After 4 months of preparation, the annual conference of the Asian Association of Police Studies（AAPS）was held for three days and two nights in the third-floor international conference hall in CPU’s new Science Building on December 16, 2019. This was the 20th annual conference since 2000. It had been one and a half years since the last conference took place in Thailand.

It was estimated that the number of participants is up to 45. Among them, there were 32 guests, including their family members, coming from the US, Japan, Korea, Thailand, Macao, and Hong Kong. Some of them are scholars and experts, who have supported the activities for a long time. It was worth noting that 6 Korean scholars and experts joined the seminar this year, which was the biggest scale in recent years, contributing to the future developments of APPS in Korea and broadening the academic exchange worldwide. As for the domestic guests, 13 came from CPU, National Tsing Hua University, National Taipei University, National Chung Cheng University, and Taiwan Police College. Some are experts in practical departments to present their researches.

Hosted by CPU’s Vice President Chuang, Te-sen, the annual conference was started at 9:30 in the morning. Invited Guests include Chairperson Lin, De-Hua (Association of Chinese Police Research), Vice Commissioner Liao, Hsun-Cheng (Taiwan Criminal Investigation Bureau), and Director Wang, Hsiao-Ming (Bayou Connection Program, UHD, TX). During his speech, Vice President Chuang first mentioned the history and developments of AAPS and that it was an honor for CPU to undertake the preparation for this annual conference.

Vice President Chuang then then mentioned the two major developments in CPU were “Cultivate Senior Police Officers for Country and Research in Profound Police Academics”. He even shared his experience of participating the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) which was held in the US this year, and he believed that hosting this annual conference in CPU has met the goal of cultivating senior police officers. Furthermore, there were many recent improvements in CPU’s software and hardware facilities. He hoped that all the guests could take a tour around the campus, visit the important newly-established buildings and the famous World Police Museum.

Lastly, Vice President Chuang echoed the theme of “Progression and Challenges in Modern Policing” by mentioning that although the quality of law enforcement in Taiwan has been greatly improved, the challenges faced by police were still serious. He expected that all participants could brainstorm and exchange ideas with each other, pushing policing developments in Taiwan to a new milestone. The other guests gave speeches regarding issues such as policing policies, Convention against Torture and policing academics interactions.

Two keynote speeches were arranged in the morning. One was presented by Professor Jurg Gerber (Sam Houston State University, US), about “The Relationship between Immigrants and the Police: Views from Asia, Europe, and the US”. The other was presented by Professor Gregory Fremin (Sam Houston State University, US), former high-ranking officers in the Houston Police Department, about “Transparency and Trust: The Necessity of Establishing Good Police Community Relationships for Effective Policing in America”. The afternoon session was divided into six panels, including crimes issues, criminal investigation, public attitudes toward police, police legitimacy, and police behaviors and corrections. Each panel has 4 articles for reports and discussions, which gave the scholars a chance to interact with the audience. All participants were experienced extensive knowledge of each expert’s expertise.

After the two six-panel seminars were concluded, CPU arranged a campus tour for all guests. Guided by students of the Department of Foreign Affairs Police, they visited the Science Building, the new Shooting Scenario Hall and the World Police Museum. After such tight schedule in the annual conference, they leisurely took a walk in the school and washed their tiredness away. In the World Police Museum, they learned about the history of CPU, the developments of policing in Taiwan, and appreciated different police uniforms from all over the world. Finally, the perfect ending came with the visit to Dr. Henry C. Lee’s Multimedia Exhibition Area.

In general, the annual conference of AAPS, with full support and assistance from CPU’s faculties and staffs, ended perfectly. It was believed that all the honored guests were impressed with its software and hardware facilities, which successfully promoted CPU to the international circles.