2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting: Recap and Photos

New title

/ July 29, 2024

2024 Annual Meeting Resources

SEARCH held its 2024 Annual Membership Group Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, July 23–25, and drew nearly 275 attendees from local, state and federal justice agencies and organizations representing 48 states and the District of Columbia.

The meeting was held in conjunction with the Annual Member Meeting of the Justice Information Resource Network (JIRN), with an agenda comprised of joint plenary sessions and concurrent sessions geared to the SEARCH and JIRN audiences. Attendees participated in-person or via virtual livestream.

At the meeting, SEARCH recognized Members and Staff for years of service, professional performance, retirement, and leadership. In addition, SEARCH announced the results of a recent election of its Board of Directors and marked the transition in executive leadership from longtime SEARCH Executive Director David Roberts to new Executive Director Derek Veitenheimer.

Key sessions and speakers at the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting include:

An address on Gun Violence Prevention: Exploring Implementation of the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act in the States, with speakers Mr. Rob Wilcox and Mr. Gregory Jackson, Deputy Directors of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention.
Clean Slate Planning, Research and Implementation, with speakers including Dr. Laura Chavez and Mr. Sam Sinyangwe of The Clean Slate Initiative.
A discussion of FBI NGI Rap Back program implementation, featuring speakers from Hawaii and Virginia state justice data agencies.
An update on the Council on Criminal Justice’s Crime Trends Working Group, which has a mission to explore and explain current crime trends while building consensus for significant improvements in the nation’s capacity to produce timely, accurate, and complete crime data. The speaker is Mr. John Buntin, Project Director of the working group.
Updates from the Bureau of Justice Statistics and Federal Bureau of Investigation initiatives from BJS and FBI staff.
An examination of Artificial Intelligence/ChatGPT in Criminal Justice Information Sharing and Public Safety, featuring insights from SEARCH Cybercrime and Digital Forensics staff, technology and government experts.

SEARCH is planning its 2025 Winter Membership Group Meeting for January 28–30, 2025, at the Marriott Columbia Hotel in Columbia, SC. Meeting details will be posted at https://meetings.search.org.

SEARCH thanks our Sponsors of the 2024 Annual Membership Group Meeting

Photos from the 2024 Annual Meeting

Our 2024 SEARCH Annual Membership Group Meeting began Tuesday morning, July 23, in Las Vegas. SEARCH Vice Chair Lisa Voss and Chair Jason Bright are leading the meeting.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright (l) presents KY State Police Lt. Col. Larry Newton Jr., SEARCH Member representing Kentucky, with a recognition for 5 years of service as a Member.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright (l) presents WI Department of Justice official Brad Rollo with a recognition for 5 years of service as a Member representing the State of Wisconsin.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright presents SEARCH Law and Policy Director Becki Goggins with an award recognizing 10 years of service as SEARCH Staff.

SEARCH Chair presents Haiqi Wei, Information Sharing Developer, with an award recognizing her 10 years of service on SEARCH Staff.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright (l) presents SEARCH's Washington Member, Jim Anderson, Washington State Patrol, with an award recognizing his 15 years of service as a SEARCH Member.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright (l) recognizes Mr. Dennis DeBacco for his 15 years of service on the Law and Policy staff of SEARCH.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright (l) presents Mr. Michael Jacobson with an award honoring his 15 years of service on SEARCH Staff.

SEARCH honored longtime Member Matt Ruel today at our 2024 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, with one of our leadership awards: The Gary R. Cooper Meritorious Service Award. Matt is Director of the Maine State Bureau of Identification, has served on our Membership Group and Board of Directors for years, and was selected for this honor for his contributions to criminal history record management nationally and the success of SEARCH. Congratulations, Matt!

Congratulations to SEARCH Cybercrime and Digital Forensics staff Eric Jollymore (left) and Timothy Lott (right), who were honored today for their exceptional performance and in offering tangible value to public safety agencies and personnel nationally through impactful, expert technical assistance and training. Presenting the award at SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas is SEARCH Chair Jason Bright. Not available, but also honored, were staff John Trenary and Lauren Wagner.

We said farewell to two longtime SEARCH Staff at the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting, whose retirements were recognized. Dennis DeBacco retired after 15 years of service in our Law and Policy Program; he also logged 9 years as a SEARCH Member representing Nevada. We’ll miss you two!

Retired Law and Policy Director Owen Greenspan relates an amusing anecdote about Dennis DeBacco, as SEARCH marked Mr. DeBacco's retirement after 26 of service to the organization.

We said farewell to two longtime SEARCH Staff at the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting, whose retirements were recognized. David Roberts retired after 7 years of service as SEARCH Executive Director. He logged 25 total years of service to SEARCH—1 as a Member representing Wyoming and 24 total years as Staff.

Ms. Melissa Nee, Vice President of Government Affairs, and Mr. Ben Bawden, Partner, Brooks Bawden Moore, provide a government briefing to Members and attendees of the 2024 SEARCH Annual Membership Group Meeting July 23 in Las Vegas, NV.

SEARCH's governor-appointed Member representing Michigan, Ms. Michelle Kleckler, Division Director, Criminal Justice Information Center, Michigan State Police, leads a Membership Roundtable at the 2024 Annual Membership Group Meeting July 23 in Las Vegas, NV. The roundtable enabled SEARCH Members to share critical information on key topics, projects, and programs in their states.

