FRA will host two live events in April tailored to the growth of law professionals. The Women in Law Enforcement Summit will take place April 2-4 at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park, and The Police Recruitment and Retention Summit be on April 17-19 in Tampa, Fla. Here’s your inside look at both events and the special discount available to departments sending groups to both conferences.
For years, FRA has provided a space for police personnel to come together to share best practices, hear strategies and tactics from industry leaders with decades of experience, and gain inspiration to rise the ranks. The Women in Law Enforcement Summit, back for its third edition, and The Police Recruitment and Retention Summit, on its 11th meeting, will feature hands-on preconference workshops, unparalleled networking opportunities, and timely discussions around the growth and development of police and public safety personnel.
In addition to high-quality content and speaking faculty, attendees at both events will enjoy top-notch food and beverage throughout their conference experience. Registration for the conferences includes all meals listed on the agenda, including breakfast, lunch, and hors d'oeuvres and cocktails during networking receptions.
Here’s a closer look at what you can expect at both events:
The Women in Law Enforcement Summit
Back by continued popular demand and record-breaking attendance last year, The Women in Law Enforcement Summit will take place April 2-4 at the Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park. This year’s program will include:
Preconference workshop
The first day of the conference, Sunday, April 2, will offer a two-part preconference workshop:
Part one, led by Vereen Barton, MAFP, MPhil, captain, assistant division chief, director of investigative & OAO services, Maryland-National Capital Park Police, will focus on the lived experience of civilian review board members. Participants will learn about the make-up of review board across the nation, the gaps in the current research literature to better understand the lived experiences of civilian review board members, and the result of a qualitative study based on the experiences of civilians on investigative review boards.
Part two of the workshop, led by Lindsey Alli, MBA, CLEE, sergeant, cadet program coordinator, recruiting unit, Columbus Division of Police, will explore how to prepare to start a family and return to work. The session will review how to use communication and planning skills with a leadership team when preparing to start a family and create an action plan for returning to work, training programs that will help you prepare for the physical aspects of your role when you return to work, self-reflection skills when balancing the role of a new parent and a police professional to avoid burn out, and childcare partnerships your department may have in the local community and any financial support to help with associated costs.
A focus on mindfulness
NeuroTransformational Coach, speaker and facilitator, and meditation leader Rachel Tenenbaum, CNTC, PCC, CPCC, will kick off the first day of the main conference, Monday, April 3, with a keynote address on a practical approach to mindful leadership, sharing impactful, tactical tools to help you navigate stress, prevent burnout, and be a more effective, mindful leader. You’ll walk away empowered and inspired to implement new tactics and strategies at work and at home.
Tenenbaum will return bright and early on Tuesday, April 4 to lead a morning meditation and mindfulness session ahead of another busy conference day. The meditative session requires additional registration, at no extra cost.
Hot-button session topics
Throughout the two days of the main conference, general sessions will feature discussions on a range of topics relevant to women in law enforcement:
- Educational opportunities to help with promotion goals
- Trauma informed policing
- Evolution of body and mind: Adapt, train, and succeed in a long-term policing career
- Women’s mentorship program - inspiring change for women in law enforcement
- Creating a brand to stand out from the crowd
- Retention as a recruitment tactic
- Using stay interviews to improve culture and recruiting efforts
- Remaining your authentic self in a male dominated industry
- Driving the next generation of female professionals
- Communication techniques for success
Networking cocktail reception and interactive roundtables
Monday, April 3 will close with a networking cocktail reception and four interactive roundtables on the following topics:
- Develop a nutrition and food preparation plan to remain healthy in a demanding profession
- Hit the reset button: Strategies to reset under pressure
- Best practices to find a mentor
- Maximize social media to reach a younger generation
For more information on The Women in Law Enforcement Summit, including the full agenda, list of speakers, and registration information, click here. Organizations attending both conferences will receive a preferred savings rate. To learn more, contact Terrence Johnson at 704-341-2647 or tjohnson@fraconferences.com.
