Supplied by Ogden City Police Department
OGDEN — Ogden City Police are preparing for their annual Community Crime Conference on April 6 and 7 at The Junction Megaplex Theaters. Tickets cost $220 to attend the conference. Refunds are available for cancellations on week prior to the event.
Registration fees include a light breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack, as well as Ogden Community Crime Conference merchandise. Ogden City Police Community Outreach Coordinator Diana Lopez said they try to keep fees as low as possible.
“We usually break even,” she said of associated costs.
Every year, approximately 200 to 250 people attend the conference with an even split between law enforcement and the community.
The conference, formally the Northern Utah Gang & Youth Violence Conference, offers a slew of topics designed to assist law enforcement, teachers, probation and parole, youth corrections, school administrators and youth service providers.
Nationally recognized scholar and author Lt. Col. Dave Grossman is this year’s keynote speaker. Grossman will be presenting on the “Defund the Police” movement, potential increased terrorist threats, wellness, life & death situations, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and resiliency.
“We wanted someone who could speak to mental health and PTSD,” Lopez said. “He’s very knowledgable, being former military.”
Lopez said she believes the conference began sometime in the 1980s. Historically, it was attended by police, corrections, teachers and crime prevention specialists.
“I don’t think it’s coincidental that crime has dropped dramatically in Ogden in the same time frame that we have been engaged in presenting the conference,” Ogden City Police Chief Eric Young said.
According to Young, it started as a way to better prepare Ogden in combating gang-related crime and violence after an influx of criminal street gangs.
The conference has been re-branded since its inception to include the community. They are partnering with numerous departments and organizations throughout Ogden and Weber County.
“We’re trying to make it more encompassing,” Lopez said.
Content from the conference is shared with members of law enforcement and the community. They can then evaluate what was most useful for future conferences.
Lopez said the department would love to see more community members get involved to see what law enforcement professionals face on a daily basis.
Additional topics to be discussed include: Law Enforcement Peer Support Effects, Utah Cold Cases, Human Trafficking, Homeless 101, Intelligence-led Policing, Cartels and Gang updates in Northern Utah.
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