The IACP offers comprehensive police executive search services. 

Our experienced team recognizes the significance of selecting the new executive leadership of a police department and works in partnership with the jurisdiction through all stages of the planning, selection, and transition process. 

Key elements of the IACP police executive search process include:

• Comprehensive candidate profiling and job analysis
• Extensive recruitment advertising 
• Applicant screening, evaluation, and selection  

Hiring agencies may engage the IACP for all or a portion of these executive search elements.

To obtain more information about these services please visit IACP's Executive Search page, email [email protected] or call 703.836.6767.

ASSESSMENT CENTERS

A powerful tool for making promotional decisions, an assessment center uses a series of simulated on-the-job challenges to gauge a candidate’s ability to perform the target job. Individual and group job simulations offer in-depth information and insight on an individual’s strengths, weaknesses, and overall performance potential. The performance of candidates is evaluated by trained assessors, providing information unattainable from written tests, interviews or any other source. Assessment Centers can be utilized for all promotional processes, from first-line supervisor to Chief of Police.

PROMOTIONAL EXAMINATIONS

The IACP recognizes the importance of selecting and advancing the right candidates into leadership positions, understanding that each agency has its own set of challenges and circumstances. For decades the IACP has been a leader in assisting agencies with their promotional needs by offering custom promotional examinations and semi-stock options.

The IACP offers two options for written multiple-choice promotional testing:

• Applying the IACP Promotional Examination System (PES)
• Developing custom-designed examinations.

To obtain more information about these services please visit IACP's Testing and Assessment Center page, email [email protected] or call 703.836.6767.

IACP is available to conduct comprehensive surveys of the management and operations of police agencies. The surveys aim to determine the degree to which a department is properly accountable, is operating cost-effectively, complies with professional police standards, and satisfies the crime control and service requirements of the citizens it serves.

IACP's management studies produce an extensive set of practical, prioritized recommendations to upgrade the effectiveness, productivity and professionalism of municipal police services. The recommendations enable the department to cope successfully in the future with emerging conditions or trends, placing special emphasis on actions to ensure that the department is accountable to elected officials and the public.

To obtain more information about these services please visit IACP's Management Study page, email [email protected] or call 703.836.6767.

IACP's Professional Services team can work with your agency to create a customized process to address your specific needs. We have produced the following custom solutions:

• Entry Level and Promotional Interviews
• Assessment Center Training
• Assessor Training
• Chief Assessment Center
• Job Analyisis
• Training Academy Study
• Hiring and Recruitment Study
• Patrol and Investigations Staffing Analysis
• Beat Re-Design and Implementation

To dicuss your specific needs please contact us via email [email protected] or call 703.836.6767.

Law enforcement agencies can contribute to field advancement by helping document successes and challenges for victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches. IACP and RTI will jointly conduct comprehensive case studies through virtual interviews and review of supporting material for agency practices. These case studies will include information about:

• Victims’ rights education and implementation 
• Victim-centered, trauma-informed response across all ranks and disciplines 
• Challenges to implementing law enforcement-based victim services
• Funding support for victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches

For identified law enforcement agencies with agency-based victim services personnel, the case studies will include additional information about:

• Advocacy parameters 
• Documentation practices
• Partnerships 
• Agency incorporation of victim services personnel

Participating agencies receive site-specific recommendations developed by subject matter experts aimed at enhancing and sustaining victim-centered, trauma-informed approaches. Three agencies demonstrating effective incorporation of practices across all ranks and disciplines will receive on-site visits for enhanced data collection and targeted technical assistance.

Participating agencies include:

Identifying and Incorporating Core Principles of Victim-Centered and Trauma-Informed Response

This resource is designed to provide a streamlined set of emerging practices from the field for first responders, investigators, evidence collection teams, supervisors, and agencies related to victim response efforts.

Agency Self-Assessment Tool for Law Enforcement Victim Support

This resource is designed to assist law enforcement agencies in the self-guided review of practices related to victim response - specifically the integration of victim-centered, trauma-informed practices into the overall operating philosophy and culture of the agency.

