Draft:Chuck Wexler

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Chuck Wexler (born October 25, 1950) is a non-profit executive and an expert on U.S. policing. He has served as Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum since 1993. Wexler has led PERF in the development of national guidelines on police use of force^[1] and, in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Justice, published recommended policies and practices on police use of TASERS,^[2] body-worn cameras^[3] and vehicle pursuits^[4]. Wexler is frequently quoted by national and local news media, and he has participated in several online discussions on policing.^[5]

Prior to joining PERF, Wexler served in various positions at the Boston Police Department (1975–1986) and as Special Assistant to nation's first Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy (1989–1991).

Wexler's approach to police research is grounded in the real-life experiences of police departments and their leaders.^[6] Each year, he moderates meetings of police executives that focus on critical issues in policing, resulting in reports on various topics.^[7]

Wexler was born and raised in Boston and graduated from Newton South High School. He received his bachelor's degree in 1972 from Boston University. Wexler has a master's degree in criminology from Florida State University (1975) and a PhD in urban studies and planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1984). He has taught classes at MIT and was a visiting assistant professor at Bowdoin College.

In 1975, while studying at MIT, Wexler was hired as a student intern by the Boston Police Department, which was undergoing a period of reform under Commissioner Robert di Grazia.^[8] Wexler worked alongside William Bratton, a Boston Police sergeant at the time who went on to lead the police departments in Boston, New York City and Los Angeles. Wexler and Bratton have remained friends and colleagues ever since, and Bratton served two stints as president of PERF.

As Operations Assistant to the Boston Police Commissioner, Wexler worked on the BPD's efforts to prevent racial violence in the wake of court-ordered desegregation of the Boston school system. Wexler helped to create and manage the police department's Community Disorders Unit, which focused on prosecuting and preventing racially motivated crime.^[9][10] On July 25, 1979, Wexler was on the scene when Police Superintendent Edward F. Connolly, the No. 3 official in the department, was shot in the chest while negotiating a hostage situation.^[11][12] Wexler, Patrolman Frank Delaney and others helped to get Connelly to safety and receive life-saving medical attention. Wexler and Delaney received special citations from the Police Department and the Award of Honor from the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association.

Wexler served as Director of the Professional Services Division of the International Association of Chiefs of Police from 1986-1989. In 1989, he was hired as a special assistant to William Bennett, the first director of the newly created Office of National Drug Control Policy under the administration of President George H. W. Bush.

In 1993, Wexler was hired as Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum, in Washington, D.C. Under Wexler, PERF has focused on a range of issues, including community policing,^[13] violent crime,^{[14][15][16][17]} gun violence reduction,^[18] the opioid crisis,^[19][20] managing mass demonstrations,^[21] training,^[22] technology,^[23][24] and recruitment and retention of officers.^[25][26]

A particular focus of Wexler at PERF has been on minimizing police use of force through de-escalation and related tactics.^[27][28] PERF has published several reports on the topic, which identified improved training as a critical need.^[29][30][31]

In November 2015, Wexler led a delegation of approximately two dozen U.S. police chiefs and other leaders to the Scottish Police College at Tulliallan Castle to learn how members of Police Scotland train in use of force.^[32] Because most police officers in the United Kingdom do not carry firearms for personal protection, they need to employ a range of tactics when confronting individuals armed with knives, clubs or other dangerous weapons.^[33] Wexler and PERF staff also conducted site visits to the Police Service of Northern Ireland (where, unlike Police Scotland, officers do carry firearms but seldom use them on individuals armed with knives and other non-firearm weapons) and the NYPD Emergency Service Unit, which is widely recognized for de-escalating and peacefully resolving dangerous situations.^[34][35] This research resulted in a 128-page report outlining 30 guiding principles agencies should adopt for minimizing their use of force.^[36]

Other police groups immediately criticized some of the proposals.^[37] The recommendation that police agencies adopt use-of-force policies that go beyond the minimum legal standard set in the 1989 U.S. Supreme Court decision Graham v. Connor was especially controversial, with some groups saying it would endanger officers. Wexler defended the guidelines, telling CBS News, "We aspire to have a higher standard in terms of preventing these unfortunate situations from happening at all.... This is about the difference between legal versus moral."^[38]

