Police chiefs from towns, cities and
metropolises across the country as well as from beyond its borders are headed toward San Diego, Calif., for the 119th annual International Association of Chiefs of Police Conference and Law Enforcement Education and Technology Exposition.

The San Diego Convention Center is slated to host the long-running event, the origins of which date back to 1893 — the very first year that the association was organized. This year, on Sept. 29-Oct. 3, IACP officials expect 14,000 police personnel and over 750 exhibiting companies to crowd the convention center to attend educational sessions, meet with their counterparts and experts, exchange ideas and problem-solving techniques, and browse an exhibit hall packed with 754 companies demonstrating the latest solutions for today’s law enforcement problems.

Training

The educational portion of the week begins Saturday, Sept. 29, and will feature informative presentations culled from an international array of sources. Members of the selection committee for the chief executive track accepted only the top 15 percent of the presentation proposals submitted for the conference — an indication of the quality of the instruction that participants can expect.

More than 200 workshops will be divided into 13 topical tracks. Attendees can attend workshops from just one track or design their own educational program by attending workshops in various tracks. The chief executive track is the primary and largest track at the annual conference and focuses on the most pressing problems currently facing police chiefs, providing opportunities for fine-tuning individual leadership skills.

Since 2001, the Smaller Agency Technical Assistance Program has also presented a training track at the event. These sessions focus on practical solutions to the unique challenges facing the smaller-agency executive. They highlight innovation, best practices and suggested resources in a relaxed, collegial environment.

The Technology and Information Sharing Track brings together law enforcement practitioners to improve the exchange of information to allow for greater system interoperability within and across jurisdictional boundaries. This series of workshops establishes a peer-to-peer forum that seeks to improve the technical and information-sharing capabilities of the law enforcement community.

Draganfly Innovations Inc. will demonstrate the latest in unmanned aerial surveillance aircraft at the expo. The demonstrations will take place in the exposition hall from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday and from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. (Photo provided)

Lastly, on the exhibit hall floor will be the innovation theatre track educational addition, which consists of short, 20-minute sessions designed to present cutting-edge processes and products.

Exposition

The sheer size of the world’s largest law enforcement education and technology exposition is so overwhelming that organizers recommend developing a schedule to view it. Another recommendation is that departments bring their purchasing agents and other officers to help examine the new products and technology. The IACP has a program to let these attendees in the exhibit hall at no cost.

The world’s largest law enforcement technology exposition will occupy over half a million square feet of exhibit space at the San Diego Convention Center. (Photograph by Convention Photo by Joe Orlando)

Law enforcement officials attend one of dozens of training sessions at the 2011 IACP conference. (Photograph by Convention Photo by Joe Orlando)

The hall is divided into six pavilions: Administration and training; communications/IT; forensic/investigations; personal equipment; weapons and tactical/protective equipment; and vehicles/vehicle accessories.

A map of the exhibit hall and a separate program listing of exhibiting companies and their booth numbers is provided onsite, at www.theiacpconference.org and on the IACP 2012 app. The IACP 2012 is a working conference that provides law enforcement professionals opportunities to attend informative workshops and obtain real-world solutions; network with high ranking officials, experts and peers; engage national experts in discussions discovering new solutions; stay up-to-date with

IACP association information through committee/section/division meetings; and examine the latest in technological developments. Full conference workshop information can be found online at http://www.theiacpconference.org. Certificates of attendance for the workshops, which many attendees use for continuing education credits, are available on-site at registration and by email to members after the conference.