About Us

Our Role

DPSST's Center for Policing Excellence (CPE) develops and delivers training and resources that promote the use of research, data, and evaluation to address public safety challenges such as crime and disorder, community livability, and public trust.  CPE provides leadership development programs both on-site and regionally, and facilitates collaborative efforts between researchers and practitioners to support evidence-based decision making.  CPE is also responsible for ensuring DPSST's criminal justice training programs reflect the needs of Oregon's public safety communities, utilize effective educational strategies, and accurately assess learning and performance.

Our History

CPE was created in 2013 with the passing of Oregon House Bill 3194 - Criminal Justice Reform and Reinvestment Act. HB3194 tasked CPE with training updated skills in policing based on scientific research, as well as promoting partnerships between researchers and criminal justice practitioners.  

In 2014, CPE started offering leadership classes again to Oregon public safety with the reintroduction of the Supervisory Leadership Academy (SLA). A year later, the Oregon Knowledge Bank was launched and the 1st Annual Oregon Problem-Oriented Policing Conference was hosted at DPSST.

Since 2017, CPE has steadily continued with the modernization of Basic Academy curriculum in multiple disciplines in an effort to make them more evidence-based, both from learning and police science perspectives. Also in 2017, CPE was included as a partner in Oregon House Bill 20335 - Statistical Transparency of Policing (STOP), which effectively launched efforts to teach and promote equitable policing. This was furthered in 2021 with Oregon House Bill 2162 with the explicit direction to develop such a program.

In 2022, Oregon House Bill 5301 established a formal DPSST Instructor Development program, with the goal of ensuring that all DPSST instructors are familiar with the adult learning best practices and have the skillset needed to promote student success. 

Over the years, the scope of CPE has grown to include developing and maintaining up-to-date curriculum for public safety academies, developing new instructors, building statewide resources for local behavioral health and crisis response programs, and promoting equitable policing. Because of its unique role in Oregon Public Safety - not just policing - and efforts to support police agencies through research, curriculum, and behavioral health, CPE was named a National Institute of Justice Law Enforcement Advancing Data and Science (L.E.A.D.S.) Agency in 2017.

CPE continues to change and grow with the evolving needs of Oregon and remains committed to assisting public safety agencies with providing evidence-based, research-driven, effective service to their communities.

Contact

Gerod Rayburn, Dean of Students