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Policing Pioneer Darrel Stephens on the Future of Nighttime Safety

Darrel Stephens

A pioneer in modern American policing, Darrel Stephens talks to RHI founder Jim Peters about current trends in nightlife safety. Stephens discusses the emergence of evidence-based policing and community policing, and how this framework can be applied to social districts.  Peters and Stephens discuss the future of nightlife security. Police staffing shortages require increased collaboration with trained private security. They also discuss emerging robotic and artificial intelligence technologies that can monitor suspicious activity in crowded nightlife areas. Dedicated police units, private trained security, and increased technology will comprise the continuum of nightlife safety in the future.

Darrel Stephens

Former Executive Director

Major Cities Chiefs Association

Darrel Stephens consults on a wide range of police leadership and management issues. He served as the Executive Director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association from October 2010 to October 2017. He is an accomplished police executive with almost 50 years of experience in policing. His career began as a police officer in Kansas City, Missouri in 1968. He has 26 years’ experience in a police executive capacity, including nine years (September 1999 to June 2008) as the Chief of Police of the 2100 member Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. In addition to his police experience, he served for 2 years as the City Administrator in St. Petersburg, Florida. He also served as a member of the faculty of the Public Safety Leadership Program in the School of Education at Johns Hopkins University from 2008 to 2013. In addition, he was the Executive Director of the Police Executive Research Forum from 1986 until 1992. He served as one of two technical advisors to the President’s Task Force on 21stCentury Policing. He has written extensively about policing, is widely sought after for consulting and a frequent speaker advocating progressive policing approaches. He holds a bachelor’s degree in the Administration of Justice from the University of Missouri Kansas City and a Master of Science Degree in Public Services Administration from Central Missouri State University.