We’re building a database of the most useful resources related to community-led police reform: what it looks like, where to start, and who to partner with. We’ll be building this page up as our experts highlight the resources and organizations they recommend and use. We’re also producing ELEFA Academy guides on many of the topics below! Return to this site for updates.
Currently, ELEFA’s police reform database includes useful tools, research, and other organizations dedicated to making policing safer, more effective, and procedurally just. These resources are here to help you start thinking about what you and your community can do to drive meaningful reform.
The Stanford Center for Racial Justice has developed a model Use of Force policy. The team of lawyers, former prosecutors, and other experts have read through and synthesized best practices from existing research as well as policies from Police Departments around the country. It is currently in its beta release.
The US Department of Justice, in collaboration with the National Policing Institute, have developed a Federal Interventions Dashboard. This tool tracks Civil Consent Decrees and settlements between the Department of Justice and local/state policing entities. It provides location maps, timelines and descriptions of the different interventions into policing by the DoJ, and can be a useful tool to learn what your community or others are doing to improve policing standards.
Our Community Guide is designed to help foster a dialogue between stakeholders interested in reforming mental health policing in your community. The guide introduces an ecosystem approach; offers proven solutions and straightforward first steps; and discusses how solutions can be resized or fitted to a variety of communities. Supplemental materials and video content help reinforce learning on this topic.
The Vera Institute of Justice’s mission is to reform the criminal justice system and end mass incarceration through research into evidence-based solutions.
The Police Executive Research Forum is dedicated to research and policy guidance on policing in America.
The Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project is a national hub for training and technical assistance. ABLE training comes at no cost and fosters a commitment to peer intervention among officers.
Campaign Zero is an advocacy network focused on criminal justice reform so that deaths from police interventions can reach zero.
The NYU Policing Project litigates and drafts model legislation to help improve police accountability before an incident occurs. Their 30×30 Initiative addresses the under-representation of women in policing.
The National Police Accountability Project (NPAP) is dedicated to holding police officers accountable in cases of misconduct.
DR. ALEX DEL CARMEN is currently serving as the Executive Director of the School of Criminology and Criminal Justice at Tarleton State University in Fort Worth. Prior to joining Tarleton, Dr. del Carmen served as Chair and Professor of Criminology & Criminal Justice at The University of Texas at Arlington. He is an instructor in the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (since 2001) and has served as an instructor in the Arlington Police Department Training Academy (4 years). He is certified as a grant evaluator/reviewer for the Department of Justice and as an instructor for the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement (TCOLE).
He earned a PhD in criminology and criminal justice from Florida State University in 1997. Dr. Del Carmen has published over twenty-five refereed academic manuscripts in internationally recognized journals. His most recent book is titled Racial Profiling in America (2008) Prentice Hall Publishing. His research interests include: Policing, Racial Profiling, Ethnicity and Crime, Homeland Security, Profiling, Corrections, Criminal Justice Educational Issues, CPTED, Penology, Crime Prevention, Juvenile Delinquency.
JEFF ASHER is a data analyst and consultant based in New Orleans, LA. He currently works with the New Orleans City Council as a public safety analyst. Before launching AH Datalytics, Jeff served as a crime analyst for the City of New Orleans and Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, and prior to that he worked as an analyst for the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense. Jeff’s analyses have appeared nationally on the data journalism website FiveThirtyEight, The New York Times, Slate, and more. Jeff holds a MA from George Washington University.
CHIEF CHET EPPERSON served as Chief of Rockford, Illinois for over nine years. Chief Epperson, a 38-year police veteran, has served in all ranks of the police department – Sergeant, Lieutenant, and Deputy Chief. He serves as an instructor for the Illinois Law Enforcement Training & Standards Board Executive Institute and provides management accountability training on use of force for the Illinois Association Chiefs of Police. Chief Epperson has served for the Illinois Supreme Court as a Hearing Officer for the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. Chief Epperson has served as a Director for Americans for Effective Law Enforcement (AELE) and Chairman of the Hates Crimes Subcommittee for the International Associations of Chiefs (IACP) Police Civil Rights Committee and is a member of the Police Executive Research Forum and the Illinois Chiefs Association.
