Center for Management and Technical Assistance

PERF’s staff has conducted management studies of law enforcement agencies for more than 250 jurisdictions, including comprehensive management studies of more than 100 law enforcement agencies. PERF also has conducted a variety of specific types of studies as requested by individual police departments or government entities, including:

  • Resource allocation studies, workload assessments, and beat planning;
  • Productivity analysis and recommendations for improvements;
  • On-site assistance in implementing recommendations
  • Education and training development, delivery, and review;
  • Technology and automation needs assessments, RFP development, and assistance with vendor selection;
  • Organizational climate review;
  • Organizational development planning;
  • Human resource management reviews;
  • Core process identification and process mapping; and
  • Strategic planning assistance.

PERF also offers customized technical assistance (TA) services to local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies across the nation. PERF’s TA services vary in length and scope, and frequently involve on- and off-site work. Agencies typically request PERF’s assistance to provide objective and practical advice on cutting-edge practices and approaches to address critical issues facing their departments or that are impacting police-community relationships. PERF helps agencies identify and implement model policies and practices based on our knowledge of current research and the latest innovations in the field.

Technical assistance requests may be related to specific policies, practices, training programs, or crime challenges, or to address an issue or need that involves looking at policies and practices in a variety of the department’s areas of operations. Some of the areas in which PERF has provided technical assistance to agencies include:

  • Use of force 
  • Homicide investigations
  • Police response to sexual assault
  • Implementing new technologies (e.g., body-worn cameras)
  • Identifying and preventing gender bias 
  • Agency preparedness for active shooter situations
  • Officer misconduct and response
  • Performance management systems 
  • Leadership/management development 
  • Outreach to minority and immigrant communities
  • Building partnerships and community trust 
  • Preventing violent extremism
  • Critical incident response, including response to officer-involved shootings
  • Officer safety and wellness programming
  • Managing mass demonstrations
  • Crime strategy/comprehensive community crime programs
  • Utilizing U Visas as a community policing tool
  • Investigating cybercrime

For more information about PERF's Center for Management and Technical Assistance, please contact Tom Wilson at [email protected] or (202) 454-8328.