The IACP is an international organization supporting the leaders of today and developing the leaders of tomorrow. While the core of the IACP membership comprises U.S. police leaders, I am proud to say we have members in over 100 different countries.

The international component of the IACP is more important than ever before. Law enforcement issues are no longer isolated to one country or geographic area. International organized crime, terrorism, and cybercrime have and can emanate from anywhere in the world. Advances in technologies have provided law enforcement agencies with great tools to enhance investigative techniques, analyze volumes of data, connect databases, and share information. Conversely, it has given the criminal element the opportunity to conduct criminal activity from anywhere in the world utilizing something as simple as a laptop connected to the Internet.

Cybercrime, identity theft, and credit card fraud are occurring all over the world. Human trafficking, child pornography, and illicit drug trafficking and its associated violence seem to have no end to their victims and horrors. The IACP continues to address the challenges associated with these issues through various methods and partnerships.

To enhance our regional assistance and outreach, the IACP selects a senior policing official from each of seven regions – North America, Central America and the Caribbean, South America, Europe, Middle East and North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Asia and the Pacific. At this time, our world regional office chairs are located in Ontario, Canada; Nassau, Bahamas; Bogota, Colombia; Talinn, Estonia; Doha, Qatar; Kigali, Rwanda; and New Delhi, India.

In addition to maintaining world regional offices, the IACP continues to provide police executives around the world with the opportunity to come together and learn from one another at various regional training conferences. Later this month, the IACP will hold its 11th IACP South American Executive Policing Conference in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and in September we will hold the 11th IACP Asia & Pacific Executive Policing Conference in New Delhi, India. Next year, the IACP is planning on holding three international conferences. The conferences will take place in Kigali, São Paulo, and Pereira, respectively.

In addition to our international conferences, our annual conference is right around the corner. We have a great line-up of events and have already had numerous people register from the United States and abroad. Amongst the myriad meetings held at our conference is that of the International Policing Division Steering Committee (IPDSC), which serves to advise the international vice president and, in turn, me on international policing issues. The committee consists of 43 seats, including 14 world regional representatives, 6 members at-large, and 18 national and transnational organization representatives. The committee includes an impressive roster of executives representing international, regional, and federal organizations including but not limited to representatives from Interpol, Europol, the United Nations, the Association of Caribbean Commissioners of Police, and the Pacific Island Chiefs Association. This meeting is open to observers, so anyone who is joining us in Philadelphia, October 19-23, 2013, for the 120th Annual Conference and Exposition, should consider this as an opportunity to network with senior law enforcement officials from around the world.

Working closely with the IPDSC is a D.C.-based group that serves as the advisory board to address global policing issues on a quarterly basis. The International Policing Division Steering Committee – Advisory Committee comprises agency officials, liaison officers, and police attachés working in the Washington, D.C., metro area who are willing and interested in sharing and discussing international policing issues three to four times a year. These meetings allow for the discussion of topics that can later be presented to the larger IPDSC and, as such, play a crucial role in the work of IACP. In this way, we are in constant communication and dialogue with police agencies around the world.

With support from the U.S. Department of State, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, the IACP has also become involved in providing training internationally. The Iraqi Policing Education Program (IPEP) has had 11 successful iterations since 2010, bringing over 115 Iraqi police officials, and, through the assistance and support of police departments around the United States, we have provided classroom and hands-on training in subjects such as leadership, tactics, and crime scene investigation. The International Policing Education &Training (IPET) program focuses on the in-depth study of a targeted challenge facing a police agency. This model program, first run with the Police of the Republic of Armenia and then with La Direction Générale de la Sûreté Nationale (DGSN) from Morocco, is a collaborative effort between the IACP, a police department, and a university to train and mentor an international police department in developing a change project of its choosing. In addition to these two programs, the IACP also offers the Leadership in Police Organizations program in the United States and Canada and is looking to expand this program and its Women’s Leadership Institute on a global scale.

I cannot emphasize enough the importance of the international component of the IACP. It is crucial that we continue to build a robust international membership and for help on this matter, I call on each and every member to reach out, through their networks and connections, to seek out new members to enrich our numbers. Current members are encouraged to sponsor current and upcoming law enforcement leaders. By expanding our network of senior police executives and future police leaders, we strengthen our ability to serve our citizens and provide our communities with the safety and security they desire and deserve.

I am pleased with the great strides the IACP has made in fostering international partners; and addressing matters of concern to our membership. I can assure you the IACP will continue to serve and meet the needs of the global policing community. ♦

Please cite as:

Craig T. Steckler, “Think Globally, Get Active,” President’s Message, The Police Chief 80 (August 2013): 6.