Page 9 - EPIC Conference Third Annual Program

EPIC AND ITS BACKGROUND
What is EPIC?
At its core, EPIC is an officer survival program, a community safety program, and a job satisfaction program. It is officer-created (working closely with community members and national experts), officer-led, and officer- driven. Through the lens of EPIC, a law enforcement agency:
• Teaches peer intervention techniques designed to protect officers and civilians;
• Focuses on preventing mistakes and misconduct and on safeguarding officer wellness; • Empowers all officers to intervene, regardless of rank; and
• Establishes protections for officers who do intervene.
What is ABLE?
The Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project, housed within the Georgetown University Law Center’s Innovative Policing Program, is an outgrowth of the success of the NOPD EPIC Program. The ABLE Project was created to develop and deliver practical, scenario-based nationwide training for police agencies in the strategies and tactics of police peer intervention. Project ABLE will guide agencies and communities on the concrete measures that must be in place to create and sustain a culture of peer intervention. Project ABLE also will provide a wide array of resources to communities and law enforcement agencies across the country interested in developing peer intervention programs of their own. The ABLE Project works hand-in- hand with EPIC.
Why a conference?
Last year’s second annual peer intervention conference brought together more than 120 law enforcement professionals, academics, and other stakeholders to learn more about EPIC. Since then, NOPD continually has received requests from law enforcement agencies across the nation for train-the- trainer sessions and implementation advice. EPIC’s profile has been raised further by ongoing coverage in The New York Times, IACP’s Police Chief Magazine, The Washington Post, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, PEW Trust’s Stateline publication, and PERF’s Subject to Debate.
This year’s conference will allow NOPD to:
• Share the principles and tactics of EPIC with a broader law enforcement audience;
• Provide updates on the expanded scope of EPIC;
• Discuss recent successes and challenges as EPIC continues to be implemented department-wide;
• Enable other law enforcement agencies to share their experiences implementing a peer intervention
program;
• Lay the groundwork for a nationwide network of law enforcement agencies devoted to peer intervention
for officer safety and wellness; and
• Highlight the Georgetown University Law Center’s ABLE Project, with which the NOPD works closely, and
share its plans to bring FREE active bystandership training to law enforcement agencies across the U.S.
8. | Third Annual National Police Peer Intervention Executive Leadership Conference