I can honestly say that there are men and women alive today due to the lessons we have shared through this group.....What we do in Canada, what you do in the United States, and what my colleagues do in the UK, impacts all of us. If we don't share learning, we can rapidly find ourselves in great difficulty.
Steve Palmer, Former Director - Canadian Police Research Centre
www.ILEForum.org
ILEF draws its mandate from Articles 2 and 3 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the use of Force and Firearms : "Governments and law enforcement agencies should develop a range of means as broad as possible and equip law enforcement officials with various types of weapons and ammunition that would allow for a differentiated use of force and firearms ....(Article 2)
"The development and deployment of non-lethal incapacitating weapons should be carefully evaluated in order to reduce the risk of endangering uninvolved persons, and the use of such weapons should be carefully controlled." (Article 3)
Welcome
The International Law Enforcement Forum (ILEF) consists of a network of subject matter experts (operational, scientific, medical, academic and oversight) in respect of the use of force, firearms and less lethal technologies. Our workshops rotate on a 18-24 basis between the US, Canada and the United Kingdom, participation extends to many other countries. ILEF seeks to promote an international approach to the development, testing and monitoring of less lethal weapons and minimal force options. All of our reports are publicly available.
The origins of ILEF, with its unique focus on how Law Enforcement is trained and equipped to manage conflict, can be traced back to interaction between the Independent Commission on Policing in Northern Ireland chaired by Mr Chris Patten which had been established by the UK Government, the National Institute of Justice in the US, Institute for Non-Lethal Defense Technologies (INLDT) at Pennsylvania State University and LA Sheriff’s department.
The Patten report placed the approach to the development, testing and introduction into service of less lethal weapons within a human rights based context. It also required that the twin criteria for acceptability and effectiveness were central to future work. The creation of the Forum enabled the UK to place the issues within a context of international policing and the sharing of best practice.
Since then there have been a number of public and often judicial led inquiries in the US, Canada, UK and Ireland which have focused on ensuring the police are appropriately trained and equipped to manage potentially violent encounters in a way that maximises public support and confidence in policing. It is important that we continue to learn from the past, we neglect it at our peril. Take time to review the links and resources provided.
ILEF has contributed in promulgating good international practice arising out of these important reviews. This site is also intended as a resource for professional and researchers. Attendance at our workshops is by invitation. If you are interested in attending our 2019 workshop in Calagary please do make contact with us.
Calagary ILEF “Protecting Society, and Minimising the Use of Lethal Force whilst Upholding the Right to Life of All. 2019 invite