Each year has its defining moments, but how could we have predicted what this year would bring for our profession? From a global pandemic, to civil unrest, to waves of political change and calls for reform and defunding the police, the policing profession has been weathering one massive storm after another.

I feel truly fortunate to have had the opportunity to represent the global policing profession and to have been able to withstand this storm alongside all of you. Your dedication, devotion, and collective wisdom are unwavering and truly remarkable. I would like to thank you for your service as law enforcement professionals and for your work and leadership on behalf of the IACP. Despite the public’s every attempt to paint us with a broad (and negative) brush, I know that the overwhelming majority of us are noble, dedicated, selfless, and honorable people. We chose careers in a thankless field, but we get up each day, put on our uniforms, go out into our communities, and seek to create a better, safer, and more just world.

Your dedication, devotion, and collective wisdom are unwavering and truly remarkable.

At the onset of their terms, each incoming IACP president identifies priorities of importance to the policing profession that we hope to address both broadly and specifically while providing you with practical resources and tools needed to continually advance the profession. While tremendous progress was made on the priorities I set for my term, this past year also brought an increased focus on our advocacy and media outreach.

While IACP’s legislative efforts on behalf of the policing profession have always been the centerpiece of the association’s activities, this year we were constantly providing feedback on draft legislation and executive orders to ensure they took law enforcement considerations into account. Our work and involvement continued with the Commission on Law Enforcement and the Administration of Justice (Commission), the first U.S. commission on law enforcement in half a century, and a policy priority of the IACP’s that the association had been driving for years. The Commission’s report is set to be released this month, and it will provide recommendations for systemic improvements and ideas to enhance coordination among police, judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, correctional authorities, social services, businesses, and communities to increase crime control and prevention capabilities, better serve the victims of crime, improve community-police engagement, and enhance the use of technology and evidence-based practices.

This year, I also had the honor of testifying before the U.S. Congress on police reform issues, and I advocated for preserving qualified immunity, adopting the National Consensus Use of Force Policy developed by a broad coalition of law enforcement leadership and labor organizations, making participation in the FBI’s National Use of Force Database mandatory, and obtaining the resources needed to maintain and increase the use of the national database of decertified police officers.

As part of IACP’s continual effort to ensure that law enforcement is informed of U.S. presidential candidates’ policy positions specific to criminal justice and how they plan to work with law enforcement to safeguard communities, we sought answers to questions on criminal justice policy issues from the campaigns of President Donald Trump and former vice president Joe Biden and distributed those answers to our members so they could familiarize themselves with the candidates’ policy positions and philosophies.

I was also fortunate to have access to countless media outlets through interviews with national U.S. affiliates such as C-SPAN, CNN, ABC News, Fox News, the Washington Post, New York Times, NPR, USA Today, and the Associated Press. During each of these media interviews, I made it a priority to inform the general public about issues confronting law enforcement and weigh in on high-profile situations, ensuring that the voice of law enforcement was part of the global discussion.

In addition to those efforts, the following are some of the resources we brought to the field, based on current issues and challenges facing the policing profession.

Law Enforcement and COVID-19

Through this global pandemic, the IACP has stood ready to ensure you had the tools and resources needed to keep you, your officers, and your communities safe as you faced the unprecedented emerging issue of COVID-19. Officer safety and wellness has always been a top priority of mine and of the association, and we needed to ensure officers around the globe were provided with the information needed to stay safe. We worked quickly to develop a centralized COVID-19 resource clearinghouse and delivered more than 30 new resources on important topics like organizational readiness, enforcing public health protections, policy considerations, health and safety, and response to communities and victims.

When we launched the COVID-19 resources in March, we had no idea just how much IACP would be meeting the demand from the policing field for information and tools to help law enforcement quickly adapt to the evolving threat posed by the new coronavirus. To illustrate, from the date IACP stood up its COVID-19 resources in March through the end of May, there were 51,406 page-views with 32,615 distinct visitors to our COVID-19 page.

Additionally, through the support and partnership of the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community-Oriented Policing Services, we were able to launch the CRI-TAC COVID-19 Library of Resources, which has received 19,153 pageviews with 9,432 distinct users. This partnership also afforded us the opportunity to ensure all of our members received critical hardcopy COVID-19 resources as a supplement to the May 2020 edition of Police Chief magazine.

