Police Executive Research Forum (PERF)
The Police Executive Research Forum (PERF) is a left-of-center organization that produces research reports and opinion pieces on the state of policing in the United States. 1 PERF was created in 1976 to advocate for the reduction of the use of force in policing and develop community policing and other policing methods that seek to address core community problems. 1
Contents
Finances
In 2019, Police Executive Research Forum reported $4,931,830 in contributions, 2 $4,517,133 in revenue from program services, 3 and $9,568,129 in total revenue. 4 The organization made $9,062,699 in expenditures 5 and possessed $4,331,772 in net assets. 6
Advocacy
Excessive Use of Force Audits
Police Executive Research Forum advocates for de-escalation training, which limits use of force by police officers and at other times constrains police officers in their ability to enforce the law. 7 PERF audited the Paterson, New Jersey Police Department for excessive use of force based on records from 2018 through 2020 and claimed to have found that the department does potentially engage in a high frequency of excessive force use. 8 The audit highlighted that 56.8 percent of victims of excessive use of force were African Americans. 8 PERF received $167,000 from the Paterson Police Department to conduct the audit. 8
Reducing Police Access to Lethal Weapons
PERF has advocated for limiting police department access to lethal weapons, including in crowd control and protest settings, where it has advocated for limiting crowd control to using tear-gas and bean-bag guns. 9
PERF has also called for federal research into the practicability of limiting police access to lethal weapons in crowd control settings, such as recommending that National Institute of Justice, the research arm of the Department of Justice (DOJ), conduct a thorough study into the matter. 9
De-Escalation Training
After the police-involved death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, PERF began providing nationwide training to police departments across the country on how to de-escalate sensitive situations, with the objective of conducting training sessions at as many of the 18,000 police departments across the country as possible. 10
One of the more controversial theories taught by PERF is Integrating Communications Assessment and Tactics (ICAT), a theory that rejects standard police operating procedure to respond to aggression. 11 PERF advocates for the use of ICAT in nearly all situations where the assailant does not have a gun. 11
Leadership
Chuck Wexler is the executive director of PERF. 12 Prior to joining PERF, Wexler held positions in the Boston Police Department, including operations assistant to the City of Boston Police Commissioner. 12
Financial Statistics
Total Assets
Total Revenue
Total Expenses
| Year | Total Assets | Total Revenue | Total Expenses | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $23,014,614 | $11,835,713 | $11,922,030 | View |
| 2023 | $21,370,586 | $12,495,835 | $13,339,582 | View |
| 2022 | $24,845,959 | $20,016,688 | $10,261,284 | View |
| 2021 | $13,229,759 | $9,098,163 | $8,244,232 | View |
| 2020 | $12,688,114 | $5,899,545 | $6,164,979 | View |
Prior year filings: 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
Revenue Detail
Expenses Detail
Employee Compensation
- Number of Employees: 37
Highest Earning Employees
Grant Activity
All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:
- Total Grant Value: $35,049,179
- Number of Grants: 80
- Number of Funders: 16
Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years: