Georgetown Law Hosts 4th Annual Conference on Law Enforcement Active Bystandership

August 9, 2021

On Wednesday and Thursday, Aug 11-12, Georgetown Law’s fast-growing Active Bystandership for Law Enforcement (ABLE) Project, Loyola Law and the New Orleans Police Department will co-host the 4th Annual Conference on Law Enforcement Active Bystandership.

WHAT

In the wake of George Floyd’s murder, Georgetown University Law Center’s Innovative Policing Program turned a successful New Orleans PD program designed to promote active bystandership among police officers into a national movement to prevent policing harm and change police culture.

In the past year, Georgetown Law’s ABLE Project has certified 159 law enforcement agencies serving more than 64 million people in the U.S. to train over 100,000 officers how to intervene to prevent other officers from causing harm. To join ABLE, police agencies must commit to culture change at every level and demonstrate community support for their participation.

Large ABLE agencies include NYPD, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Dallas, Denver, Seattle, Tucson and Milwaukee police departments and statewide agencies in New Jersey, Washington and New Hampshire — among others.

This annual conference on law enforcement active bystandership is designed to empower prospective and current ABLE agencies and communities to transform policing culture and prevent harm.

WHO

Keynotes:

  • Dr. Ervin Staub, Holocaust survivor who pioneered active bystandership research, ABLE founding partner and board member (Aug. 11)
  • Chief Michael Harrison, Baltimore Police Department; former New Orleans police chief; ABLE board member (Aug. 12)

Chiefs’ Panel (Aug. 11):

  • Commissioner Danielle Outlaw, Philadelphia Police Department
  • Chief Shaun Ferguson, New Orleans Police Department
  • Sheriff Jerry Clayton, Washtenaw County, Michigan

Other speakers include:

Christy Lopez, ABLE Co-founder, Georgetown Law; Jonathan Aronie, ABLE Co-founder, Sheppard Mullin; and participants from Facebook; FBI; Loyola Law; Mastercard; Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Conciliation; U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum and 17 law enforcement agencies/organizations based in Baltimore; Burlington, NC; Dallas; Denver; Cleveland; Kingston, Ontario; New Hampshire; New Orleans, New York City; Philadelphia; Seattle; St. Louis; Utah; Washington, D.C.

WHEN

Wednesday & Thursday, August 11 & 12, 2021, 11am – 5 pm EDT

WHERE

View the schedule and register here.

Once registered, you will receive a Zoom link the evening before the conference begins.

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Find the new ABLE white paper and a U.S. appellate court case compendium on law enforcement officers’ legal duty to intervene and more on the ABLE Resource Hub.


Georgetown University Law Center is a global leader in legal education based in the heart of the U.S. capital. As the nation’s largest law school, Georgetown Law offers students an unmatched breadth and depth of academic opportunities, taught by a world-class faculty of celebrated theorists and leading legal practitioners. Second to none in experiential education, the Law Center’s numerous clinics are deeply woven into the Washington, D.C., landscape. More than 20 centers and institutes forge cutting-edge research and policy resources across fields including health, the environment, human rights, technology, national security and international economics. Georgetown Law equips students to succeed in a rapidly evolving legal environment and to make a profound difference in the world, guided by the school’s motto, “Law is but the means, justice is the end.”