One of my top priorities as IACP president is the Policing in the 21st Century Initiative. My goal is to use the reach and the breadth of the IACP to bring together law enforcement leaders from state, local, and tribal departments; employ our collective wisdom to discuss the challenges we all are facing; and identify solutions. One issue that we all are facing is budget cuts coupled with increased demands that have left law enforcement struggling to protect public safety.

These deep cuts have left law enforcement executives struggling to protect their communities effectively, and many have been forced to revert to a reactive policing environment and abandon the great strides we have made in the community policing era. For the past decade, communities throughout the United States have enjoyed lower crime rates and an improved standard of living because of the investment they have made in the men and women of law enforcement.