(Washington, DC) Representatives of the Office of Police Complaints (OPC) recently provided training and conducted workshops at a national police oversight conference held in Seattle, Washington, September 20 – 24, 2010. Each year the conference provides community members, oversight professionals, elected officials and members of law enforcement a forum to discuss a wide range of best practices for agencies that independently review the police.
The theme of this year’s annual conference, organized by the National Association for Civilian Oversight of Law Enforcement (NACOLE), was “Promoting Excellence.”
OPC’s Executive Director Philip K. Eure, Special Assistant Nicole Porter and Chief Investigator Kesha Taylor either participated in or facilitated sessions, bringing best practice management and investigative techniques learned in the District to an audience from around the globe. The successful gathering attracted participants from 29 states, plus Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico, as well as conference-goers from Canada, Jamaica, Norway, Ireland and South Africa.
“Our goal was to further excellence and professionalism in oversight in a way that also offered concrete guidance on how to build greater trust between law enforcement and the public,” said Mr. Eure. “These conferences are quite helpful in that we can learn from other agencies all the while sharing OPC’s experiences.”
Kicking off the conference was keynote speaker Thomas Perez, the Assistant Attorney General of the U.S. Department of Justice who heads the Civil Rights Division. Perez gave an overview of the Obama administration’s efforts to promote greater police accountability around the country.
OPC, which is governed by the Police Complaints Board (PCB), is a member of NACOLE. Eure, whose term as president of NACOLE concluded at the end of the Seattle conference, continues to serve on the organization’s board of directors.
NACOLE is a non-profit organization made up of citizen oversight agencies and individuals that work to reduce police misconduct and promote greater police accountability in the United States and beyond.
For more information about NACOLE and its 16th annual conference, visit www.nacole.org. To learn more about OPC, visit our website at www.policecomplaints.dc.gov.