Police officers, K9s flock to Downtown Evansville as national conferences get underway

EVANSVILLE — Downtown Evansville has been abuzz this week as law enforcement officers and officials began arriving to attend two nationwide police conferences.

The International Association of Chiefs of Police Public Information Officers midyear conference and the U.S. Police Canine Association National Detector Dog Trials run through Wednesday.

The events are a major draw for Evansville's Downtown, and for the Evansville Police Department, which is hosting both conferences for the first time.

"The IACP Public Information Officers Midyear conference brings together public information officers from across the globe to deep-dive into new information-sharing efforts, best practices, case studies and more," the event's website states.

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EPD Assistant Chief Phil Smith, who previously acted as the department's spokesperson, said attendees will discuss how to handle "critical incidents," conduct training, and examine new ways to interact with the community.

"LAPD (Los Angeles Police Department) is going to be here, we have agencies from New York — you name it," Smith told the Courier & Press. "We have people coming from all over to be a part of this and you get to hear from the best minds in public information."

EPD Chief of Police Billy Bolin said companies such as Meta, which owns Facebook, also plan to host classes covering social media use for law enforcement purposes.

"One of the things that's changed rapidly not only our profession but everywhere, is what the media was 10 years ago and what it is now," Bolin said. "Social media is a huge part of this PIO conference, as well as telling your story and getting it out there on social media platforms."

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The National Detector Dog trials will see dozens of police dogs competing to detect explosives, narcotics and other chemicals. Bolin said that while the focus of the conference is on detection, many of the dogs present will be "dual use," meaning they are also capable of apprehension.

Popular breeds include Labrador retrievers, German shepherds and Belgian malinois, Bolin said.

The trials are cohosted with support from the American Kennel Club and other organizations, according to USPCA spokesperson Drisha Leggitt.

"These skills are particularly vital now, as first responders work to identify and prevent dangerous narcotics such as fentanyl and other deadly opioids - as well as firearms and explosives - from threatening their communities," Leggitt stated in a news release.

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The EPD said that this year's K-9 competition will be closed to the public.

"Room searches will be taking place at various venues across the city," the departement stated in a Facebook post. "Dogs will also be showing off their skills sniffing vehicles."

The events kicked off Saturday morning with the SWAT Challenge, a 5K run through downtown that raised funds for the EPD Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides services to officers and their families.

Runners clad in T-shirts and gym shorts could be seen dashing through the course, churning out burpees and navigating obstacles — including a sandbag-laden run through a parking garage.

Past locations to host the IACP's public information officer conference include Toronto, Canada; Arlington, Texas; New York City and Cambridge, Massachusets. Smith said the EPD's past and present involvement with both the IACP and the USPCA helped land this year's events in Evansville.

"I also want to note that this conference would not be coming here if the Evansville Police Department wasn't known on a national scale as a respected agency that has transparency," Smith said. "We live here in Evansville, but on a national scale, people look at Evansville as one of the agencies that has best practices."

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Smith and Bolin also said EPD personnel have, for years, served on committees and advisory boards for both the IACP and USPCA.

"We're heavily involved with both of these this week," Bolin said. "Our K-9 team is all hands on deck rolling out the red carpet for the canine teams that are here working with them."

Smith, Bolin and the EPD's current public information officers, Sgt. Anna Gray and Sgt. Taylor Merriss, will be working the public information conference this week.

Ahead of both conferences, Gray published a news release warning the public that they may see a large number of law enforcement officers and vehicles from various agencies in Downtown Evansville over the succeeding days.

But keep an eye out for four-legged officers too — even before events got formally underway, quite a few pups could be seen sniffing their way through Downtown.

Houston can be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Evansville Police Public Information Conference K9 Trials