In this report, the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), a Washington, D.C.-based policing research organization, conducted a survey of law enforcement agencies and held a one-day conference of police executives to discuss how current issues will determine the future of policing. The issues include: new technologies and strategies such as predictive policing; the importance of building strong partnerships with the community, academia, and federal law enforcement agencies; the use of social media to disseminate information as well as gather intelligence; the growing threat of cybercrime; and changes in workforce demographics that may result in new organizational structures for police agencies. PERF concludes that policing is changing far more rapidly than it did a generation ago, and that police executives will continue to take on and manage these challenges, if for no other reason than the public will demand it.
