U.S. Marshals Service and SJI Continue Working To Improve Judicial Security

The U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) and SJI recently finalized a second year Partner Grant to support a component of the USMS Judicial Security Fellowship Program. This program provides an opportunity for state and local law enforcement officers charged with court security to train with the USMS. This includes training on high level executive protection and court security operations. During the program, the Judicial Security Fellow (JSF) is exposed to all aspects of USMS judicial and court security, and travels to sites of ongoing high-threat trials and protective details. JSFs are full-time sworn officers of a duly constituted law enforcement agency, whose responsibility includes judicial and court security in the jurisdiction of the JSF. Furthermore, the JSF is at the rank of lieutenant or above, and has at least five years court security experience.

The USMS/SJI Partner Grant will directly support a component of JSF program that includes joint training with court administrators at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). This training includes coordination of public and media relations in high visibility trials, coordinated approaches to policy and procedures, and consolidated training for court staff in security awareness and response. Furthermore, the NCSC assists the JSF and his/her court counterpart in developing close working relationships for analyzing security needs and formulating action plans to improve security in the state or location jurisdiction they represent. The JSFs will also achieve an understanding of court security needs from a court perspective.