The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 24, Number 1 | Page 20
The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | January 2018
The Department of Justice Announces Award to Police Executives and
Unions to Create A Technical Assistance Center
The Department of Justice has announced a new $7 million award under the Office of Community Oriented Policing
Services’ (COPS Office) Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance. The award is to the International
Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), which will be partnering with other prominent law enforcement stakeholder
associations to create the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC).
“This award embodies a field-driven vision for the Collaborative Reform Initiative and incorporates changes that I
know are critically important to law enforcement,” said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions. He further explained
that the announcement "is part of a course correction that ensures that the Department’s Collaborative Reform
Initiative will provide technical assistance to law enforcement agencies based on their own needs, not those dictated
by the federal government.”
According to the Department of Justice, "for the first time, police chiefs, unions and other law enforcement organiza-
tions will come together to provide tailored technical assistance to local policing agencies." While the award will go
to IACP, there is a coalition represented by the law enforcement associations formally involved in the project:
Federal Bureau of Investigation National Academy Associates (FBINAA)
Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA)
International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST)
Major Cities Chiefs Association (MCCA)
National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE)
National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA)
“The IACP and the Fraternal Order of Police, along with six leading law enforcement leadership and labor
organizations, will bring together our collective experience, subject matter expertise, and unparalleled reach in the
field to build and deliver comprehensive technical assistance, informed by cutting-edge innovation and promising
practices, that embraces a collaborative, supportive approach to serving law enforcement and the communities they
are sworn to protect,” said IACP President Louis M. Dekmar, Chief of the LaGrange, Georgia, Police Department.
This partnership brings together the nation’s public safety leaders and will touch nearly every sector of the law
enforcement field. Through the combined membership of over 420,000, the CRI-TAC will provide subject matter
expertise; share resources and training materials for use in technical assistance delivery; and contribute to outreach,
marketing, and membership engagement. Today’s award follows an earlier announcement from the COPS Office
regarding significant changes to the Collaborative Reform Initiative to provide technical assistance and support “by
the field, for the field.”
The Collaborative Reform Initiative provides critical and tailored technical assistance resources to state, local,
territorial, and tribal law enforcement agencies on a wide variety of topics. Through the program, agencies receive
technical assistance from leading experts in a range of public safety, crime reduction, and community policing topics.
Law enforcement agencies that are interested in receiving technical assistance through the Collaborative Reform
Initiative should visit the COPS Office website at https://cops.usdoj.gov/collaborativereform.
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