Page 8 - National Police Peer Intervention

EPIC And Its Background
What is EPIC?
Ethical Policing is Courageous, or EPIC, is an innovative peer intervention program to prevent mistakes and misconduct by police officers. EPIC was developed by the men and women of the New Orleans Police Department in collaboration with experts in the fields of psychology, law enforcement, and history, as well as community stakeholders. In an effort to prevent officer misconduct and mistakes, save officers’ careers, and protect the community, the NOPD has created and is currently implementing a groundbreaking, comprehensive program to train police officers in the philosophy, strategies, and tools of effective peer intervention. EPIC teaches officers how to recognize when other officers are in danger of making mistakes or committing acts of misconduct that could cause harm to civilians and to an officer’s career and safety. It trains officers about the psychological inhibitors to peer intervention and how to overcome those inhibitors. And it provides tactical training for intervening in a variety of scenarios and situations. The ideas, lessons, and tools involved in this program have the potential to profoundly impact virtually every aspect of policing, including reducing officer misconduct, promoting a safe and healthy working environment for officers, and improving community safety and relations. One of the key goals of EPIC is to weave the core components and philosophy of this program into all aspects of training.
Why a conference?
Over 100 police departments around the country have contacted NOPD to learn more about EPIC as word has spread about the program through publications as diverse as The New York Times, IACP’s Police Chief Magazine, and PERF’s Subject to Debate. A number of police departments have sent personnel to New Orleans to become EPIC- trained and to take the principles and tactics of EPIC back to their departments. In response to this significant interest in EPIC, the NOPD, in conjunction with several supporting organizations, is hosting a two-day, invitation-only EPIC conference in New Orleans, specifically for police executive leadership, to further advance this innovative program and to involve leading law enforcement executives and trainers in an on-going discussion about peer intervention.
7 | National Police Peer Intervention Executive Leadership and Training Conference