Law Enforcement Participation Letter

Attachment 3

Law Enforcement Participation Request Letter

Attn: (Name)

(Agency)

(Address)

(City, State, Zip code)

Dear (Name) :

Since 1995, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice, have conducted an ongoing study of violent deaths that occur in and around elementary, middle, and secondary schools in the United States.  This study is known as the School Associated Violent Deaths study (SAVD)^. A school-associated violent death is any homicide, suicide, or firearm-related death in the United States, between 1999 to the present, in which the fatal injury occurred:

 

1:  on the property of a functioning public or private elementary, middle or secondary school,

 

2:  on the way to or from regular sessions at such a school, OR

 

3:  while attending or on the way to or from an official school-sponsored event.

This is not a criminal investigation. The purpose of this study is to identify features common to these rare but very visible events, and to estimate the risk of school-related violent deaths. In an effort to create a comprehensive and accurate database it is important to gather pertinent information about all cases in the United States. All of the data collected are safeguarded against disclosure, and confidentiality is assured (please see attachment for an assurance of confidentiality provided by the CDC Institutional Review Board). The identities of individual victims, alleged offenders, their communities, their schools or any individual otherwise involved in the case will not be revealed in any published reports.

In our search for cases of school-related violent deaths we have learned that Victim(s) died on Month, Day Year as a result of an incident that occurred at or near, Education institution, in City, State. To ensure that we have accurate information concerning this incident we request your assistance in obtaining the following information:

• Initial contact with a law enforcement official involved in the investigation of the aforementioned death.

• Consent to conduct a follow-up telephone interview with the identified law enforcement official that will last approximately 60 minutes.

• A hard copy of the full report filed on this case.

Police reports can be mailed to:

Name

Title

Division of Violence Prevention

National Center for Injury Prevention and Control

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

4770 Buford Highway, N.E. MS: F-64

Atlanta, GA 30341

Faxed to:

Emailed to:

A fact sheet link and information pertaining to the School-Associated Violent Death Study (SAVD) is attached and available on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website at:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/factsheets/yvfacts.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/YVP/SAVD.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5702a1.htm

Thank you in advance for your assistance. If you require any additional information related to this request or the CDC study, please do not hesitate to contact (your name), at (your CDC issued telephone number).

Sincerely,

Howard Spivak, MD

Director, Division of Violence Prevention

National Center for Injury Prevention & Control

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

 

 

 

 

 Additional information regarding the study is available at the School Associated Violent Death Study website: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/dvp/YVP/SAVD.htm