He is an expert in applying Constitutional Standards, State Law, policy, and practice to police incidents. He instructs courses on police use of force, internal affairs, and discipline. He frequently performs police management assessments on staffing, operations, policy, auditing, investigations, and training. Chief Epperson was instrumental in reforming the Rockford Police Department by enhancing its relationship with the community and providing internal and external transparency. Chief Epperson assisted in the formulation of a multi-jurisdictional task force to investigate officer-involved police shootings, in-custody police deaths, and serious uses of force.
DEPUTY CHIEF WILLIAM MURPHY has over 30 years of experience in law enforcement. Murphy was the former Deputy Chief and Commanding Officer of Personnel and Training Bureau. Personnel and Training Bureau (PTB) was comprised of Personnel Group, Personnel Division, Recruitment and Employment Division, Police Training and Education, and Training Division of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). In March of 2015, the Department reorganized and PTB was renamed Police Sciences and Training Bureau. Deputy Chief Murphy’s responsibilities remained with Training Division and Police Training and Education.
Murphy has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Massachusetts at Boston, and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University at Long Beach. He also attended the Faculty Development Workshop at the United States Military Academy at West Point, where he studied Behavioral Science and Leadership. Murphy has authored articles on law enforcement in The Police Chief magazine and The Homeland Defense Journal. He was an adjunct professor in the Extended Education Programs at the University of California, Los Angeles and California State University at Los Angeles.
CHIEF MITCH BROWN served 30 years in law enforcement in the Raleigh North Carolina Police Department (a nationally accredited agency), with seven years as the Chief. Mitch Brown graduated from NC Wesleyan University-BS Criminal Justice, Wake Technical College-AAS Criminal Justice, attended Nova University Masters of Public Administration Program. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy, FBI National Executive Institute, Northwestern Police Traffic Management School, a member of IACP, life-long member of PERF and former Board of Director member. He is a life-long member of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police. He is President of Law Enforcement Consulting Services, Inc. that provides services such as, Use of Force Analysis, Policies/Directives Review, Pattern and Practice Assessments, Expert Testimony and Constitutional Policing Practices. He served with the Department of Homeland Security in the Senior Executive Service (SES) as an executive in the Transportation Security Agency. Provided leadership to deter terrorist attacks on other modes of transportation within the national transportation infrastructure. He served as a member of the Monitoring Team to monitor Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, DC, which signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the United States Department of Justice to conduct an investigation into excessive use of force, pattern and practices, K9 deployments and training.
CHIEF BOB MCNEILLY served as Chief of Police of Pittsburgh, PA from April 1996 to January 2006. During his tenure as Chief, he successfully led the department through the first “pattern or practice” consent decree from 1997 to 2002, resulting in his department reaching substantial compliance and being released from the consent decree monitoring. During that time, the police bureau developed an extensive early intervention system. Robert was Chief of the Elizabeth Township Police Department in Pennsylvania from 2006 until 2014. Since September 2013 Robert has served as a consent decree monitor to the New Orleans Police Department monitoring compliance with the consent decree between the City of New Orleans and the United States Department of Justice.
Monitoring included supervision, custodial interrogations, photographic lineups, detective selection, citizen complaint investigations, performance evaluations, and an early intervention system. Bob has also provided consulting services to the United States Department of Justice during “pattern and practice” civil rights investigations of various departments and to various municipalities regarding firearms training, search and seizure, supervision, and use of force. He was also active as a United States Coast Guard Reserves Chief Petty Officer from 1987 to 2011, and is a United States Marine Corps veteran.
