Police Executive Research Forum

The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a national membership organization of police executives primarily from the largest city, county and state law enforcement agencies in the United States. The organization is dedicated to improving policing and advancing professionalism through research and involvement in public policy debate. Since its founding in 1976, it has fostered debate, research and an openness to challenging traditional police practices. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

PERF General members lead larger police agencies in the United States and around the world; their jurisdictions are often the seedbeds of the toughest problems and hardest-won solutions in policing. All members must have completed a 4-year college degree program.

Established in 1976, PERF's primary sources of operating revenues are government grants and contracts, and partnerships with private foundations and other organizations. PERF's research and publications are targeted in areas its members find important to their agencies and for professional development. Its conferences and training programs are targeted to audiences who want to be on the cutting edge of relevant policing topics.

Since 2013, PERF has issued reports on critical issues in policing, including reducing police use of force; improving investigations of sexual assaults; building trust between police and community members; reducing gun violence; advancing Constitutional policing; recommendations on body-worn camera programs; local police perspectives on immigration enforcement; the heroin epidemic and police naloxone programs; changes in marijuana laws; the role of local police in preventing cybercrime; the police response to active shooter incidents; legitimacy and procedural justice in policing; social media in policing; and civil rights investigations of local police agencies.

In 2007, PERF made news by reporting that violent crime had risen by double-digit percentages in cities across the country between 2005 and 2007. This claim was disputed at the time but the FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Statistics show an increase in violent crime in 2005-2006 amid an otherwise consistent decrease between 1994 and 2009.

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