Expanding the Reach and Impact of the 30x30 Initiative

Building on a 50-year legacy and commitment to the study and advancement of women in policing, the National Policing Institute seeks to partner with the Bureau of Justice Assistance to support the current goals of the 30x30 Initiative. Historically, women police officers in the U.S. have encountered myriad challenges to fulfilling careers and the share of women police officers has remained frustratingly stagnant in recent decades. At the same time, research shows women officers bring valuable strengths that yield public safety benefits, such as women officers are less likely to use force in civilian encounters, fire their service weapon in the line of duty, be the recipient of civilian complaints, and have a sustained use of force allegation. Partly in response to this promising body of evidence, the 30x30 Initiative was launched in March 2021 to increase the representation and improve the experiences of women in policing.

In its role as technical assistance provider for the 30x30 Initiative, the Institute will rely on a data-driven approach to prioritize and target resources. The approach to onboarding new agencies will be retooled, which will facilitate the successful launch of a second cohort of agencies in the spring of 2024. In addition, reporting requirements will be overhauled, such that agency reports can better serve individual agencies and help paint a national picture of the collective areas of progress and challenges. As technical assistance provider, the Institute team will design and disseminate a new survey instrument that 30x30 agencies can administer to women officers to assess their year-to-year progress.

New resources that are accessible to practitioner audiences will be developed including, but not limited to, policy templates, case studies, research summaries, and topic-specific policy briefs. The collection of 30x30 agencies can be better utilized as a community of practice to share promising practices and helpful resources and, as such, a customized, 30x30 Initiative-branded community of practice will be developed leveraging the Institute’s existing online community platform, Higher Logic. Technical assistance will be provided to 30x30 agencies in a variety of formats including peer-to-peer learning and connections with nationally known subject matter experts. In addition, the Institute will design and administer a microgrant program to provide financial resources to participating 30x30 agencies in good standing.