Membership Eligibility

Anyone who is interested in policing, has completed a 4-year college degree program, and subscribes to PERF’s principles is eligible to join PERF. 

Benefits of PERF membership include the following: 

The PERF Daily Clips:  An email sent to PERF members every working day, with approximately 10-12 carefully selected news media articles about important issues in policing.  The PERF Clips include local, national, and international stories, as well as news about chiefs being appointed and other personnel changes. Each issue of the Clips also includes a “Good News” story and a Photo of the Day. Our goal is to save you time by sending you the news you need to know in a quick-to-read format. 

PERF Trending: People, Ideas, and Events:  On Saturday mornings, PERF’s Executive Director sends an email to members with news and commentary about what’s happening at PERF and in the policing profession. PERF Trending includes features about our members, hot issues that are emerging, and upcoming events. 

PERF reports and meetings:  PERF members also receive hard copies as well as digital copies of PERF reports as soon as they are released. And PERF members receive invitations to participate in PERF conferences and national and regional meetings. 

PERF's Principles

The principles that guide PERF are:

1. Research, experimentation, and exchange of ideas through public discussion and debate are paths for development of a professional body of knowledge about policing;

2. Substantial and purposeful academic study is a prerequisite for acquiring, understanding and adding to the body of knowledge of professional police management;

3. Maintenance of the highest standards of ethics and integrity is imperative to the improvement of policing;

4. The police must, within the limits of the law, be responsible and accountable to citizens as the ultimate source of police authority; and

5. The principles embodied in the Constitution are the foundation of policing.


GENERAL MEMBERSHIP ($475/calendar year)

To qualify for general membership, a person must:

  • Be the executive head of a municipal, county or state-funded agency that provides general police services. The agency must have at least 100 full-time employees, or serve a population of 50,000 or more people. 
  • Hold a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

 

SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP ($150/calendar year)

For general and subscribing members who have retired from public service.

 

SUBSCRIBING MEMBERSHIP ($200/calendar year)

If you do not qualify for general membership, you may qualify as a subscribing member, provided you have at least a baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university.

Subscribing members include:

  • Executive heads of law enforcement agencies that fall below the size threshold for general membership.
  • Members of law enforcement agencies of any size who hold a position other than the executive head of the agency.
  • Members of other criminal justice system agencies.
  • Members of institutes, research bureaus, law enforcement associations, criminal justice planning councils and other organizations engaged in criminal justice research and administration.
  • Professors of accredited colleges and universities who teach or conduct research in the field of criminal justice. 
  • People who have contributed significantly to improving the administration of justice and community safety.

 

Click Here to Join PERF