Identifying and Securing Funding for Victim Response Efforts

This resource is designed to help law enforcement agencies and their partners identify and secure appropriate funding to support multilayered strategies to meet crime victims' individual needs and strengthen victim response.

Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV)

The Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV) Strategy introduces federal, state, local, campus, and tribal law enforcement leaders to the concepts and benefits of enhancing their response to victims of all crimes. It also illustrates how every person in a law enforcement agency has a role in effective victim response. Due to the customizable nature of the ELERV Strategy, agencies can easily start small and build on their efforts over time.

Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services (LEV)

The IACP is proud to serve as the training and technical assistance provider for the Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services and Technical Assistance Program (LEV Program). Sponsored by the Office for Victims of Crime, this project seeks to establish or enhance victim services programs in criminal justice agencies in order to couple law enforcement-based services with community-based program partnerships to serve the broader needs and rights of all crime victims.

Law Enforcement’s Role in Victim Compensation

Law enforcement officers, often the first and possibly the only professionals to speak to victims following a crime, are a vital component in providing justice, information, and services to crime victims. Law enforcement provides a critical connection between the justice system and victim support services, ensuring that victims know about all available resources. IACP has created resources which include training videos for first responders, investigators, and executive leadership; companion guides to accompany each video and guide discussions; tip cards for law enforcement; and more.

Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI)

The IACP is proud to serve as a partner to RTI International on the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI). This initiative is funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance and is aimed at supporting the jurisdictional reform of approaches to sexual assault cases resulting from evidence found in previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits (SAKs). As a project partner, the IACP lends an important voice towards identifying and developing practices, procedures, and training to enhance victim-centered approaches to sexual assault.

Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training 

The Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training provides law enforcement and multi-disciplinary community partners with information on the neurobiology of trauma and investigative strategies to respond to sexual assault crimes in a victim centered, trauma informed manner.

Vicarious Trauma Response Initiative (VTRI)

Individuals responsible for responding to and addressing the needs of crime victims in various professional capacities are impacted by both single incident and chronic trauma exposure. Through interdisciplinary, cross-agency community collaborations, the VTRI initiative seeks to ensure that all such providers and organizations understand the impact of vicarious trauma and benefit from workplaces and communities of practice that promote their health, wellbeing, and their resilience.

Police professionals from across the globe already contribute to IACP’s understanding of trends, challenges, and successes through vital committee and division work at quarterly meetings and the annual conference. But we live in turbulent times and there is a need for more rapid assessments of dynamic trends and situations. You can be a part of this new venture. RAPID: Blue is a text-based micro-survey that invites officers and police staff of all ranks and assignments to weigh in on critical topics in under 30 seconds a week. Here’s how it works:

1. Enter your contact number and some information about the jurisdiction you serve.
2. You’ll receive one text message per week.
3. Each message includes a single question around a pressing policing topic.
4. Reply with a number from 1 to 5. That’s it. 

Your confidential responses are gathered with many others to inform understanding of emerging patterns and trends and to guide policing strategy and priorities. 

By participating, you contribute to global dialogue and data that shapes training, policy, and advocacy. 

The IACP conducts rapid surveys several times a year to deliver timely, actionable insights directly from community members to the police leaders in your town. One of these surveys is RAPID: Community, a quick-response survey sent via text message, giving residents a chance to weigh in on safety, trust, and perceptions of police. Here’s how it works:

1. Receive 1 to 2 text messages per week.
2. Each message contains one multiple choice question about police, safety, or trust.
3. Simply reply with a number from 1 to 5. That’s it.

Your confidential responses are gathered with many others and shared with local leaders to identify urgent issues and emerging trends, and to provide insight into global patterns and community needs. By participating, you’re contributing to a real-time, global understanding of policing challenges and priorities.

Want to take part? Ask your local police leader to join the RAPID: Community survey today!

National Consortium on Effective Police Interactions with People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (National IDD Consortium)

The IACP is convening a United States group of police and prosecutorial leaders, nationally recognized experts from criminal justice, academic, and nonprofit organizations, and individuals with lived experience to explore promising practices, current research, case law and the legal landscape, existing training and resources, and specific challenges related to recognition, communication, understanding of Miranda rights, vulnerability to suggestion and influence, and risks of false confession when working with this population. This National Consortium engages a wide span of impacted stakeholders and will translate their input into recommendations for innovative policies and practices around police interview and interrogation of individuals with IDD.

