Police Executive Research Forum

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a national membership organization for police executives, principally representing leaders of large municipal, county, and state law-enforcement agencies in the United States. Established in 1976 with support and funding from the Police Foundation, it was created to encourage research, professional exchange, and informed debate about the direction of American policing. The organization presents itself less as a conventional commercial brand than as a professional forum and policy institute whose work is used by police leaders, public officials, researchers, and training organizations. PERF’s membership model is selective: members are required to have completed a four-year college degree program. Its activities include conducting and publishing research, convening police executives, organizing educational programs, developing operational guidance, and participating in public-policy discussions. Operating revenue has been described as coming primarily from educational-program tuition, grants from private and nonprofit organizations, membership dues, and government contracts. No public-company listing or stock ticker is associated with the organization. A central feature of PERF’s identity is its willingness to examine established police practices and promote changes based on research and professional experience. Since 2014, its work has placed particular emphasis on reducing police use of lethal force, especially during encounters with people experiencing mental illness, developmental disabilities, drug addiction, or other conditions that may produce unpredictable behavior. PERF also addressed encounters in which a subject does not possess a firearm, seeking to expand the range of communication, assessment, containment, and tactical options available to officers. This work produced Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics, commonly known as ICAT. The program was informed in part by discussions between U.S. police officials and Scottish policing representatives, whose largely unarmed policing environment offered comparative perspectives on managing potentially dangerous encounters. ICAT has subsequently been implemented by more than 150 law-enforcement agencies, according to the organization’s cited background material. PERF’s policy portfolio extends beyond use of force. It has examined the role of local police in responding to the opioid epidemic, including treatment-oriented approaches and the provision of naloxone to officers to help prevent fatal overdoses. Other areas of work have included immigration policy, refugee integration, gender bias in responses to sexual assault and domestic violence, the definition and reporting of rape, community trust, gun violence, constitutional policing, body-worn cameras, marijuana-law changes, cybercrime prevention, active-shooter incidents, legitimacy and procedural justice, police use of social media, and civil-rights investigations of local agencies. The organization has also acted as a venue for rapid peer exchange during major public events. During the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011, PERF organized conference calls involving city police chiefs to discuss responses to the demonstrations. In 2007, it attracted national attention after reporting double-digit increases in violent crime in cities between 2005 and 2007. That interpretation was disputed at the time, although federal crime statistics showed an increase between 2005 and 2006 within a longer period of generally declining violent crime. Overall, PERF’s role is that of a professional research, convening, and policy organization rather than a consumer-facing product brand.

The Police Executive Research Forum was established in 1976 with support and funding from the Police Foundation. Its formation reflected an effort to create a national professional forum where police executives could exchange experience, support empirical research, and debate the future of policing. Rather than functioning as a traditional trade association centered only on member advocacy, PERF developed a combined role as a membership organization, research body, executive-education provider, and participant in public-policy discussions. PERF’s principal constituency consists of senior leaders from large city, county, and state law-enforcement agencies in the United States. Membership eligibility includes completion of a four-year college degree, reinforcing the organization’s emphasis on professional education and executive standards. From its Washington, D.C., headquarters, PERF has used reports, conferences, educational programs, briefings, and peer-to-peer exchanges to address operational problems confronting police agencies. Its operating support has been described as coming from tuition for educational programs, grants from private and nonprofit organizations, membership dues, and government contracts. Over time, PERF’s research agenda expanded with changes in American public safety and public expectations. The organization has examined violent crime trends, police responses to protest movements, immigration and refugee integration, sexual assault and domestic violence, gun violence, cybercrime, active-shooter incidents, body-worn cameras, marijuana-law changes, social media, constitutional policing, procedural justice, community legitimacy, and civil-rights investigations. This broad agenda has allowed PERF to connect immediate operational concerns with larger questions about police accountability, public trust, and the professional role of law enforcement. In 2007, PERF received national attention for reporting double-digit increases in violent crime in cities between 2005 and 2007. The claim was disputed at the time, although FBI Uniform Crime Reporting statistics showed an increase in violent crime from 2005 to 2006 against the background of a generally declining trend from 1994 through 2009. The episode illustrates PERF’s public role as an interpreter of crime and policing data, as well as the scrutiny that accompanies its contributions to policy debate. During the fall of 2011, PERF organized conference calls with city police chiefs about responses to the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations. These calls demonstrated the organization’s function as a rapid professional-exchange network during periods of widespread protest and operational uncertainty. From 2013 onward, PERF issued reports on a wide range of contemporary policing issues, including community trust, gun violence, constitutional policing, body-worn-camera policies, changing marijuana laws, cybercrime prevention, active-shooter response, procedural justice, social media, and civil-rights investigations. Its work also addressed the opioid epidemic, encouraging local police agencies to help connect people with treatment and other services and to equip officers with naloxone to reduce overdose deaths. Beginning in 2014, reducing lethal-force incidents became a particularly prominent area of focus. PERF developed policies and training for encounters involving people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, drug addiction, or other conditions associated with erratic or dangerous behavior, including situations in which the person did not have a firearm. The organization brought U.S. police officials to Scotland to discuss how largely unarmed Scottish officers manage potentially dangerous encounters. Those exchanges contributed to the development of Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics, or ICAT, a training approach that emphasizes communication, assessment, de-escalation, and coordinated tactical decision-making. The program has been implemented by more than 150 law-enforcement agencies. PERF remains an active U.S. professional and policy organization. Its continuing identity rests on convening police executives, producing applied research, offering education and training, and challenging agencies to adapt policing practices to changing legal, social, and public-safety conditions.

