Initial Conference Schedule and Abstracts

Because of the presence and engagement of many law enforcement agencies and social psychologists from across the country, we can declare this unprecedented gathering a success. In total this first conference of 160 registered participants included 64 agency representatives from 34 agencies from 13 states. The turnout at this initial venture was quite exciting, and we hope to have the same support and response for the second conference in the 2005-2006 academic year.

Together we certainly accomplished our central goal: to begin a conversation between academic researchers (who study racial bias) and law enforcement officials. In our sessions we found that social science's analytical tools may have useful applications to the difficult community relations questions police confront. We also found, as we all suspected from the outset, that the potential to benefit from the relationship is mutual--policing has quite a bit to offer social science to make its approaches and findings relevant to real-world predicaments.

We've only just begun. This is new and exciting territory. I was struck by the clear commitment among the conference participants to work together to improve police-community relations. You will hear from me frequently, as I consider it my primary charge to ensure that what was proposed during the conference yields practical insights that can make a difference for law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve.

The law enforcement agencies which have agreed to work with researchers will be hearing from those researchers soon. If your agency has not yet committed to work with a researcher, it is still possible to do so. Please contact me if you feel I could be helpful in this regard.

We have looked at the conference evaluation forms, and I am happy to report that attendees found the conference very valuable overall. (The average response to this item was 6.1 on a 7-point scale.) Participants indicated they were very likely to attend the second conference next year, and to recommend that others participate in the project. (The average response to both these items was 6.2.)

- Jennifer Eberhardt