As law enforcement executives, we are faced with many challenges on a daily basis while still remaining well informed to emerging issues. A critical emerging and challenging issue that I want to ensure law enforcement executives from across the United States recognize is our duty to protect the rights and the safety of individuals in custody. Preventing sexual abuse in confinement is an ethical and legal obligation, and it is also an important step in protecting your agency from liability.

The Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) was signed into law on September 4, 2003. The goal of PREA is to eradicate sexual assaults in all correctional facilities in the United States. The law also applies to “any confinement facility of a federal, state, or local government, whether administered by such government or by a private organization on behalf of such government, and includes any local jail or police lockup, community confinement facility, and any juvenile facility used for the custody or care of juvenile inmates.”