Law Enforcement-Focused Best Practices to Prevent Violent Extremism

Law Enforcement organizations engaged in CVE work experienced three paradigm shifts over time. First came the recognition that CVE approaches are pragmatic and proactive, as they build trust and enhance communication, empowering communities to identify and assist at risk individuals and discredit violent ideologies in ways that the law enforcement community is not well-positioned to do. Second came the recognition that while the law enforcement community has an important role to play, it should ultimately play a supporting role to communities and other governmental organizations that are better positioned to operate in the pre-criminal space. A third paradigm shift was that CVE requires partnerships involving individuals, families, communities, institutions and various government agencies working to build resilience to all hazards, including but not limited to violent extremism.

These findings come from the Report on the National Summit on Empowering Communities to Prevent Violent Extremism. In August 2014, the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) and the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC) partnered with START to coordinate a National Summit on Empowering Communities to Prevent Violent Extremism. The recommendations included in the full report reflect the major themes that emerged, focusing on those that the participants appeared to support through debate and dialogue across the two-day event.

For a copy of the full report on this topic, please see the COPS website at http://ric-zai-inc.com/Publications/cops-p326-pub.pdf.