Marla Ware Investigation

As Director of Research, Development and Training for a professional association of police executives in New York State, Mark Spawn developed a special program to recognize police agencies using Best Practices in Sex Offender Management. Guiding principles for the program include a written policy for managing registered sex offenders, monitoring of address changes, social media usage,  and required periodic check-ins of all sex offenders. In 2015, police chiefs in Monroe County were presented with certificates by Mark Spawn for meeting program standards. From left, Spawn, Chief Richard Boyan of Irondequoit PD, Chief Richard Tando of East Rochester PD, and Chief Dave DiCaro of Gates PD. 

In the mid 1990's a violent robber robbed several banks throughout Central New York. The FBI assembled a Bank Robbery Task Force after the April 1996 robbery in Fulton, NY.  After extensive investigation and surveillance, the prime suspect was identified. As task force members and special SWAT agents closed in near Rochester, NY the suspect drove at agents who fire upon him, killing him. Pictured first row from left: Det. Karl Schmidt, Spec. Agent John Winslow, Inv. Frank Jerome, Sgt. Russ Johnson; back row, Det. Carl Reschke, Inv. Herb Yerdon, Dep. Chief Mark Spawn, Inv. Val Brogan, and Inv Jim Rogers.

Chief of Police/Retired Mark Spawn was presented with the Champion for Children Award by Fight Crime: Invest in Kids (FCIK) Representative Jenn O'Connor. The principles of FCIK are to use research-based strategies to reduce crime and improve the lives of children. Spawn has worked with FCIK in his role as Chief of Police and as Director of Research, Development and Training for the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police. 

During his service as a police investigator and crime scene technician, Mark Spawn conducted research at the New York State Academy of Fire Science on the Effects of Fire on Fingerprint Evidence. His research, still used today in the state fire investigator curriculum, validated that fingerprints can survive fire. For several years Spawn served as an Adjunct Faculty Member and State Fire Instructor at the Fire Academy, instructing courses for new fire investigators. His research has been cited in publications internationally.

Chief/Ret. Mark Spawn participated in the development of a specialized curriculum for law enforcement leaders in the management of sex offenders in the community. Working with the Intl. Assn. of Chiefs of Police in partnership with the Center for Sex Offender Management and U.S. Dept. of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance, Chief Spawn was part of the team to bring the curriculum to an international conference in Denver, CO in 2009. He would later assist in the development of a video-based program filmed in Salt Lake City, UT.

Held at SMU Dedman School of Law, Chief Spawn and Chief Mills spoke on the panel titled, “Challenges in Policing, Investigation and Pre-Trial Release?” on November 30th.  The panel discussed rural community challenges in policing with limited resources, accessing modern forensic tools, and pursuing best practices in pretrial release.

Source:  SMU Dedman School of Law 3315 Daniel Ave, Dallas, Texas, United States

In 2016, Retired Police Chief Mark Spawn, formerly of New York and currently residing in California, spoke at the third International Law Enforcement and Public Health (LEPH) Conference in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Addressing attendees from across the globe, Spawn shared some of the programs and approaches being used throughout New York State in the area of Harm Reduction (HR), specifically speaking about strategies to engage police with HR, along with examples of resources to assist police in better understanding the evolving laws and regulations. Spawn also discussed some promising-practices from visiting a number of HR service sites and described how jurisdictions are addressing concerns from the community as well as from persons with addiction and service providers.

Chief Spawn also joined other leaders in a panel forum to continue the discussion about harm reduction and police, called Approaches to Solutions. Other panelists included Cinzia Brentari of Harm Reduction International, England; Simon Howell of the University of Capetown, South Africa; Monique Marks of Durban University of Technology, South Africa; Katherine Footer of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, USA; and Abraham Lincoln Sammanasu Nathan of the National AIDS Control Organization, India. 

 With demands for reforms in policing and the criminal justice system, training on bias and communication techniques are some of the ways that police departments are improving their relationships with the communities they serve. Magazine article authored by Chief/Ret. Mark Spawn for the International Association of Chiefs of Police: 

https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/spotlight-from-the-stage-to-the-streets/

At the annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2014, Chief/Ret. Mark Spawn co-presented on the topic of Assessing and Improving Analytic Capacities in Smaller Law Enforcement Agencies with representatives from the University of Delaware, Port St. Lucie PD, Philadelphia PD, and the Center for Naval Analysis. As part of the IACP's Technical Assistance Program, Spawn addressed international colleagues on the importance of leveraging analytics to maximize personnel and other resources; additionally, he spoke about some of the challenges that often arise, as well as lessons learned in the New York State model which includes the success of regional collaborations through state-supported networks.