Police Leader Roundtable

The IACP hosted a roundtable at the 2025 IACP Annual Conference in Denver, Colorado, to gather feedback and seek guidance from police leaders representing diverse agencies around the U.S. Participants shared their experience in community policing, training, legal issues, civil rights, trauma-informed policing, criminal investigations, interview and interrogation, and interacting with individuals with IDD. Discussions focused on exploring the state of the field in police interview and interrogation of people with IDD, police training and policy needs, engagement strategies to form effective community partnerships with the disability community, prosecution, and criminal defense agencies in local U.S. jurisdictions, and dissemination strategies for upcoming resources.

State of the Field and Roadmap Report

In 2026, the IACP will develop a report on the current state of practice, promising practices, and recommendations for interviewing or interrogating people with IDD. Content will compile findings from IACP’s National IDD Consortium convenings, police leader roundtable, and insights from multidisciplinary subject matter experts. The report will provide recommended strategies for effectively interviewing and interrogating individuals with IDD, training and policy guidance, and community partner engagement strategies that will enhance police practices at the local level.  

Key Takeaways for Police Professionals  

The IACP will condense the recommendations and strategies from the State of the Field and Roadmap Report down to key takeaways for police professionals. The IACP will highlight the issue and topline messages and outline the most essential recommended practices for police interviews and interrogations with individuals with IDD. This high-level resource will provide actionable recommendations to help agencies and officers operationalize promising practices from across the U.S. 

Promotion to the Field

The IACP, partners, and the National Consortium members will share project resources and recommendations with the field. A robust marketing and dissemination strategy will be deployed through IACP's website, social media, conferences, podcasts, and webinars. 

This content is designed for reference purposes only. The IACP does not necessarily endorse, certify, recommend, or promote any particular resource(s) within.

• Better Encounters: Police and People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities  
• Improving Law Enforcement Response to Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
• The Arc's National Center on Criminal Justice and Disability

Numerous agencies have created resources to assist with training, awareness, and education efforts. Below are a few that have provided significant resources pertaining to the importance of adopting and implementing TIM strategies.

• Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) - FHWA provides training on Traffic Incident Management (TIM) to responders including law enforcement, Fire, EMS, and Tow & Recovery. Training information can be found in the below Traffic Incident Management Training section.
• Responder Safety - ResponderSafety.com is a website of the Emergency Responder Safety Institute, an advisory group of public safety leaders and transportation experts who are committed to reducing deaths and injuries among America's emergency responders. This site is a clearinghouse of information related to safe, quick clearance and contains resources to facilitate communication with the public.
• National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) - NHTSA has developed resources in both English and Spanish to encourage the use of "Move Over" laws and to emphasize their importance to responder and public safety. These resources include news releases, a media advisory, social media posts, etc.
• Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT) - ADOT provides public education resources demonstrating the importance and benefits of safe, quick clearance and illustrating communities' role in ensuring their own safety and the safety of responders.
  • "Move Over AZ" PSA 

The National TIM Responder Training program, also known as the Strategic Highway Research Program TIM Training, was developed to improve the coordination of all traffic incident responders from the moment the first emergency call is placed through conclusion of the incident and return of normal traffic flow. This training serves as the foundation of TIM response thanks to its curriculum, which is based on extensive and detailed research conducted with TIM responders across the country and delivered using a train-the-trainer approach.

• In-person TIM training - To learn more about training for your agency, visit https://www.FHWA.dot.gov/innovation/everydaycounts/edc-2/tim.cfm. To schedule this training for law enforcement agencies, reach out to the state point of contact for the National TIM Responder Training Program by visiting ops.fhwa.dot.gov/eto_tim_pse/training/state_poc_list.pdf.
•  Online TIM training - The web-based training is available online through the National Highway Institute, the education and training arm of the FHWA. To register for this training, an account will need to be created at https://www.nhi.fhwa.dot.gov/. Search for training course using number FHWA-NHI-133126A.