The Police Recruitment and Retention Summit
Running for more than a decade, The Police Recruitment and Retention Summit will take place April 17-19 in Tampa, Fla. This year’s agenda includes:
Preconference workshop
The first day of the conference, Monday, April 17, will offer a two-part preconference workshop:
During part one, Ron Camacho, chief of police, Chambersburg Borough Police Department, will discuss strategies to overcome toxic employees. Camacho will explore how to identify stand-out traits of toxic energy that can impact retention efforts within your department, communication and intervention strategies to educate and remove toxic behaviors, and the benefits of removing toxic team members on the overall culture of your department.
Part two of the workshop, Second Chance- Opportunities Arise Through Closed Doors, led by Antionette Tull, chief executive officer, Hurtle, LLC, will look at how to recapture the aspirations of candidates that failed the first time to generate a more prepared approach for the second attempt, how to guide future police professionals through education and knowledge to achieve success, and how to use the same approach for current professionals, after an unsuccessful promotion attempt, to retain their expertise and prepare them for the next opportunity.
A focus on advanced recruitment strategies
Day one of the main conference will feature several sessions focused on advanced methods for recruitment success:
The conference will kick off with a session on capitalizing on technological advancements to improve the recruitment process with Marvin “Ben” Haimin, chief of staff, Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police Department. Haimin will discuss which products and solutions are in the market that can help streamline your recruitment process to avoid losing quality candidates, which technology solutions are the best fit for your organization and how to implement them within your processes, and how to leverage valuable feedback from academy graduates on the pain points that they experienced to identify areas of improvement.
Mike Boward, sergeant, Fort Collins Police, will lead a session on high standards in the recruitment process. He’ll delve into setting high standards and expectations early in the recruitment process to highlight positive values within your department, how to implement core messages of your department brand throughout the academy training schedule, and how to create a culture from the beginning which will ease new candidates into a successful environment.
Lindsey Alli, MBA, CLEE, sergeant, cadet program coordinator, recruiting unit, Columbus Division of Police, and Graham Tinius, INCI, master field training officer, NAFTO, will speak on how all officers are recruiters and how to promote a positive image of your department. Alli and Tinius will share how to educate all officers of the importance of a positive imagine within their community as a recruiting tool, how to implement social media education to avoid costly errors that could tarnish the image of employee and department, and how to promote positive images and stories of success within your department to attract the next generation of recruits.
A spotlight on retention
Retention will be a common theme throughout the second day of the main conference. Sessions will include:
A look at inclusive retention strategies for informal leaders, including how to offer education and guidance to informal leaders on how they can improve department retention rates, how to ensure that informal leaders understand the department culture and possess the attributes to lead their teams to achieve goals, and how to educate leaders to identify “red flags” to interject and retain valuable assets within your department.
A discussion on how to evaluate successful incentive programs to retain valuable professionals, including reviewing department staff to evaluate which team members are in need and deserving of incentives to retain their knowledge and experience, identifying non-financial incentives that can be used to encourage valuable professionals to remain a crucial part of your organization, and the cost of replacing experienced officers to confirm that a financial incentive is an important contribution to the continuity of beneficial employees.
There will also be a session on retention through advanced guidance on health and wellness, with a focus on how to ensure all officers have a support team to rely on with strong communication skills and understanding of stresses related with the professions, how to offer guidance on stress management techniques to help officers “switch-off” when off duty, and how to prepare information for all professionals to educate on the importance of exercise, diet and nutrition, and sleep to achieve a successful healthy balance.
Timely general sessions
Additional session topics throughout the conference include:
- How pre-screening can increase candidate acceptance rates and decrease hiring costs
- Military experience as a new channel for recruitment
- Technology to modernize your hiring and onboarding process
- Targeted marketing to increase youth engagement
- Maximizing lateral hires to add experience to your team
- New techniques to increase diversity, equity, and inclusion within your department
- Successful approaches to overcome professional burnout
- Mentor and mentee- transfer knowledge and wisdom to the next generation
- Team building for success and continuity
For more information on The Police Recruitment and Retention Summit, including the full agenda, list of speakers, and registration information, click here. Organizations attending both conferences will receive a preferred savings rate. To learn more, contact Terrence Johnson at 704-341-2647 or tjohnson@fraconferences.com.