Community-Police Engagement

Community-police engagement has always been a top priority for the IACP. From being part of the original Community Policing Consortium to our Community Policing Committee to our Discover Policing website and the Bridging Perspectives: Critical Conversations between Students and Police curriculum, the IACP has been at the forefront of efforts to enhance community-police engagement. After the death of George Floyd and the unfortunate events that followed, I knew it was critical to update and create new tools for the field via our Community-Police Engagement webpage. Police leaders, community members, and elected officials all play a crucial role in moving constructive public safety efforts forward. The Community-Police Engagement webpage provides policy considerations and tangible strategies to support police and communities in their efforts to engage in productive dialogue, form strong partnerships, and identify meaningful solutions. Webpage resource topics include Bias-Free Policing, Use of Force, Leadership and Culture, Recruitment and Hiring, Community Trauma/Victim Services, Community Partnerships, and Cooperative Safety Solutions. At a time when agencies are looking to assess their policies and procedures to maximize community-police engagement, the tools on this webpage provide a meaningful base to help public safety stakeholders develop a strong, consistent foundation.

Preventing Law Enforcement Suicide

The effects of the global pandemic, civil unrest, and reduced staffing have and will continue to put undue pressure and strain on the profession for the foreseeable future. Over the last several years, we have seen a trend of more officer deaths by suicide than in the line of duty, and we need to collectively work to make sure this trend doesn’t continue and that we are providing support to our fellow officers. As IACP president, I pledged to focus on preventing officer suicide and supporting the mental and emotional well-being of police world-wide. As a result, the IACP launched the National Consortium on Preventing Law Enforcement Suicide, a group of multidisciplinary experts in law enforcement, mental health, suicide prevention, families, and more. Throughout my tenure as president, I led conversations around the critical needs of law enforcement leaders, officers, and families, with a focus on evidence-based strategies to support officers. Through these efforts, the IACP developed tools and resources to assist leaders, officers, and families in ensuring officers have support during times of need.

Global Road Safety

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that more than 1.35 million people die each year on the world’s roads, making road injuries the eighth leading cause of deaths globally and the number one killer of people ages 5–29. As another one of my presidential priorities, I felt it was imperative that we work diligently to reverse this rising trend in road traffic fatalities in order to provide safer communities and streets worldwide. The IACP is dedicated to being a part of the global effort to address this growing concern through a partnership with the Bloomberg Philanthropies Initiative for Global Road Safety. During my term, the IACP has been working alongside leading global organizations to implement road safety activities in low- and middle-income countries. The IACP is currently implementing traffic safety efforts in Buenos Aires, Argentina; São Paulo State, Salvador, and Recife, Brazil; Bogotá and Cali, Colombia; Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador; Bangalore and Delhi, India; and Guadalajara, Mexico.

Additionally, the IACP published the Safe, Quick Clearance Toolkit, a collection of resources to help agencies develop policies and practices to safely clear roadways following crashes and other incidents. By educating our responders and building relationships for a coordinated and efficient response, we can save lives and reduce the time that traffic lanes are closed. The safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents ultimately improves the quality of life for everyone.

Active Threats

Terrorism and active threat incidents occur in many ways, and we must be prepared for all possibilities. Over recent years, terrorists have changed their methods of attack and their targets. There are important lessons to be learned from these attacks, which is why I made this topic my third priority focus area.

Though the United States struggles mostly with gun violence, global incidents of targeted violence show us that many objects can be used as weapons if an attacker is motivated enough. Vehicle rammings and sharp-edged weapon attacks, for example, require unique responses from law enforcement.

I’m pleased to announce that in the month of October, the IACP will launch a resource webpage that will address all aspects of an active threat incident response. There is a plethora of resources in the field on active threats, and the IACP will be housing these offerings in one convenient location so that police executives everywhere can keep their communities and officers safe.

As part of the resource webpage on targeted violence, the IACP will highlight international incidents and provide lessons learned from multiple types of active threat scenarios. If law enforcement enhances its efforts to identify potential threats and to share information with all relevant community partners, we will strengthen our ability to prevent attacks before they occur.

While this has been a remarkably busy and productive year for the IACP, it’s certainly not been what any of us expected. I’m very proud of the work we have accomplished as an association and a profession. We have had to quickly adapt to new and pressing challenges this year, and it has been my honor and privilege to lead this amazing organization.

To the fallen who have made the ultimate sacrifice, I salute you. We are forever grateful for your dedication and service. To those who have been injured or permanently disabled in the line of duty, we support you. To those who currently wear the badge every day, we thank you and your families for your selfless service.

To the IACP Executive Board and the Board of Directors, you are extraordinary leaders. To the incredible staff at the IACP, I cannot possibly thank you enough for your dedication and support over the past year.

To Chief Cynthia Renaud, incoming president of the IACP, I offer my congratulations and support as you take the helm. I know you will do an outstanding job leading our organization and continuing to advocate on behalf of the profession.

I will miss the extraordinary experience of the IACP conference this year more than I can express. Seeing colleagues in person, exchanging ideas, and learning from each other face-to-face is invaluable, but thanks to the incredible efforts and skill of the IACP staff, I look forward to a successful IACP Virtual Training Event and Expo.