JUDITH WILLIAMS DANGERFIELD has provided consultation to numerous local, state and national organizations and government entities across multiple subject matters including DBE program design, implementation and compliance, workforce development, small business development, Title VI and Environmental Justice, equity and inclusion in government contracting, strategies for closing the racial wealth-gap, place-making and community economic development. She is the founding owner of Metro-Source, LLC. As a consultant she served for two years as the Director of Supplier Diversity for the City of New Orleans and for three years as a Federal Monitor for the Consent Decree between the US Justice Department, the New Orleans Police Department and the City of New Orleans. Ms. Dangerfield has been a presenter and panelist at the 2017 SOCAP International Conference, the 2015 PolicyLink Equity Summit and the 2009 BMW Foundation Siftung, Herbert Quant Responsible Leaders Forum.
She holds a Master of Science in Community Economic Development from Southern New Hampshire University and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Urban Studies at the University of New Orleans. Together with late husband Dr. Peter W. Dangerfield, she co-authored Voice of the Poor” Citizens Participation in Rebuilding New Orleans, published in 2009 by the National Black Political Scientists Association. Ms. Dangerfield is a founding chair of the Ujaama Economic Development Corporation and a member of the Board of Directors of GoodWork Network.
CHIEF MARY ANN VIVERETTE was sworn in as the first woman President of the IACPs in its 113-year history in 2006. She retired in 2007 from the Gaithersburg Police Department (MD) after serving the city for 28 years, with twenty-one of those years as the Chief of Police. She led the agency through organizational change, while embracing the diversity of the community, and while facing the dramatic changes the population faced. In addition to serving on the Maryland Chiefs of Police Training Committee for over a decade, as a pioneer woman police chief, was often called upon to speak on issues affecting women and minorities in law enforcement. She conducted dozens of training sessions on the recruitment of women and minorities over a fifteen year period and has served as an Investigator with the Department of Justice. Also under her leadership, the department was presented the United States Conference of Mayors national Community Policing Award for excellence.
Chief Viverette holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Law Enforcement/Criminology from the University of Maryland (1986) and a Masters Degree in Human Resource Management from the University of Maryland (1998). She has over a decade of experience on numerous Boards and Committees; including: the IACP Civil Rights Committee and Diversity Coordinating Panel, three of CALEA’s Standards Review Committees, and the Maryland Chiefs of Police Training Committee. Chief Viverette has over twenty-two years of experience as an Assessor and Team Leader with the Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA). Chief Viverette served as a CALEA Commissioner for five years and was Vice President of the CALEA Board of Officers during her tenure. Chief Viverette has served as a Court-Appointed Federal Monitor for the New Orleans Police Department since 2013. Her main areas of focus include direct oversight of Sexual Assault, Child Abuse and Domestic Violence investigations, Public Integrity Bureau Administrative investigations, the Crisis Intervention (CIT) and Officer Assistance Programs, Performance Evaluations, Promotional and Recruitment processes, Patrol operations supervisory audits, Academy classroom monitoring and ride-along inspections.
DR. THERON BOWMAN is the former Chief of Police for the Arlington Police Department. Since 1990, he has served on the faculty of three universities teaching Sociology, Criminology, and Criminal Justice courses. He attended the University of Texas at Arlington, where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology, a Master’s in Public Administration, and a Ph.D.in Urban and Public Administration. Dr. Bowman is also a graduate of the Senior Management Institute for Police, The FBI National Academy, and the FBI National Executive Institute. Chief Bowman has been recognized by the African American Peace Officer Association of Arlington as the “Officer of the Year” and has received a Proclamation of Achievement from both the Texas State Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives.
The John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute presented him with the Outstanding Local Leader Award, and the Police Executive Research Forum presented him with the Gary P Hayes Award. He was elected to chair the Texas Intelligence Council in 2005 and began his service as a CALEA Commissioner in 2006. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), and a host of other organizations.
