Sheldon Greenberg (USA)

    I have spent years working to build the relationship between law enforcement and public health. My perspective is based, in great part, on my service as a police officer and a professor in education and public health. I have served on numerous boards and commissions and in varied leadership roles that prepared me to contribute to the Board as GLEPHA moves forward. Among the boards on which I served are the Forum on Global Violence Prevention (National Academy of Sciences, Federal Law Enforcement Training Accreditation, Road Safety Workforce Development, YMCA, Maryland School for the Deaf, and the Mid Atlantic Emergency Management Center. I’ve also served in roles as associate dean, division director, and department chair at Johns Hopkins University and as Associate Director of the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF). Police service and public health are inextricably linked. Gun violence, driving under the influence, secondary sale of prescription medication, sexual assault, drug gangs, human trafficking, and child abuse are priorities for law enforcement. They also are among the top issues being addressed by public health. Communicable disease, homelessness, people who lack access to urgent care, alcoholism, and the release and dispersing of hazardous material are priorities for public health. They also are among the issues being addressed by law enforcement. GLEPHA is well positioned to focus its priorities on advancing cross-profession research, facilitating shared learning, and fulfilling the need to take research to practice. COVID-19 brought expanded awareness to the intersection of law enforcement public health. Yet, public health practitioners learn little about the culture and functioning of law enforcement and police officers learn little about the culture and function of public health. The timing is right to draw on the successes, needs, and lessons learned from the pandemic to focus the two professions on the viability and sustainability of neighbourhoods and communities and the well-being of individuals.