• 2014

  Greater focus on reducing lethal force

  [1]Police Executive Research Forumen.wikipedia.org

  The organization intensified policy and training work on safer responses to people with mental illness, disabilities, addictions, or other circumstances associated with dangerous behavior.

• 2013

  Expanded research on contemporary policing issues

  [1]Police Executive Research Forumen.wikipedia.org

  PERF issued reports addressing subjects including community trust, gun violence, constitutional policing, body-worn cameras, cybercrime, active shooters, procedural justice, and social media.

• 2011

  Police-chief calls on Occupy Wall Street responses

  [1]Police Executive Research Forumen.wikipedia.org

  PERF organized conference calls that allowed city police chiefs to discuss their responses to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

• 2007

  Violent-crime report attracts national attention

  [1]Police Executive Research Forumen.wikipedia.org

  PERF reported double-digit violent-crime increases in cities between 2005 and 2007, prompting public discussion and dispute over the interpretation of crime data.

• 1976

  Organization established

  [1]Police Executive Research Forumen.wikipedia.org

  PERF was founded with support and funding from the Police Foundation as a national forum for police-executive research, professional exchange, and policy debate.

A research-led professional forum for senior U.S. law-enforcement executives, positioned around police professionalism, practical guidance, policy analysis, and constructive examination of traditional policing methods.

• Law-enforcement training program

  Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT)

  ICAT is PERF’s principal training framework for improving police responses to potentially dangerous encounters, particularly those involving people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, substance-use disorders, or no firearm. The approach combines communication, threat assessment, de-escalation, and coordinated tactical decision-making. It was informed partly by exchanges with Scottish police officials and has been implemented by more than 150 law-enforcement agencies.

• Research publication · 1976

  Research and policy reports

  PERF publishes applied research and recommendations for police leaders and public officials. Topics have included use of force, opioid response, immigration, refugee integration, sexual-assault and domestic-violence response, community trust, gun violence, constitutional policing, body-worn cameras, cybercrime, active shooters, procedural justice, marijuana laws, social media, and civil-rights investigations.

• Professional education

  Executive education programs

  PERF provides educational programming for police executives and other law-enforcement professionals. These offerings support leadership development, policy discussion, and the exchange of operational practices across major U.S. agencies.

• 2014

  Prioritize lethal-force reduction and de-escalation trainingStrategy

  Background

  PERF identified a need for improved police responses to encounters involving people with mental illness, developmental disabilities, drug addiction, or other conditions that may produce erratic or dangerous behavior.

  Action taken

  The organization developed policies and training focused on communication, assessment, de-escalation, and tactical options, including the ICAT framework.

  Aftermath

  ICAT became a major PERF offering and was implemented by more than 150 law-enforcement agencies.

  Source

• Promote treatment-oriented police responses to opioid addictionStrategy

  Background

  The opioid epidemic created a public-safety and public-health challenge requiring local police agencies to address overdose risk and connect affected people with services.

  Action taken

  PERF published reports supporting treatment connections and the availability of naloxone to officers who may be able to prevent fatal overdoses.

  Aftermath

  The work broadened PERF’s policy portfolio beyond conventional crime control toward public-health-oriented policing.

  Source

1. 1Police Executive Research Forumen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Police Executive Research Forum official websitepoliceforum.org