiatives in which we are involved and therefore more accurately describes our focus,” Rushing said. “We assist the public safety sector with training and helping to develop emergency response and action plans, and we serve the justice focal point on the criminal justice spectrum by providing information and resources to designers of public policy,”

The CPSJ examines issues surrounding themes that affect the safety of our nation’s residents, Rushing said. These themes are advanced through programs that involve a community’s, as well as individuals’, preparation and response to crime, natural disasters or other catastrophic events.

“We are proud to have the Center for Public Safety and Justice as part of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs,” said IGPA Director Robert F. Rich. “The center’s work is emblematic of IGPA’s mission to conduct sound public policy research and then translate that research into practice. Moreover, CPSJ does work that can quickly and directly affect people’s lives.”

The CPSJ continues to be among eight regional institutions that are part of the Department of Justice’s COPS National Delivery Alliance. The center also will continue to find solutions to community problems through its partnerships with other agencies such as the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice, the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, the Anti-Cruelty Society and Best Friends Animal Society.

Dear Law Enforcement Executive:
The Center for Public Safety and Justice at the University of Illinois was awarded a project by the United States Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services to examine the state of post-academy training across the country. The overarching goal is to determine the strategies currently utilized by police organizations to prepare probationary officers to serve as self-sufficient officers who can best provide services to their communities. Through your participation in this survey, I hope to empower you to think about the nature of the post-academy experience you provide for your new officers. To this end, we are surveying agencies around the country to determine whether a Field Training Officer (FTO) Program, the Police Training Officer (PTO) Program, or other formal or informal post-academy training is being used.

Your insight into the implementation and administration of the process you use would be greatly valued. The survey takes approximately 15 minutes to complete; the feedback you provide is invaluable to this project.

Should you have difficulty with the online survey, please contact Mr. Matt Martyn, Information Technology Manager, by e-mail at mmart1@uis.edu or by telephone at 217-206-6052.

Please do not hesitate to contact Deputy Director Gordon Fidler at
217-206-6065, if you have any questions regarding the contents of the
survey or any other comments you have about our project.

Thank you in advance for your time and input.

Dr. Patricia Rushing, Director - CPSJ