Mr. Rob Wilcox (l) and Mr. Gregory Jackson, Deputy Directors of the White House Office of Gun Violence Prevention, speak at a session July 23 at SEARCH's 2024 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV. The duo explored how states are implementing enhanced background checks for gun purchasers required under federal law.

Dr. Laura Chavez, Director of Research and Data, The Clean Slate Initiative, discusses research regarding Clean Slate implementation throughout the nation. The session, held at the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting July 23 in Las Vegas, addressed new and emerging legislation, ongoing and planned research regarding the impact of expanding records relief, and more. She is joined by (from left) SEARCH Executive Director Derek Veitenhiemer and Sam Sinyangwe, Data Scientist, The Clean Slate Initiative.

Capt. Julia Gunderson (center), Division Commander of the Virginia State Police Criminal Justice Information Services Division, speaks at the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting regarding her state's implementation of FBI NGI rap back. She is Virginia's representative to the SEARCH Membership Group. She is joined by Mr. Yogesh Chawla, SEARCH Director of Software and Data Engineering, and Ms. Wendy Chart, IT Specialist, Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center.

Wyatt Pettengill, who represents Platinum Sponsor IDEMIA, addresses attendees at an evening reception after the first day of the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, July 23.

SEARCH Chair Jason Bright presents newly retired SEARCH Executive Director David Roberts with the 2024 O.J. Hawkins Award for Innovative Leadership and Outstanding Contributions in Criminal Justice Information Systems, Policy and Statistics, SEARCH's highest leadership honor. The presentation came at an evening reception following the first day of the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, July 23.

It was the Bureau of Justice Statistics in the house July 24, on Day 2 of SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV. They offered details on developments at the federal level and how they affect SEARCH Members. From left: Dr. Kevin Scott, Acting Director, BJS; Devon Adams, Deputy Director, Policy Division; and Stephanie Burroughs, Unit Chief, Criminal Justice Data Improvement Programs.

John Buntin, Project Director of the Crime Trends Working Group of the Council on Criminal Justice, updates SEARCH Members on efforts of the Working Group — launched in 2023 to ground debates on crime and criminal justice reform in facts. He was addressing Day 2 of SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Membership Group Meeting in Las Vegas.

Analysts with the FBI Criminal Justice Information Services Division briefed attendees at the 2024 SEARCH Annual Meeting in Las Vegas July 24 on a range of FBI initiatives, including the Violent Person File, cite and release practices, a Disposition Suspense File. Speaking is Buffy Bonafield; she is joined by (from her left) Julia Mickey Lucas, Lisa Summers, and Dion Bright. SEARCH Executive Director Derek Veitenheimer is at the far left.

A panel of speakers at SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting July 24 in Las Vegas addressed lessons learned during a joint project to examine states with high and low disposition reporting rates. From right: Michael Jacobson and Becki Goggins, SEARCH, and Jim Harris, National Center for State Courts.

A session the afternoon of July 24 at SEARCH’s Annual Meeting in Las Vegas featured an exploration of extreme risk protection order (ERPO) training and technical resources for courts, law enforcement, crime victims, and others through the Center for Gun Violence Solutions at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (www.erpo.org). Speakers (from left) are Spencer Cantrell and Lisa Geller, Senior Advisors for Implementation at the Center, and SEARCH Law and Policy Director Becki Goggins. The Center works with jurisdictions that have ERPO, or “red flag” laws.

Day Two of SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting, held July 23-25 in Las Vegas, wrapped up with a session that addressed the versatility of NIBRS data in resource allocation decisions. Featured speakers were SEARCH’s Mo West and Elisa Nicoletti, National Criminal Justice Association.

Selfies are a great way to engage with your audience — here, SEARCH’s Mo West has SEARCH Members and guests wave to the camera. Mo was speaking at our 2024 Annual Meeting July 24 in Las Vegas.

The final day of SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, NV, kicked off July 25 with a session that examined artificial intelligence and ChatGPT in criminal justice information sharing and public safety. Speakers (from right): SEARCH Cybercrime Training Director Tim Lott; Ben Bawden, Partner, Brooks Bawden Moore; Grant Guttschow, C3.ai General Manager of State and Local Government; and Eric Jollymore, SEARCH Digital Evidence Forensic Analyst.

During a session July 25 at SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, State agency officials share how their repositories share and use computerized criminal history (CCH) data, highlighting the value and efficiencies it creates. Speakers (from left): Katrina Garrett, Michigan State Police; Caleb Coughtry-Carpenter, Wisconsin Department of Justice; Brendan Barry, New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services; and panel facilitator, SEARCH Executive Director Derek Veitenheimer.

SEARCH’s 2024 Annual Meeting wrapped up in Las Vegas July 25 with a session on “Navigating IT Support, Infrastructure and Security Issues at the State Level,” focusing on concerns of state criminal history repositories. Mr. Chris Weatherly (left), Information Security Officer, FBI CJIS Division, led off with an overview of the latest CJIS Security Policy, v. 5.9.5, released this week. Also speaking (to his left) were Ms. Erin Henry, OK State Bureau of Investigation; Mr. Brendan Barry, NY State Division of Criminal Justice Services; and facilitator Becki Goggins, SEARCH.

The SEARCH Membership Group, the governing body of SEARCH, is comprised of one gubernatorial appointee from each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the territories, as well as eight at-large appointees selected by SEARCH’s Chair. This national body of state-level professionals is widely representative of the various disciplines within the justice system, and many are responsible for operational decisions and policymaking concerning the management of criminal justice.

SEARCH News

News Categories

News Archives