Are you concerned about the future of policing?

Forty leading police researchers and police executives reflect on police reform.

13 Critical Reforms

Adopt Evidence Based Policing

“When the advocates of evidence-based policing begin focusing significant efforts on helping elected officials, policymakers, and police leaders understand how to implement it, local government and policing will become more effective, responsive, and legitimate (in the eyes of the community). And American communities will be safer.” – Jim Bueermann – President, National Police Foundation (Ret.)

Implement Collaborative Crime Control Initiatives

“This is a process that takes a department and community on a journey that begins with an acknowledgment of a problem followed by a rigorous evaluation of that problem. This time devoted to working together allows relationships to develop and trust to grow between the community and the police.” – Art Acevedo – Chief, Houston Police Department

Institutionalize Procedural Justice

“This topic is very relevant in today’s national conversation on police legitimacy, and the need for procedural justice could not be any timelier.” – Theron Bowman – Chief, Arlington, TX Police Department (Ret.)

Reduce Use of Force

“The discussion of each recommendation in this chapter should give police leadership everywhere pause to consider whether their departments are doing enough to deal professionally with the use-of-force issue.” – Michael Brown – Chief Alexandria, VA Police Department

Reduce Racial Inequality in Police Practices

“As a profession, we are still striving to build the trust of the community, become more inclusive, and be as transparent as possible.” – Calvin Williams – Chief, Cleveland Division of Police

Options for Increasing Civilian Oversight of the Police

“To view civilian oversight as simply a response to public mistrust of the police and their ability to police themselves … is to sell civilian oversight’s role in improving the overall quality of law enforcement short.” - Margo Frasier – Sheriff, Travis County, TX (Ret.); Police Monitor, Austin, TX (Ret.)

Implement a Body-Worn Camera Program

“BWCs continue to hold great promise for the police profession…There are, and will continue to be, implementation and technological issues that can only be overcome by trial, error, and a commitment to learning from the experience of others.” – Ed Flynn – Chief, Milwaukee Police Department (Ret.)

Improve Prevention of Police-Involved Harm through Sentinel Event Reviews

“True professional leaders make it a habit to continuously assess and learn from past mistakes… to broaden our examination of critical events so that we learn from them, while taking certain actions to improve our practices so that we continuously improve ourselves and our profession.” – David McGill – Chief, Sedona Police Department (Ret.)

Build Police-Researcher Partnerships to Advance Policing

“Police departments and policymakers owe it to their communities and officers to create policies that protect communities from crime while ensuring that no harm is caused in the process. This can only be achieved through rigorous evaluation of police practices to identify what works, what doesn’t work, and why.” – Ivonne Roman – Captain, Newark Police Department

Build Momentum for Police Reform through Organizational Justice

“Smarter policing must be driven by principled policing to ensure that the profession of law enforcement is procedurally just and legitimate.” – Eric Jones – Chief, Stockton Police Department

Promoting Officer Health and Wellness

“Poor decision-making regarding issues of police officer health and wellness can lead to strategic impacts on policing as a profession.” – Steve Pitts – Chief, Reno Police Department (Ret.)

Improve the Policing of Crowds

“Given current protests and activism in the United States and the United Kingdom, there has never been a more important time to implement evidence-based reforms.” – Owen West

Increase Efficacy of Police Response to Sexual Assaults

“The investigation of sexual assaults for a law enforcement agency is never a “check the box and move on” process. It takes examining policies and procedures with an introspective, critical eye.” – Mike Brown – Chief, Salt Lake City Police Department