PFI 2003 Annual Conference

PFI 2003 Annual Conference
in conjunction with WFS (World Future Society)
"21st Century Opportunities and Challenges"
July 18-20, 2003
San Francisco, California

PFI hosted five presentations at the 2003 conference in San Francisco.  Given the freshness of the events of 2001, a common theme was terrorism.

Panelists Bud Levin Gary Sykes (Director, Institute for Law Enforcement Administration), Carl Jensen (FBI Special Agent, National Academy) and Chief of Police Gene Hernandez (Chino, California) offered a variety of perspectives on the impact of terrorism on public perceptions of fear.  A common theme was the need to prepare society for both the reality and perception of terrorism.  Government agencies still need to do better at communicating, coordinating and providing funding.  Agent Jensen suggested agencies confront public anxiety by educating the community on actual risks and the unlikelihood of becoming a victim, framing terrorist threats in the context of other calamities and survival, encouraging social involvement via coming technologies, providing credible and specific information, and planning for the future.

Four graduates of the California Law Enforcement Command College shared findings of their research into the application of specific technologies in law enforcement over the next 5 to 10 years.  These technologies included:  global positioning satellite technology for managing alternatively sentenced offenders, various options for emerging satellite surveillance technology, the use of DNA technology in sex crime investigations, and the impact of biometrics on the identification of criminals.  Each area shared commonalities regarding the readiness of the public to accept these advancements, which could be opposed by many civil libertarians and/or embraced by those seeking greater securitypost-September 11. There is no doubt these technologies can have a great positive impactin reducing or redirecting crime, reducing false identifications of innocent people, and increasing the conviction of actual suspects.  Details of their research can be found by accessing www.post.ca.gov and going to the library Clearing House.  Presenters were:  Captain Mark Getchel, El Dorado County SO, Captain Lief Nicolaisen, Glendale PD, Captain Sharon Shaffer, Fresno PD, and Lieutenant Tim Taylor, Bakersfield PD.

Four PFI members examined the role of the community in combating terrorism.  G. Marcus Aurelius (emergency management coordinator for the city of Phoenix) addressed the complex world of local emergency planning and the need for coordination of all emergency service units, including a unified communications system.  Thomas J. Christoffel (executive director of Regional Intelligence, Front Royal, Virginia) discussed the need for more coordinated regional planning and implementation efforts.  Lt. Ed Cisneros (Chino, California, Police Department) address local needs for better educated and trained officers who are the first responders to any emergency.  Dr. Gene Stephens (Professor Emeritus at the University of South Carolina), revisited the history of policing as a preventive body.  Dr. Stephens stressed that law enforcement in partnership with the community needed to return to preventing terrorism rather than responding after the fact.

PFI Founder Bill Tafoya chaired presentations by Richard Bruce, Deputy Chief and Director of Special Operations and Security Bureau, San Francisco PD; William C. Boni, Vice President and Chief Information Protection Officer, Motorola Coropration; and Mark Mershon, Special Agency in Charge, SF FBI.  Following each presentation, Mr. Tafoya facilitated question and answers from the audience.  Panelists addressed the shared responsibility of agencies to protect the country’s critical infrastructures and cybersecurity.  They also pointed out that terrorists, contrary to motives in traditional crimes, are generally religious fanatics with no prior contact with law enforcement, which makes prevention more challenging.

This was a single-facilitator event presented by Dr. Gene Stephens.  Dr. Stephens’ theme was that humankind must evolve beyond historical self-interests (“primitive prejudices and arrogance”) into “intelligent participatory evolution…to create a more adaptable and capable humankind…” or the world will self-destruct.