The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) hosted the Smart Policing Initiative National Meeting on September 7-8, 2011 in Alexandria, Virginia. This gathering of all sixteen SPI grantee sites, BJA leadership, CNA training and technical assistance providers, and SPI subject matter experts provided a forum for discussing important issues related to SPI project implementation and performance measurement. This meeting represented the final opportunity for the initial ten SPI grantee sites to share best practices and lessons learned as well as learn how to institutionalize, integrate, and sustain their SPI efforts. It also provided an open forum for several of the sites to present their evaluation findings and ended with a discussion about the future of the Smart Policing Initiative.
SPI site attendees heard a panel from on transitioning from research to practice with SPI project leadership and SPI site members. The SPI sites represented included Reno, Glendale, Memphis, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, and Savannah. Dr. Anthony Braga presented his initial research finding from the Boston SPI to control violent crime in hot spots. Attendees heard a panel discussion on outreach and collaboration moderated by Ms. Hildy Saizow and participated in by the Los Angeles, Palm Beach, Savannah, and San Diego sites. SPI attendees also participated in round-table discussions with fellow site members to provide updates on site progress and lessons learned. Attendees additionally heard presentations on place-based policing, cost-benefit analysis, institutionalizing SPI, and the role of the Internet in SPI.