Utilizing practices that have been created and successfully implemented by other law enforcement agencies can inform your agency's TIM strategy, helping you ensure successful outcomes in the form of safe, quick clearance. Below are some examples of some agencies that have found an effective method to incorporating practices into their agency's routine.

• Washington State Patrol
• Metro Atlantic Traffic Incident Management Strategic Vision
• Best Practices in Traffic Incident Management (FHWA)
•  U.S. Department of Transportation, FHWA Traffic Incident Management Handbook
• IACP Traffic Incident Management

Traffic incidents are a community problem and managing them requires a community approach. Law enforcement agencies' ability to ensure safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents therefore hinges on their ability to build collaborative partnerships with a diverse coalition of stakeholders that includes fire, EMS, state departments of transportation, local transportation officials, tow operators, and the motoring public. 

A Joint Operating Policy (JOP) can be developed to determine what TIM policies agencies may have in place to create a common guideline for effective safe, quick clearance of traffic incidents. JOPs act as the standard for all agencies to update their policies and procedures to include TIM strategies.

The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) describes Open Roads policies as state agencies' partnership goals to remove vehicles, cargo, and debris from roadways in order to restore safe, orderly traffic flow after motor vehicle crashes and other roadway incidents. These goals often include timeframes for incident clearance that start with the arrival of the first responding officer.

Towing & Recovery Incentive Programs (TRIP) facilitate the safe, quick clearance of large commercial vehicle crashes by improving towing procedures through monetary incentives given to qualified towing operators, which builds a mutually beneficial relationship to meet quick clearance goals.

• Georgia's Open Roads Policy
  •  GA's Open Roads Policy Template
• Georgia's TRIP Program
• Florida's Open Roads Policy
• Florida's Joint Operating Policy
• California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and California Highway Patrol (CHP) Joint Operating Policy
• Washington State Department of Transportation, The Washington State Patrol, and The Washington Fire Chiefs' Joint Operating Policy

After-action reports are a crucial component to document a traffic incident. A detailed accounting of the incident and response - particularly when a responder is killed or injured on the scene of an incident - provide the opportunity to learn from an event and apply lessons learned in training as well as in future events. 

• Maine, Falmouth/Portland line of Interstate 295 - After-Action report on incident involving tank trunk on Maine Turnpike for October 2, 2018 - At Mile 9 southbound off ramp
• Seattle, Washington - After-Action report on Aurora Avenue Bus Collision for September 24, 2015 on the Aurora Bridge
• George, Washington (Grant County) - After-Action report on I90 Charter Bus Crash incident for November 22, 2018
• Highway 31-South Carolina (Horry County) - After-Action report on a Highway 31 fire in South Carolina
• Mosier, Oregon (Wasco County) - After-Action report on the derailment of a Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) unit train in Mosier, Wasco County, Oregon on June 3, 2016
• Wisconsin (Winnebago County) - After-Action report on an I-41 multi-vehicle crash in Winnebago County, Wisconsin on February 24, 2019

SAKI Virtual Academy

Interactive e-learning curricula to help reform sexual assault response.

The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Virtual Academy is an online learning platform that offers five e-learning curricula. The curricula are broken out into 24 separate e-learning modules to allow learners to complete courses at their own pace. Through each course learners are asked to complete knowledge checks and case study challenges to assess their comprehension of the course content.  

SAKI Toolkit

Explore, save, and share the resources you need.

The Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) Toolkit offers hands-on resources tailored for the community of practitioners working to respond to cold case sexual assault. Users of the toolkit can explore key categories of sexual assault response, browse topics centered around skill development, and save tools to a customizable Briefcase dashboard.

Explore resources, save them for later, or share tools with others. The SAKI Toolkit is an ideal place to create curriculum for your team or stay up to date with the latest practices in sexual assault response.  

Visit sakitta.org for more information.

Fayetteville and Portland:  Reforming the Response to Sexual Assault 

With funding from the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, the Fayetteville Police Department and Portland Police Bureau are changing how they respond to sexual assault victims, partnering across the community, and bringing offenders to justice. Watch the video to learn more about Fayetteville and Portland’s efforts to end the backlog of unsubmitted rape kits, and find out about other SAKI grantees at www.sakitta.org.