DAVID L. DOUGLASS is a graduate of Yale College (1981) and Harvard Law School (1985 cum laude). David has built a distinguished legal and public service career. After graduating law school, to preserve affordable housing in Boston’s South End, he co-founded a community development organization that developed Langham Court, an award-winning 90-unit mixed-income development. He has served as an Assistant United States Attorney and as a Department of Justice Civil Rights Prosecutor. He has conducted investigations into system failures by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) and the United States Secret Services.
Beginning in 2013, he has served as Deputy Monitor of the team selected to oversee the reform of the New Orleans Police Department pursuant to the consent decree between the City of New Orleans and the Department of Justice. It was in the course of this work, that he realized that consent decrees could be used as a model for collaborative, rather than coercive reform. That realization led to the founding of ELE4A. David is currently Managing Partner of the Washington, D.C. office of Sheppard Mullin.
DR. GEOFF ALPERT has been conducting research on high-risk police activities for more than 30 years. He was asked to evaluate aspects of the police response to the terrorist attack at the Lindt Café in Sydney, Australia, and provided testimony to the Coronial Inquest of Police Shootings in Queensland. He has taught at the FBI National Academy and the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center, and has testified to Congress, several state legislatures and to the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. He is a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police Research Advisory Council, and Policy Center Advisory Group, and serves on the Research Advisory Board, Police Executive Research Forum and is a Federal Monitor for the New Orleans Police Department, and a compliance team member for the Portland, Oregon Police Bureau.
CHIEF DENNIS NOWICKI is a senior law-enforcement professional whose career spans over forty-nine years of public service. Retiring as Chief of Police for Charlotte-Mecklenburg, North Carolina in 1999, Chief Nowicki also has served as Executive Director of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority and Chief of Police for Joliet, Illinois. Since retiring from Charlotte-Mecklenburg, he served as the executive director of a COPS funded regional community policing training institute and, more recently, has concentrated his work on assisting police departments and DOJ in matters relating to managing police use of force. Chief Nowicki has served on the teams monitoring the District of Columbia Police Department and the U.S. Virgin Islands Police Department.
BEN HORWITZ developed the nationally recognized Management Analytics for Excellence (MAX), which provides a comprehensive data environment for rigorous police management in the areas of crime, community policing, consent decree compliance, and other management topics. He has also built numerous other publicly available dashboards and data visualizations, including a real-time operational and investigative report platform for the New Orleans Police Department. Ben holds an MS in Public Policy and Management from Carnegie Mellon University with a focus on data analysis and information systems.
DR. ASHLEY BROWN BURNS is a leader in delivering evidence-based solutions designed to resolve issues steeped in race relations, social disparity and public safety. She has managed technical studies, strategic planning, and has been a senior advisor to intergovernmental agencies with emphasis on procedural and policy oversight & compliance. She brings over a decade of experience in empirical social science research & project management including market study, data collection & reporting, public engagement, and strategic communication with expertise in issues related to inequality, protected populations, and public administration. She has collaborated with the New Orleans Police Department and the United States Department of Justice on policy, community policing, recruitment, training, transparency & oversight, secondary employment, procedural justice, bias-free policing, and civil rights compliance monitoring, research and data collection. Dr. Burns successfully has provided technical leadership of two biennial ~2,000 household community satisfaction surveys on behalf of the New Orleans Police Department’s Consent Decree, and is a federal consent decree monitor.
Prior to co-founding ELE4A, she has been faculty of Tulane University, Amherst College, Gettysburg College, and Elon University. Dr. Burns has published in the Du Bois Review, UrbanLand, Urban Affairs Review, and the Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, and she is CEO of Burns Innovation Group, a certified minority-owned policy analysis & solutions consulting firm based in Louisiana. Dr. Burns completed her Ph.D. and MA in Public Policy at the Duke University Sanford School of Public Policy, and BA in Political Economy with a concentration in Africana Studies from Williams College.
