2020 and 2021 were defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, social justice movements, one of the most challenging political climates in U.S. history and unmistakable evidence of climate change with wildfires ravaging the West Coast. Despite this, the events of last year gave rise to new sense of purpose and much-needed hope for change, especially in the area of policing. Below are the foundational principles which make up our PEACE OFFICER philosophy. By attracting, hiring, training and promoting people who want to be PEACE OFFICERS nationally, the culture of policing can be fundamentally changed at the DNA level.   The country can move into a new phase where police forces are consistent with what it means to be a PEACE OFFICER.

The Golden Rule of Policing

The PEACE OFFICER Initiative is rooted in this simple idea: The police as part of the community, and the community as part of the police. This rule embodies what it means to be a PEACE OFFICER: to prevent conflict; if there is conflict, help resolve it; diffuse situations; and aid the defenseless.  By operationalizing what it means to be a PEACE OFFICER, departments can bring about cultural change, procedural change, operational change, and departmental alignment.

Co-production of Public Safety

By delivering public safety in ways that departments need to, while encouraging communities to reimagine how they would like policing to be, community safety is developed as a partnership. And for this partnership to work, it must be rooted in fairness, equity, accountability and transparency–the qualities embodied by PEACE OFFICER.

Employ Evidenced-based Practices

It is one thing to suggest that an approach will have a positive effect, and quite another to support the approach with evidence. Our programs are built on research which documents the interventions and outcomes. In this way, we as an organization and society will know that something as simple as the PEACE OFFICER initiative had the hoped-for impact on the community, department and civil society as a whole.