The 30 Guiding Principles formed the basis of a PERF use-of-force training program that Wexler spearheaded called ICAT: Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics.^[39] Dozens of police agencies across the United States have trained their officers in ICAT.^[40][41] A 2020 study in the Louisville Metro Police Department found that ICAT training was associated with reductions in use-of-force incidents and injuries to both citizens and officers.^[42]

In July 2024, Wexler moderated a meeting of 16 police officials, physicians, emergency medical technicians and other subject matter experts to explore ways to reduce the number of incidents in which people die while being restrained by police. This followed an Associated Press investigation which found that over the past decade, more than 1,000 people in the U.S. died after police subdued them through means not intended to be lethal.^[43] The meeting resulted in a PERF report outlining 15 principles for reducing such deaths through better planning, training and protocols.^[44]

As PERF Executive Director, Wexler has assisted police agencies, in both the U.S. and other countries, in addressing crime and violence. In the mid-1990s, Minneapolis was experiencing a surge in homicides and other violent crimes, earning the city the moniker of "Muderapolis."^[45] Wexler was involved in developing and implementing a comprehensive anti-crime strategy called Minnesota HEALS (Health, Education, and Law and Safety) that the Justice Department identified as a "promising strategy" to reduce gun violence.^[46]

In Kansas City, Missouri, in 2002, Wexler helped to spearhead the Kansas City Together initiative, which brought together police and community representatives to address crime in the city and racial issues within the Kansas City Police Department.^[47]

Wexler has overseen several projects with the Chicago Police Department, including reducing juvenile homicides in some of the city's most troubled areas,^[48] improving coordination between police and public schools, and implementing executive development programs for CPD leaders and mid-level managers.^[49]

In Northern Ireland, Wexler moderated a 2007 conference on "Policing the Future."^[50] The conference, which brought together more than 300 people representing various factions that contributed to the 1999 Patten Report and the emergence of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, examined the PSNI's implementation of the report's recommendations.

In 2013, Wexler brought a group of U.S. police leaders to the Middle East to facilitate a series of joint discussions among top officials of the Israel Police and the Palestinian Civil Police Force, with the cooperation of Jordan.^[51] The purpose was to strengthen the rule of law in the region and enhance cooperation among police agencies.

Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Wexler developed relationships with various police leaders in Ukraine to learn about policing in a battle zone. In late 2023, with support from the Howard G. Buffett Foundation and the assistance of former Baltimore Police Commissioner Fred Bealefeld, chief security officer at Under Armour, PERF purchased 1,000 sets of Under Armour boots and ColdGear tops and bottoms for officers in the Kyiv Police. In January 2023, Wexler traveled to Kyiv to personally present the donation.^[52] Wexler returned to Urkaine two more times to discuss the investigation of war crimes and see how police officers and others wounded in the war are being treated for physical and emotional injuries.^[53]

Wexler has been involved in controversial, high-profile issues. In 2010, he chaired the Cambridge Review Committee, a 12-member panel created to identify lessons for police departments from the 2009 arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts.^[54]

In 2011, Wexler chaired the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Task Force on Secure Communities. The group examined federal immigrations enforcement practices and their impact on community policing in American municipalities, and provided recommendations for improving the Secure Communities program.^[55]

In 2011, Wexler and PERF were accused of developing a coordinated strategy for the police response to the Occupy protests in U.S cities.^[56] In response, the hacker group Anonymous claimed responsibility for hacking PERF and other police groups.^[57] Wexler acknowledged that in the fall of 2011 he hosted two conference calls of police chiefs on the Occupy protests.^[58] He said the calls were routine information sharing sessions that PERF held for chiefs to report on what was occurring in their jurisdictions and to discuss common concerns, including traffic control, sanitation and safely facilitating marches.^[59]

In 2006, Wexler was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his work with British and American police agencies. In 2016, he was selected by Politico as one of the "Politico 50," an annual list of "thinkers, doers and dreamers" who are changing America.^[60] In 2017, Wexler received the Distinguished Alumni Award from the College of Criminology & Criminal Justice at Florida State University.^[61]

Wexler is married to Jan Hirshberg, a children's book author, teacher and reading language specialist. The couple has two children and three grandchildren. They reside in Bethesda, Maryland.