With your help, in 2024 MovementForward, Inc’s (MFI) work reached the densest cities and smallest towns across all fifty states and is making our nation safer and more inclusive. The following is a brief review of the past year of MFI’s programming and a preview for the year ahead (registration is now live for PLECET 2025!).

2024 in Review

PLECET: The second year of the Professionalizing Law Enforcement Community Engagement Training (PLECET) National Conference hosted 1,700 attendees for four days of programming that included service projects across the city, twelve training workshops, multiple conference-wide plenary sessions, a fabulous networking evening, and over 20 seminars with national agencies and law enforcement organizations.

LECEN: The Law Enforcement Community Engagement Network (LECEN) grew to 250 members in 47 states. The LECEN features ongoing discussions, webinars, best practice sharing, and the means for community engagement professionals to share advice and tools with similarly situated colleagues. As an example, a LECEN member from the Indiana State patrol received strategies to implement with the homeless while a member from the University of Alabama Police Department secured sample resources to set up a Citizen’s Police Academy.

Faith & Blue: The five-year anniversary of National Faith & Blue Weekend (Faith & Blue) was held to great success from October 11-14. With all fifty states and hundreds of thousands of direct participants, Faith & Blue has become a staple of the calendar. The hundreds of different types of activities included forums on law enforcement practices, open houses, meet and greets, park clean-ups, and safety briefings.

Excitement for 2025

PLECET: In 2025, the PLECET National Conference is going on the road! Prior PLECET attendees shared that they would like the conference to be hosted by new cities to reflect diverse geographies, cultures, and agencies. For that reason, we are pleased to announce that from June 4-June 8, the 2025 PLECET will be held at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago, Illinois. The conference website is live with the agenda posted and registration active. Book now and ensure a space at the 2025 PLECET here: https://www.plecetconference2025.org.

LECEN: In the year ahead, the LECEN will grow its membership while adding state ambassadors and regional councils to facilitate leadership within the network. A custom website is being developed to better share resources, contact information, and conversations, while a new program of local trainings called the Law Enforcement Community Engagement Training (LECET) will be formally launched. If you are interested in joining the LECEN or bringing a LECET training to your community, please contact Kevin Martinez, Manager of Law Enforcement Partnerships, at kevin.martinez@movementforward.org.

Faith & Blue: The dates have been set for Faith & Blue 2025! This sixth year of Faith & Blue will be held from October 10^th-13^th. Please mark your calendars and share these dates with past participants. Stay tuned for the announcement of the winners of the Faith & Blue photo contest and for news about an expanded program of the ‘Rolling Tour” – visiting faith-based organizations throughout the weekend.

It was only five years ago that we launched MovementForward’s national programming to professionalize the field of community engagement within law enforcement. With your help, we are not only enhancing law enforcement, but reconciliation and bridge building broadly. Please consider supporting our work through an end-of-year gift by clicking here. Thank you for being a part of our shared movement forward.

Editorial Disclaimer: All blog posts are contributed by a member of the MovementForward, Inc. team in their personal capacity. The opinions expressed in the posts are the author’s own and do not reflect the views of MovementForward, Inc. or any other partnership associated with the organization.