The American Physical Society will consider police conduct in determining future meetings locations, with potential host cities expected to provide data on officer-involved shootings and policies holding police accountable for the use of force, APS News reported

APS is a College Park, Md.-based scientific society representing physicists. The group holds several meetings throughout the year, with its largest being the March Meeting, which can bring in roughly 10,000 attendees. APS was among the first associations to cancel its annual meeting this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and plans to hold its 2021 March Meeting online.

Still, the group will likely return to in-person meetings once the pandemic is under control. The new criteria require cities to provide data about the use of force by local law enforcement if they want to be considered as sites for future meetings. Cities are also expected to have an independent panel to review police conduct, policies that prevent the use of chokeholds and other controversial restraint techniques, and de-escalation training for officers.

The criteria are based on proposals outlined in the scientific journals Science and Physics Today as well as a recent APS seminar, according to APS News.

"We deliberated at length over the proposal and other input during our recent committee meeting," Susan Gardner, chair of the APS Committee on Scientific Meetings, told the publication. "I would summarize by saying that we became aware that members of our community are vulnerable in ways we had never imagined, and we resolved to act. We voted unanimously to recommend these changes."

Associations have used their events as leverage to bring about political change in the past. APS was one of several associations that refused to hold meetings in North Carolina after that state passed a law in 2016 requiring transgender people to use public restrooms corresponding to their sex at the time of birth. The law was later partially repealed.

The recent changes at APS are in response to this year's Black Lives Matter protests against police conduct. Numerous associations have voiced support for the BLM movement but few have turned that support into direct action.

Gardner acknowledged to APS News that some of the society's members may disagree with the new criteria but she refused to see it as a political statement.

"It is part of our charge and is our goal to keep our members and conference meeting attendees safe," she said.

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