NEWS RELEASE

Portsmouth, N.H., August 13, 2013 — Fox Valley Technical College’s National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC), a leading national trainer and educator in the field of criminal justice, was recently honored with the Leadership Award at the Crimes Against Children (CAC) Conference in Dallas, Texas.

 

 

Brad Russ

 

 

Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center President and CEO Lynn Davis presented the Leadership Award to Brad Russ, director of the NCJTC and former chief of the Portsmouth, New Hampshire, Police Department. Russ retired from the police department in 2003 and has served as a national trainer on a wide range of child abuse and exploitation issues since 1986.

Davis thanked Russ for his longtime service to the CAC Conference and for providing cutting-edge training to more than 3,000 law enforcement investigators, prosecutors, child protection specialists, and medical, mental health, and victim service professionals.

In accepting the award, Russ credited the hard work of thousands of his colleagues who are committed to protecting children in the U.S. and abroad. “We have been honored over the years to partner with the Crimes Against Children Conference and provide high quality training to such a large number of law enforcement and child protection agencies and professionals,” said Russ.

The CAC Conference, presented by the Dallas Children’s Advocacy Center and the Dallas Police Department, provides practical instruction to professionals responsible for combating the many and varied forms of crimes against children by using current information, the newest ideas, and the most successful intervention strategies.

For this year’s CAC Conference, NCJTC shipped two mobile labs and 60 laptops to Dallas to give investigators access to law enforcement-sensitive software and websites designed to support their investigations once they return home. Russ noted, “The constant sharing of knowledge, the application of emerging new technologies, and continuous and rigorous training are vital to the mission we all share in protecting children from exploitation.”

The recent safe recovery of 16-year-old Hannah Anderson, who was abducted from her home in San Diego, California, underscores the effectiveness of a prompt investigative response by law enforcement and the value of the nation’s AMBER Alert program. At this year’s conference, NCJTC’s AMBER Alert Training and Technical Assistance Program Administrator Phil Keith of FVTC offered workshops designed to help the nation’s efforts to bring missing and abducted children home safe.