In recent years, terrorist attacks causing heavy casualties have occurred in many countries around the world, shrouding the globe in the fear of even more terror attacks to come. Counter-terrorism therefore became a major topic during the 122nd annual conference of the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP). More than 20,000 police chiefs from 89 nations engaged in an exchange of work experience and viewed a display of the latest and most advanced technology and equipment with the hope of improving their work on the fight against terrorism.

The annual conference of the IACP, an official platform for communication among chiefs of police from all nations, took place in Chicago, Illinois in October 2015. U.S. President Barack Obama delivered a speech during the opening ceremony, in which he thanked the police for their contributions and sacrifices on behalf of the American people. He expressed his full support for the police and for ensuring the safety of officers on duty. He spoke of the importance of building public trust in the police force by reforming police administration and the criminal justice system. Finally, the president addressed the issues of proposed legislation on firearms and security and the ongoing fight against crime to ensure the safety of the public. His remarks shared certain points worth noting for law enforcement agencies in Taiwan.

Taiwan's Central Police University (CPU) has participated the IACP for many years. The exchange with an international police organization and the sharing of information has been highly useful to CPU's efforts to stay abreast of the globalization of law enforcement.

CPU President Tiao Chien-sheng attended the IACP conference. As part of his trip to the United States, he also visited several CPU's sister schools. First he went to the University of Houston-Downtown (UHD) to renew a sisterhood agreement that the two sides first signed in 2005. Over the past ten years, UHD has provided scholarships through Bayou Connection Program for CPU alumni to obtain master's degrees. Tiao later visited to Sam Houston State University, another CPU sister school, to attend in that university's 50th anniversary celebrations. The university has reached the top in the ranking of academic institutions in the study of criminal justice, with its number of published research papers soaring to No. 1 in the field in the United States, according to Dr. Phillip Lyons, Dean of Sam Houston State University's College of Criminal Justice. It is the honor of CPU to have such a distinguished institution as its sister university.

Through such exchanges with sister schools, it is possible to obtain information on certain law enforcement practice in the United States that Taiwan can do well to emulate. As an example, in 2014, some CPU students studying at the UHD on an exchange program received text messages regarding kidnapping cases with the heading "AMBER Alert." The alert is issued through various media channels to the public in the United States and Canada when a child is confirmed to have been kidnapped.

The word AMBER is an acronym that stands for America's Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response. It got the name from Amber Hagerman, a nine-year-old girl who was killed by her kidnappers after she was abducted in Arlington, Texas in 1996. The bulletin is issued via the national Emergency Alert System to radio, satellite, network and cable TV stations for broadcast to the general public. It is also sent out via e-mail, electronic traffic signposts and text messages to wireless devices.

Whether to issue an AMBER alert is decided by the police authority that leads the investigation into a kidnapping case. The alert to the public usually contains descriptions of the victim, the suspect(s) and any vehicle used in the crime and its registration number. It reminds the public to pay attention to personal safety and to provide timely information related to the case to help the authorities rescue the victim and bring those responsible to justice. By the end of 2015, AMBER Alerts have helped rescue and safely return 794 children, We should establish our own “AMBER alert” system to bring home the missing and abducted children.

In the future, CPU faculty members and students will continue its academic exchanges with sister school, expand its scope of international academic activities to broaden the international view and capability of conducting cuting-edge police research.