Office of Justice Programs – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is in the process of revising its Stab Resistance of Personal Body Armor (2000) Standard and corresponding certification program requirements. This work will be performed by a Special Technical Committee (STC), comprised of practitioners from the field, researchers, testing experts, certification experts, and representatives from stakeholder organizations. It is anticipated that the STC members will participate in up to twelve 2-day meetings over an 18-month time period with the goal of completing development of the standard and certification program requirements. It is anticipated that STC meetings will begin in June 2011. Travel expenses and per diem will be reimbursed for all STC meetings; however, participation time will not be funded. NIJ is seeking representatives from (1) certification bodies and (2) test laboratories with experience in programs for similar types of personal protective equipment. Additional preferred knowledge includes experience with law enforcement and corrections operations. There are up to four positions to be filled on the STC, and NIJ will accept the first 20 submissions for review. Interested parties are requested to nominate individuals from their organizations and submit no more than two pages describing the nominee's applicable experience, preferred knowledge, and affiliations with standards development organizations. To be considered, there must not be any conflict of interest in which the proposed STC member has a direct financial relationship with manufacturers of stab-resistant armor. Debra Stoe is the NIJ Program Manager responsible for this work, and Casandra Robinson is the point of contact for Ms. Stoe. Responses to this request for proposals shall be submitted to Casandra Robinson at casandra.robinson@usdoj.gov by May 13, 2011. The submissions will be reviewed, and participants will be notified regarding their acceptance by May 20, 2011.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) announces that the Review Panel on Prison Rape (Panel) will hold hearings in Washington, DC on April 26-27, 2011. The hearing times and location are noted below. The purpose of the hearings is to assist the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in identifying common characteristics of victims and perpetrators of sexual victimization in U.S. prisons, and the common characteristics of prisons with the highest and lowest incidence of rape, respectively, based on an anonymous survey by the BJS of inmates in a representative sample of U.S. prisons. On August 26, 2010, the BJS issued the report Sexual Victimization in Prisons and Jails Reported by Inmates, 2008-09. The report provides a listing of prisons grouped according to the prevalence of reported sexual victimization, and formed the basis of the Panel's decision about which facilities would be the subject of testimony.

The Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) is promulgating this interim-final rule for its International Terrorism Victim Expense Reimbursement Program (ITVERP) in order to remove a regulatory limitation on the discretion of the Director of OVC to accept claims filed more than three years after the date that an incident is designated as an incident of international terrorism.

This is an announcement of a meeting of the Department of Justice (DOJ) Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Federal Advisory Committee (GAC) to discuss the Global Initiative, as described at https://www.it.ojp.gov/global.

The OJP Science Advisory Board is being established in accordance with the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA), as amended, 5 U.S.C., App. 2. The OJP Science Advisory Board will provide OJP, a component of the Department of Justice, with valuable advice in the areas of social science and statistics for the purpose of enhancing the overall impact and performance of its programs and activities in criminal and juvenile justice. The Board will provide input into developing long-range plans, advise on program development, and provide guidance to ensure adherence to the highest levels of scientific rigor, as appropriate. The Board will provide an important base of contact with the criminal justice academic and practitioner communities, and is necessary and in the public interest. The Board's Charter is subject to renewal and will expire two years from its filing. The OJP Science Advisory Board is continuing in nature, to remain functional until the Attorney General determines that all necessary duties have been performed.

In an effort to obtain comments from interested parties, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will make available to the general public the following draft standards for metal detectors: 1. Walk-through Metal Detector Standard for Public Safety. 2. Hand-held Metal Detector Standard for Public Safety. The opportunity to provide comments on these voluntary standards is open to industry technical representatives, law enforcement agencies and organizations, research, development and scientific communities, and all other stakeholders and interested parties. Those individuals wishing to obtain and provide comments on the draft standard under consideration are directed to the following Web site: https:// www.justnet.org. Please note that all comments received are considered part of the public record and may be made available for public inspection online. Such information includes personal identifying information (such as name and address) voluntarily submitted by the commenter. If you wish to submit personal identifying information (such as your name, address, etc.) as part of your comment, but do not wish for it to be posted online, you must include the phrase ``PERSONAL IDENTIFYING INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph of your comment. You also must locate all the personal identifying information you do not wish to be posted online in the first paragraph of your comment and clearly identify what information you would like redacted. If you wish to submit confidential business information as part of your comment but do not wish for it to be posted online, you must include the phrase ``CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS INFORMATION'' in the first paragraph of your comment. You also must prominently identify confidential business information to be redacted within the comment. If a comment has so much confidential business information that it cannot be effectively redacted, all or part of that comment may not be posted online. Personal identifying information and confidential business information identified and located as set forth above will be placed in the agency's public docket file (which will be made available for public inspection upon request), but not posted online.

