The Board of Directors of The Society for Police and Criminal Psychology are pleased to announce that while we needed to postpone our conference in Providence, Rhode Island until 2021, we will hold our annual meeting online, Thursday, November 5 through Saturday, November 7, 2020.  Please join us!  Our conference will be hosted on Zoom and our poster session will be on a special website.  No travel needed. No expensive hotels!  We'll keep costs to a minimum but will still provide an opportunity for members and students to share ideas, best practices, and cutting-edge research in the fields of police and criminal psychology. We want to hear from clinicians, academics, police officers, legal professionals, and students. CEU's will be available for professional presentations.  This year we especially welcome presentations and posters that address the conference theme:

Police and Criminal Psychology During Challenging Times:  Current Issues and our Future

We are particularly interested in presentations that focus on issues that have emerged during this recent period of multiple concurrent crises, including but not limited to, the pandemic, public concern about ethnic bias and use of force, and civil unrest.  We welcome national and global perspectives on these and other issues, and we invite the international community to submit presentation proposals and to join us at the conference. Following the SPCP tradition, this online conference will include many short presentations,  posters and some panel discussions that will provide participants with an opportunity to learn from each other.

Call for Proposals

Our conference will host both presentations and posters:

Presentations will be limited to 15 minutes.  After three presentations, presenters will participate in a a 15-minute question & answer session. Presentations may be made by professionals only; students are not permitted to make presentations.  Experienced practicing professionals who are currently enrolled in a doctoral program may request to do a presentation. Decisions will be made on a case-by-case basis; please contact the CEU chair, JoAnne Brewster at brewstja@jmu.edu.  Prerecorded PowerPoint presentations are strongly preferred; but they must be followed by a live 5-minute question & answer session.  (Additional instructions will be provided after your proposal is accepted.)

Posters should be prepared as a single PowerPoint slide and accompanied by a 5-minute video that reviews key points. Posters will be available for viewing throughout the conference, however, during the designated "poster session," presenters must be available to answer questions and discuss their work.  (Additional instructions will be provided after your poster is accepted.) Students at any level (undergraduate and graduate) are encouraged to submit posters. There is an award and honorarium for the best student poster (see below for details). Professionals may also present posters if they prefer. No CEU's will be available for poster presentations.

The deadline for submission of proposals was August, 1, 2020.  Our conference committee is actively reviewing submissions and authors will be notified of decisions soon.  At least one author for each presentation must register for the conference no later than September 1 to be included in the program.  

To enable us to offer APA-approved Continuing Education Units (CEUs), every submission MUST include two learning objectives (requested on the submission form). After submitting the form, please email your current Curriculum Vitae (CV) to JoAnne Brewster (brewstja@jmu.edu). Your submission will not be considered complete unless it includes all of the information requested on the form and your CV is received. Timely submission of your proposal and CV would be most appreciated.  Note that presenters must be available during assigned presentation times to answer questions, in order for presentations to qualify for CEU's.

The primary (corresponding) author of proposals for presentations and posters will be notified about the status of their requests shortly after the submission deadline. Presenters are expected to register for the conference shortly after proposal decisions are distributed.  You must be a current 2020 SPCP member to access the registration form to register for the conference.  If you have any questions regarding presentations or posters contact Wayman Mullins (wm04@txstate.edu) and copy JoAnne Brewster (brewstja@jmu.edu).

Conference Registration

Your dues must be paid through 2020 before you can register.  If you attempt to register for the conference and your dues are not paid, you will be prompted to pay your dues before you will be able to proceed. Please note that this year's registration fees are being kept as low as possible; therefore, 2021 dues are not included in the conference registration.  You will be reminded to pay your 2021 dues at the end of 2020.

Choose from the following options:

	Full Members	Student Members
Registration (Pay by September 30, 2020)	$50	$25
Late Registration (Starting October 1, 2020)	$75	$50

Continuing Education Credits.  Conference attendees may also earn credit for continuing education (CEUs) by paying an additional $40 fee when registering for the conference. Typically, approximately 12-13 CEUs have been available at each in-person conference. Since this is our first online conference, it is unclear at this time how many CEUs will be available.

Special Agency Rate.  Does your agency want to participate as a team?  Perhaps you would like to assemble a group in a meeting room and display the conference to the whole team using a single computer connection.  Please contact JoAnne Brewster (brewstja@jmu.edu) to discuss a special conference rate.  We will need to know how many people will participate and how many connections will be needed.

Notes. Conference capacity is limited--Register soon to assure your spot.  For best rates, register by September 30. Differing from our tradition, to keep the cost of this event very low, participants in this online conference will not receive complimentary dues for the following year.

REGISTER FOR THE CONFERENCE HERE

Award and Honorarium for the Best Student Poster

The Society for Police & Criminal Psychology supports the pursuit of academic excellence by encouraging the submission of posters by current students at the undergraduate, masters, or doctoral level.  The Michael Serafino Award is given annually to the best student poster presented at our yearly conference. Posters are judged on scholarship, contribution to the fields of police and public safety psychology or criminal justice, and the quality of the poster presentation.  This award is accompanied by a cash honorarium.

Get further information about the Michael Serafino Award

Conference History

The Society sponsors an annual conference held in the fall of each year at varying locations throughout the United States. The conference focuses on the interface between criminal justice system and the behavioral sciences. It includes presentations on international perspectives in policing, specialized police procedures and techniques, personnel issues in criminal justice agencies, the law, litigation issues, inmate populations, probation and parole, and other issues affecting individuals in the criminal justice system.

View locations and past presidents list

2019 Conference

Our 2019 conference was held at the Embassy Suites Hilton in Scottsdale, Arizona, September 22 - 25, 2019.

Click here to view the program.

2019 ACCOP Conference in Singapore

ACCOP was a unique opportunity to meet and exchange information with experts in the fields of law enforcement, criminal and operations psychology, and behavioral sciences from both Asia and the West.  More information   

2018 Conference

Our 2018 conference was held in Sarasota, Florida, September 30-October 3, 2018 at the Lido Beach Resort.

Click here to view the program.

2017 Conference

Our 2017 conference was held in San Diego, California, September 13-16, 2017 at the Doubletree by Hilton San Diego Downtown. 

Click here to view the program.

2016 Conference

Our 2016 conference was held in Austin, Texas, September 25-28, 2016 at the Marriott Austin South.

Click here to view the program.

2016 ACCOP Conference in Singapore

ACCOP was a unique opportunity to meet and exchange information with experts in the fields of law enforcement, criminal and operations psychology, and behavioral sciences from both Asia and the West.  More information   

2015 Conference

Our 2015 conference was held in Atlanta, Georgia, September 30 - October 3, 2015 at the Georgian Terrace.   

Click here to view program.

2014 Conference

The 40th annual meeting of the Society was held in Las Vegas, Nevada on September 17-20, 2014.  The conference program is available here.

2013 Conference

The 39th Annual Conference of the Society for Police & Criminal Psychology was held at the Marriott Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, , September 25- 28, 2013.  The conference program is available here.

2012 Conference

The 38th Annual Conference of the Society for Police & Criminal Psychology was held at the Wynfrey Hotel in Birmingham, Alabama, November 7-10, 2012. The conference program is available here.

2011 Conference

The 37th Annual Conference of the Society for Police & Criminal Psychology was held at the Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel in Chicago, IL, October, 18-21, 2011. The conference included an International Summit day, with presentations from numerous international police psychologists.  The conference program is available here.

2010 Conference