Louisiana Protective Order Registry Receives FBI Award - Press Release

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Louisiana Protective Order Registry Receives FBI Award 
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<div align="left"><table bgcolor="#428bca" border="1" bordercolor="#357ebd" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="" width="100%"><tbody><tr valign="top"><td bgcolor="#428bca" height="21" valign="middle" width="100%"><div align="center"><strong><span style="color:#ffffff;">2007 Press Releases </span></strong></div></td></tr></tbody></table><table width="16%"><tbody><tr></tr></tbody></table></div><p align="left">CONTACT PERSON: VALERIE WILLARD<br />PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER&nbsp;<br />(504) 310-2590<br /></p><div align="left"><table style="background-color:#F7EBC6;border-collapse:separate;border-spacing:3px;width:100%;"><tbody style=""><tr valign="top"><td style="" width="38%"><span style="color:#212073;text-transform:uppercase;"><strong>May 10, 2007</strong></span></td><td width="62%"><p align="right" style="margin-top:0;margin-bottom:0;"><span style="color:#212073;"><strong>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</strong></span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><p align="left">&nbsp;</p><p align="center"><strong>Louisiana Protective Order Registry Receives FBI Award</strong></p><p>As Chair of the Louisiana Supreme Court Technology Committee, Justice Catherine D. "Kitty" Kimball announced today that the Louisiana Protective Order Registry (LPOR) received the prestigious Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division Assistant Director's Award for&nbsp; Outstanding Contribution to State and Local Public Safety during a ceremony which took place at the Louisiana Supreme Court this afternoon. Bobby P. Hamil, Jr., FBI CJIS NICS Section Chief, made the presentation.&nbsp; LPOR is the first of forty-five state registries, and the only court-managed program, to win this award.</p><p>LPOR, a division of the Court Management Information Systems (CMIS) division in the Judicial Administrator's Office of the Louisiana Supreme Court, is a statewide repository for court orders issued for the purpose of preventing domestic abuse and dating violence. LPOR was officially launched in April 1999. Currently, all 64 parishes are participating in the program. As of April 30, 2007, LPOR had entered 154,714 orders in their repository, of which 8,570 orders were still active as of that same date.</p><p>According to FBI CJIS Assistant Director Thomas Bush, III, "The LPOR displays exceptional initiative and unselfishness, making themselves available to the FBI around the clock to ensure potential gun purchasers, who are also the subjects of court issued protective orders, do not receive possession of a firearm.&nbsp; The LPOR's expertise pertaining to the federal Brady law, particularly regarding protective orders, places them in a category of their own.&nbsp; The development of liaison relationships between the NICS Section and the LPOR has significantly enhanced public safety nationally. The LPOR's professionalism is certainly in keeping with the finest traditions of not only the law enforcement community, but the citizens they serve.&nbsp; LPOR's commitment to public safety warrants them to be highly deserving of this award."</p><p>In Louisiana, protection orders signed by judges are reviewed, then entered into the repository by LPOR staff immediately upon receipt from the courts. Orders meeting specific criteria are forwarded to the NICS and are used to ensure that prohibited gun purchasers are prevented from obtaining possession of a firearm through a licensed gun dealer.&nbsp; Under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act of 1993, the NICS section has up to three business days to process background check investigations.</p><p>If no final determination is made within the three business-day time frame, the Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) can transfer the firearm to the applicant at their discretion.&nbsp; This magnifies the importance of local and state agencies' timely assistance to ensure firearms are not transferred to individuals prohibited from purchasing, possessing, transporting or selling a firearm.</p><p>This award is being presented to seven members of the Louisiana Protective Order Registry and CMIS division for their exemplary performance assisting the NICS with public safety.&nbsp; They are: Francis G. DiFulco (Assistant Chief Information Officer, CMIS Division), Mary R. "Patsy" Taylor (LPOR Director), Ramona M. Harris (LPOR Research Associate), Beverly P. Green (LPOR Operations Supervisor), Francis E. Robinson (LPOR Data Coordinator), Patricia M. Angell (LPOR Data Coordinator), Cathy L. Eady (LPOR Data Coordinator)</p><p style="text-align:center;">-30-</p><p>&nbsp;</p>
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