This session will cover various criminal justice trends, including violent crime and gun violence, and will identify online sources for data on crimes, drugs, and more in Virginia.
The City of Norfolk has seen a decrease in homicides and gun violence since 2023. This hour-long discussion summarizes the principles and practices necessary to achieve sustainable reductions in violence, providing an actionable pathway toward safer communities.
Sex trafficking occurs daily across Virginia, with traffickers targeting individuals with vulnerabilities and exploiting them for profit. While much attention is rightly focused on traffickers and survivors, far less is understood about the role of buyers in sustaining this system. Sex trafficking operates within a framework of supply and demand—without demand, exploitation would not be profitable. This presentation examines the critical role buyers play in perpetuating trafficking. It explores emerging insights into buyer behavior, including patterns of coercion, violence, and abuse that directly contribute to victim harm. The session will also address strategies communities can implement to disrupt demand, hold buyers accountable, and reduce the conditions that allow trafficking to persist.
State Trafficking Response Coordinator, Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services
McKayla Burnett is the State Trafficking Response Coordinator at the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services. She is responsible for coordinating statewide efforts to identify and respond to victims of human trafficking. McKayla has worked in victim services since 2015... Read More →
There are more cellular devices in the world than people. Are we maximizing all this data to its fullest? Do other agencies hold intelligence that could solve our case? How do we overcome the siloing of this information? This presentation will explore these questions and more.
This presentation examines how traditional physical security models—built around fixed perimeters, access control, and ground-based threats—are increasingly ineffective against the rapid evolution of small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS). It explores how commercially available drones have transformed the threat landscape by enabling low-cost, highly adaptable aerial surveillance and strike capabilities that bypass conventional defenses. Drawing on recent operational examples and emerging trends, the session highlights critical vulnerabilities across military installations, critical infrastructure, and domestic security environments. Participants will gain insight into the operational characteristics of sUAS, the gaps in current detection and response frameworks, and the growing need for integrated counter-UAS (C-UAS) strategies. The presentation emphasizes layered defense approaches, including sensor fusion, electronic warfare considerations, and interagency coordination, to address these challenges.
