Long Beach Police Chief Jim McDonnell
1:50pm | The City of Long Beach has announced that Police Chief Jim McDonnell has been appointed to the Defending Childhood Task Force by United States Attorney General Eric Holder.
“Chief McDonnell is an exemplary leader who is dedicated to the community, and his appointment to the Defending Childhood Task Force will benefit children here in Long Beach and across the country,” Mayor Bob Foster said.
The Task Force, which is supported by the National Council on Crime & Delinquency, was formed to strengthen the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) current efforts to address childhood exposure to violence, and is a key component of the DOJ’s Defending Childhood Initiative, a comprehensive effort focused on addressing children’s exposure to violence in the United States.
The Task Force will raise awareness about the causes and characteristics of children’s exposure to violence, and identify concrete strategies for countering its negative impact. In 2009, the National Survey of Children’s Exposure, through the Crimes Against Children Research Center, found that more than 60 percent of children surveyed were exposed to violence in the past year, either directly or indirectly.
Children can experience many types of violence, including physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and victimization; conventional crime; domestic violence; school violence; community violence, including witnessing violent crime; online violence and victimization; and relationship violence. Many children experience multiple types of incidences of violence, which compounds and complicates the negative effects. Victimized and traumatized children become parents, partners, and members of our communities, and must face long-lasting consequences, which can impact society as a whole.
After an extensive vetting process, members were appointed to the Task Force, which is comprised of a diverse group of 14 individuals that include practitioners, child and family advocates, licensed clinicians, and other subject matter experts relating to children’s exposure to violence in the United States.
“I am honored to have been included to serve on this panel. It includes experts from a variety of fields that can contribute to developing strategies to significantly reduce violence in children’s lives,” Chief McDonnell said. “This is a topic that all of us as Americans should be working to address.”
In the coming months, the Task Force will conduct four public hearings around the country and hear from practitioners, policymakers, academies and community members about the problem of children exposed to violence and identify proven strategies used to prevent and respond to it. They will also conduct extensive reviews of existing research and information relevant to the topic. After the hearings and research are completed, the Task Force will compile their findings in a final report, along with recommendations, for the Attorney General.
To learn more about the Defending Childhood Task Force or about the scheduled public hearings, visit the National Council on Crime and Delinquency’s website at www.nccd-crc.org.