Welcome

Dear Colleagues:

Welcome to the 2017 High-Risk-for-Violence Symposium: Developing Strategies for Managing Violent Extremists and General Violence (Red Band Cases). The Probation and Pretrial Services Office (PPSO) is excited to host what we believe will be an informative, engaging, and exciting event. We are pleased to welcome participants from every district and our guest presenters and speakers from within our system, throughout the government, and around the globe.

This event is timely for our system because it follows the recent release of our new actuarial risk assessment instrument (PCRA 2.0), which, for the first time, will provide officers with information about an offender’s potential for violent offending. With the inclusion of violence trailer comes the need to develop strategies to contain and reduce the risk of this population. Having gained a more comprehensive picture of the person under supervision’s risk of reoffending and harming others, we as a system need to address that risk through monitoring, restrictions, and interventions performed at an appropriate level of intensity.

Why a symposium?

Symposium – A formal meeting at which several specialists deliver short addresses on a topic or on related topics; a social gathering at which there is free interchange of ideas. Merriam-Webster.com

The planning team deliberately refers to our event as a symposium rather than a conference because this type of design will allow our supervision practitioners the unique opportunity to interact with academics and experts in the field of violence to broaden their understanding of the issues, while working collectively with these experts to develop proposed strategies for high-risk-for-violence cases. We also recognize the social aspect of the symposium and hope to see lots of you at the scheduled networking events.

We especially thank the Central District of California for their assistance with planning, human resources, and logistical support for the event. We also thank staff from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, PPSO, and all those who have worked hard to assist us with delivering a successful symposium.

Welcome to our symposium. We hope it will be an engaging learning experience for you.

Renard M. Brown,

Probation Administrator, PPSO