In an effort to obtain comments from interested parties, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will make available to the general public the draft ``NIJ Selection and Application Guide to Ballistic-Resistant Body Armor for Law Enforcement, Corrections, and Public Safety.'' The opportunity to provide comments on this document is open to industry technical representatives, criminal justice agencies and organizations, research, development and scientific communities, and all other stakeholders and interested parties. Those individuals wishing to obtain and provide comments on the draft document under consideration are directed to the following Web site: https://www.justnet.org.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is in the process of developing a new License Plate Reader Standard and corresponding certification program requirements. This work is being performed by a Special Technical Committee (STC), comprised of practitioners from the field, researchers, testing experts, certification experts, and representatives from stakeholder organizations. It is anticipated that the STC members will participate in six 2-day meetings over a 12-month time period with the goal of completing development of the standard and certification program requirements. It is anticipated that STC meetings will begin in January 2011. Travel expenses and per diem will be reimbursed for all STC meetings; however, participation time will not be funded. NIJ is seeking representatives from (1) certification bodies and (2) test laboratories with experience in programs for similar types of electronic equipment. Additional preferred knowledge includes experience with video systems or experience with law enforcement operations. There are up to four positions to be filled on the STC, and NIJ will accept the first 20 submissions for review. Interested parties are requested to nominate individuals from their organizations and submit no more than two pages describing the nominee's applicable experience, preferred knowledge, and affiliations with standards development organizations. This information shall be submitted to Frances Scott at frances.scott@usdoj.gov by December 13, 2010. The submissions will be reviewed, and participants will be notified regarding their acceptance by January 17, 2011.

The National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is hosting a Certification Programs Workshop to introduce NIJ standards for law enforcement, corrections, and public safety equipment to organizations interested in testing, accreditation, and certification of such equipment to NIJ standards. The specific standards to be discussed address the following equipment: Bomb Suits. CBRN Protective Ensembles. Holsters. Metal Detectors. Offender Tracking Systems. Restraints. Vehicular Digital Multimedia Evidence Recording Systems. Manufacturers of these types of equipment and certification bodies are invited to participate in this workshop. All participants are strongly encouraged to come prepared to ask questions and to voice suggestions and concerns. The workshop will be held on Wednesday, December 8, 2010 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Hotel Monaco, 700 F Street, NW., Washington, DC 20004. The meeting room is the Paris Ballroom. Space is limited at this workshop, and as a result, only 70 participants will be allowed to register. We request that each participating organization limit their representatives to no more than two. Exceptions to this limit may occur, should space allow. Participants planning to attend are responsible for their own travel arrangements. Please visit the Web site below for additional information and to submit your registration request: https://www.seeuthere.com/event/ m1312d11-4OFJ4NPANEZX1.

In an effort to obtain comments from interested parties, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will make available to the general public the draft ``NIJ Law Enforcement Duty Holster Selection and Application Guide.'' The opportunity to provide comments on this document is open to industry technical representatives, law enforcement agencies and organizations, research, development and scientific communities, and all other stakeholders and interested parties. Those individuals wishing to obtain and provide comments on the draft document under consideration are directed to the following Web site: https:// www.justnet.org.

This is an announcement of a meeting of DOJ's Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative (Global) Federal Advisory Committee (GAC) to discuss the Global Initiative, as described at https:// www.it.ojp.gov/global.

This is an announcement of a meeting/conference call of the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Review Board to vote on recommendations for the 2009-2010 Medal of Valor nominations, review issues relevant to the nomination review process and upcoming activities and other relevant Board issues related thereto. The meeting/conference call date and time is listed below.

In an effort to obtain comments from interested parties, the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National Institute of Justice (NIJ) will make available to the general public the draft ``NIJ Criminal Justice Restraints Selection and Application Guide.'' The opportunity to provide comments on this document is open to industry technical representatives, criminal justice agencies and organizations, research, development and scientific communities, and all other stakeholders and interested parties. Those individuals wishing to obtain and provide comments on the draft documents under consideration are directed to the following Web site: https:// www.justnet.org.

This is an announcement of a meeting via conference call of the Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor Review Board to vote on the position of Board Chairperson, review issues relevant to the nomination review process, discuss pending ceremonies and upcoming activities and other relevant Board issues related thereto. The meeting/conference call date and time is listed below.

The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) announces that the Review Panel on Prison Rape (Panel) will hold hearings in Washington, DC on June 3-4, 2010. The hearing times and location are noted below. The purpose of the hearings is to assist the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) in identifying common characteristics of victims and perpetrators of sexual victimization in juvenile facilities, and the common characteristics of juvenile facilities with the highest and lowest incidence of rape, respectively, based on an anonymous survey by the BJS of youth in a representative sample of juvenile facilities. On January 7, 2010, the BJS issued the report Sexual Victimization in Juvenile Facilities Reported by Youth, 2008-09. The report provides a listing of juvenile facilities grouped according to the prevalence of reported sexual victimization, and formed the basis of the Panel's decision about which facilities would be the subject of testimony.