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Police Futurists International

Since 1991, a very small but growing organization called the Society of Police Futurists International (PFI) has been promoting the awareness of futurism in policing. Futurism refers to scanning trends and making forecasts, conducting futures research, and decision making based upon knowing what desirable future outcomes are and how to seek those outcomes given the forecasts of possible scenarios. PFI was conceived in the mind of its founder, Dr. Bill Tafoya, who at the time was a Supervisory Special Agent with the FBI assigned to the Behavioral Sciences Unit at Quantico, VA. Dr. Tafoya promoted the idea that leadership in the law enforcement community should be aware of the social and environmental trends that were shaping the future, and focusing decision making in such a way as to lead to the best outcomes possible. Dr. Tafoya’s students in his graduate level Police Futures course at the FBI National Academy practiced scanning techniques of various sources of literature, reviewed different methods of conducting futures research, and surveyed the entire student body of their N.A. session.

In 1991, Dr. Tafoya and the FBI hosted the Symposium on the Future of Policing at Quantico. At the conclusion of this intense week, participants felt that an ongoing effort to increase awareness and promote future thinking was important....and that was the beginning of PFI. Participants in the Symposium who signed on with this effort are the Charter Members of PFI. Membership now includes many forward looking police and academic practitioners who share an interest in police futurism.

PFI celebrated its Tenth Anniversary at the World Future Society meeting in Minneapolis in 2002.  Since 1996, PFI has participated annually at the World Future Society (WFS) meetings.  PFI members have been called upon to speak at many conferences and police training seminars, both nationally and internationally.  In July 2000, the FBI Academy again hosted police futurists at "Futuristics and Law Enforcement: The Millennium Conference."  Dr. Carl J. Jensen III, a Supervisory Special Agent of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, assembled a wide-ranging group of PFI members, practitioners and academians to further identify critical future issues in policing.  Additionally, Dr. Jensen now instructs police futurism at the FBI Academy, maintaining the roots to PFI's origins with Dr. Tafoya.

In 2002, PFI entered into an historic agreement with the FBI to form the Futures Working Group (FWG).  The FWG is a collaboration involving PFI members, FBI representatives and other futurists to explore and identify police futures research, projects and issues.

Here in Appleton, the Appleton Police Department has hosted presentations by Dr. Tafoya and other PFI members. PFI and FWG members have been brought to various Wisconsin conferences and training sessions to broaden the vision of law enforcement professionals in our state.  Appleton’s Police Chief is a charter member of PFI, served as its President in 1998-1999, and is a member of the FWG.

PFI is seeking to increase its membership and its services, and invites interested persons to visit their website.  (Please click on graphic for more information.)

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