Prosecuting Cold Case SA:  The Dallas County Experience

With funding from the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI), Dallas County is prosecuting sexual assault cold cases as a result of testing previously unsubmitted sexual assault kits. By moving these cases forward, the Dallas County District Attorney's Office is helping to bring long-awaited justice to victims. Watch the video to learn more about Dallas County's efforts, and explore our other SAKI grantees at www.sakitta.org. 

The U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), has released competitive grant announcements under the National Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies; prosecutors’ offices; and governmental non-law enforcement agencies acting as fiscal agents for these types of agencies were eligible to apply for funding. The BJA website provides information on upcoming funding opportunities. Check https://www.bja.gov/funding.aspx for details.

SAKI grantees have access to customized TTA resources as part of their BJA funding that are not available to the general public. However, the SAKI TTA team also creates materials (e.g., guidelines, trainings, webinars) that will showcase best practices and lessons learned and that will be openly accessible to other jurisdictions and the public. 

SAKI Training and Technical Assistance Factsheet

The overarching aims of SAKI are to create a coordinated community response that ensures just resolution to sexual assault cases through (1) a comprehensive and victim-centered approach; (2) jurisdictional capacity building to prevent unsubmitted SAKs in the future; and (3) supporting the investigation and prosecution of cases for which SAKs were previously unsubmitted.

The IACP is positioned to support SAKI sites in their efforts to: 

• assess organizational priorities and develop leadership to sustain a meaningful response to sexual assault;  
• identify promising practices and procedures to implement and/or strengthen sexual assault response;  
• present cutting-edge information and innovative strategies and techniques to enhance the capacity of law enforcement to provide effective, consistent response to victims of sexual assault; 
• develop comprehensive law enforcement and community wide guidance, training sessions, and partnerships to support the elimination of untested SAKs; 
• provide information on the realities of sexual assault victim response and perpetrator behavior, the neurobiological impact of trauma, and effective methods for conducting sexual assault investigations and interviews; and 
• create effective partnerships with community organizations and other criminal justice system partners.

Please contact Emily Burton [email protected] for more information.

The following resources focus on trauma-informed and victim-centered investigative strategies and are curated to support law enforcement and allied professionals in responding to sexual assault investigations. 

• Maximizing Investigative Leads: Recommended Practices for Communicating, Pursuing, and Tracking CODIS Hits
• Re-engaging Cold Case Victims: Factors to Consider
• Criminal Victimization, 2015
• Introduction Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training Curriculum
• Successful Trauma-Informed Victim Interviewing
• 12 Key Questions to Guide Victim Notification Protocols
• Core Standards for Sexual Assault Investigations
• Advocacy and Investigation: Identifying the Unique but Complementary Roles in Sexual Assault Response
• Trauma Informed Sexual Assault Investigation Training Curriculum

The following resources are designed to support agencies in delivering trauma-informed, victim-centered services throughout the duration of a case. They include guidance on best practices for re-engaging victims, maintaining consistent communication, and providing notifications of key case developments in a timely and respectful manner. 

• 12 Key Questions to Guide Victim Notification Protocols
• Guide for Offering Sexual Assault Survivors Continual Support
• Compassionate Response to Disclosure: Advice for Supporting a Victim of Sexual Assault
• Victim Advocacy for Cold Case Sexual Assault: Developing a Work Plan
• What Happens Next? Victim Resources for Support, Questions, and Information in Cold Case Sexual Assaults
• Voices of Survivors: How to Respond to Disclosure of Sexual Assault
• Trauma-Informed Communication: What to Expect When Interacting with Victims of Sexual Assault and Trauma
• Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services (LEV) Getting Started
• Law Enforcement-Based Victim Services (LEV): Key Considerations

Trauma-informed, victim-centered approaches should be the focus for every employee of a police agency. While these approaches tend to be prioritized for patrol response and investigations, they can be integrated into training, policies, and promotions for both sworn and professional staff. The following resources can be used to lift your agency's overall response to victims. 

• Agency Self-Assessment and Community Assessment: Approaches to Domestic & Sexual Violence
• Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV)