Last week I had the opportunity to attend the 120th Annual International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)  Conference and Expo in Philadelphia.

It was an honor to attend this event and learn from experts about best practices in public safety as well as to recognize this years Winners and Finalists selected by the IACP Community Policing Committee recognized for the best community policing practices representing agencies around the world with the Community Policing Award from IACP and Cisco.

This year there were over 450 separate events, including 200 workshops covering a comprehensive array of public safety issues, best practices and solutions including sessions concerning major public safety incidents during the past year, including the Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting and the Boston Marathon Bombing, that have affected each and every one of us.

Collaboration, shared services and improved communications capabilities were important themes throughout this year's conference.

Other IACP highlights included:

• At the First General Assembly, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder expressed DOJ's commitment to IACP's Center for Officer Safety & Wellness and prevention of officer suicide efforts.
• Also at the First General Assembly, FBI Director James Comey spoke on the importance of law enforcement partnerships.
• At Cyber Attacks: Not Just a Big Government Problem, Former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, Utah Dept. of Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires,FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Joseph Demarest Jr, and IACP Executive Director Bart Johnson discussed public/private partnerships to prevent and respond to cyber attacks.
• At Crossing Borders to Information Resources: Secure and Seamless Information Sharing Advancements in 21st Century Law Enforcement and Public Safety Systems an experts' panel shared advances in information sharing systems providing access to officer safety resources and timely, actionable data.
• At Targeting Our Government Understanding Attacks against Federal Government Entities from 2001 through 2011 best practices and recommendations on the "who, what, when, where, and how" were shared by Amanda Snook and Catherine Carnilletti.

Is your agency ready to submit an entry for the 2014 IACP Community Policing Awards? Visit the IACP Community Policing website for more information.

For more information on solutions for public safety and community policing, check out our Secure Mobility / BYOD Survival Guide and our new IoT enabled solutions for public safety that provide for improved capabilities to support collaboration, interoperability and increased intelligence.

Stay tuned to the Cisco Government Blog site for the next installment of the public safety blog series!