Events

Thursday, July 27, 2023 2:00-3:30 PM EST

To be Livestreamed

The National Law Enforcement Museum will engage members of the law enforcement community in a discussion on the impact of unfunded policy decisions by federal agencies on officers who are required to enforce them. Throughout history officers have put their lives on the line to protect citizens and keep our country safe; however, in some instances there have been policy decisions that led to more harm than good. This program will shed light on the historic moments in our nation that should encourage lawmakers and law enforcement officers to work together to ensure we are able to keep both our communities and the officers who serve them safe.

Moderator

Diane Goldstein, Executive Director, Law Enforcement Action Partnership

Participants

Chief Rodney Bryant, Atlanta PD (Ret.), National First Vice President, NOBLE

Jon Adler, President, FLEOA Foundation

Peter J. Forcelli, Deputy Assistant Director, ATF (Ret.)

Michelle Minton, Senior Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation

Moderator

Diane Goldstein

Executive Director, Law Enforcement Action Partnership

Diane Goldstein is a 21-year veteran of law enforcement who served as the first female lieutenant for the Redondo Beach (CA, USA) Police Department. She is a guest columnist for many media organizations, and recognized as a subject matter expert on criminal justice and drug policy. She is the Executive Director of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP), a group of criminal justice professionals that work advancing justice and public safety solutions.

Participants

Chief Rodney Bryant

Atlanta PD (Ret.), National First Vice President, NOBLE

Chief Rodney Bryant is committed to creating a safe environment for citizens, visitors, and stakeholders of the City of Atlanta, his hometown. Chief Bryant has been with the Atlanta Police Department since 1988 and rose through the ranks to become Chief of the agency in 2020. Since his appointment, he has focused on reducing violent crimes, taking guns off the streets, and bridging the gap between police and community. He is committed to advancing APD’s progress as it relates to reform, training and building trust in the diverse communities that are the fabric of the City of Atlanta. Additionally, he believes APD must be a community-focused law enforcement agency that practices equal treatment and respect for all people, while ensuring that the public safety of all Atlantans is enhanced. He also believes that the Atlanta Police Department must proactively meet the complex demands of a diverse, progressive urban city through implementation of continual training.

Under Chief Bryant’s leadership, the Atlanta Police Department is focused on increasing positive engagement among Atlanta’s children and youth through the good work of the Police Athletic League and the Atlanta Police Foundation’s At-Promise Center.

Jon Adler

President, FLEOA Foundation

Jon Adler is a 26-year veteran of Federal Law Enforcement, serving 16 of those years with the United States Attorney’s Office, Southern District of New York. Mr. Adler also served in a presidential appointed position as the Director of the Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance, overseeing the administering of the largest criminal justice federal grant programs, including national training and technical assistance initiatives and policy development. Additionally, Mr. Adler oversaw the largest drug addiction awareness and prevention programs. Recognizing the archaic ineffective approach of burdening local law enforcement with the arrest and incarceration of low-level addicts, Mr. Adler led the forward-thinking programs that encouraged intervention, sustained cognitive therapy and education.

He has served served on the board of directors of the International Council of Police Represented Associations (ICPRA). He collaborated with allied law enforcement leaders on strategies for combatting mutual crime problems such as contraband smuggling. Mr. Adler also served as a charter board member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Law Enforcement Advisory Board.

He currently serves as the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Foundation, overseeing the national programs that support 30,000 federal law enforcement officers nationwide from 65 different federal agencies.

Peter J. Forcelli

Deputy Assistant Director, ATF (Ret.)

Peter J. Forcelli is a retired ATF Deputy Assistant Director and former N.Y.P.D. homicide detective. He worked his way up from “beat cop” to detective, before going on to serve as a Special Agent for the United States Department of Justice, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. There, he rose through the ranks of ATF, eventually becoming a Deputy Assistant Director, where he served as senior ATF official in charge of operations for the Eastern U.S. before assuming command as the head of training for the agency. He was best known for developing complex criminal investigations targeting armed gangs and criminal organizations.

As part of his work in Law Enforcement, Mr. Forcelli has also been involved in the exoneration of eight people who were wrongfully arrested and convicted in Bronx, New York, for murders that they did not commit. One of these individuals was a man that he helped to arrest nearly a quarter of a century earlier. Mr. Forcelli helped each of those people win their freedom, while also identifying and working to help prosecute the actual killers.

Michelle Minton

Senior Policy Analyst, Reason Foundation

Michelle Minton is a senior policy analyst at the Reason Foundation where her research focuses on consumer freedom and drug policy, including issues around alcohol, gambling, nutrition, drug legalization, tobacco, and nicotine.

Minton has authored numerous studies throughout her career on topics such as the impact of “sin” taxes on consumer behavior, the relationship between drug war policies and health outcomes, and the importance of harm reduction in public policy. Her analyses have been published and cited by nationally respected news outlets, peer-reviewed journals, and she regularly appears in news media to discuss the unintended consequences of well-meaning, but ill-conceived regulations which prevent adults from making informed decisions about their own health and wellness.