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This conference was the first of it kind for the Maryland Highway Safety Office (MHSO). One of the major focuses of MHSO is law enforcement. The Law Enforcement Liaisons (LELs), provided the opportunity to allow the attendee to hear from presenters local and various other organizations/law enforcement agencies in the region. The first day focused on talking about the mental impact of being law enforcement. Something that is not discussed too often as being something that law enforcement has to endure. Doing analysis on the crash data, I never think of mental health of the officer. I have thought of their safety but not the mental toll it takes on them and their loved ones. Presenters talked about resources that are available related to getting help . The presenters also talked about the importance of making better decisions while driving like put on your seatbelt. Day two had one presenter focused on surviving the first three seconds. This day was full of information slides/videos of what things to pick up while on the stop in order to survive. Body movement, how the vehicle is pulled over on the side of the road, etc. The third day talked what officers should be doing, provided some hand-ons training, and various sessions on making improvements to survive the stop. We reviewed case after case after case of traffic stops and each time, we all picked up on more clues on what could happen in each of the situations.

Tarek brings over 30 years of experience in geographic information science and technologies (GIS&T) to the GIS Program within the Center for Environment & Society at Washington College. His work in developing GIS&T and systems thinking technical solutions and frameworks, and their applications spans across incredibly diverse sectors, including disaster risk reduction, health, climate change, community resilience, digital transformation, urban and rural development, supply-chain management, homeland security, sustainable agriculture, and women's empowerment.