The COPS Office and the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training (IADLEST) are working together to enhance regional law enforcement training efforts across the country. The goal is to create a series of regional training hubs that can promote, host, and evaluate training that advances community policing and public safety. The centers will work closely with the regional agencies to determine agency needs in community policing and strive to address those needs through providing and evaluating training courses.

In addition to providing and evaluating courses, the regional training hubs will pilot and critique COPS Office courses that are in development to ensure that the needs of the field are being met. To do this, the regional hubs will reach out to their surrounding agencies and ask for participants in the pilot courses. Courses will be piloted in person or through a learning lab approach for online courses. This approach allows law enforcement a voice in the development of courses for the field related to community policing and ensures exercises, scenarios, and course materials are practical, relevant, and beneficial for the field.

Another component of the project is for regional hubs to showcase locally developed training programs that are unique or feature emerging promising practices. There is a vetting process for content and the potential opportunity for the regionally developed training to engage a wider audience through delivery at other regional hubs. To learn more about this, please contact Mark Damitio at IADLEST.

The COPS Office and IADLEST will also use the robust course catalogue offered through the COPS Office and through IADLEST’s National Law Enforcement Academy Resource Network (NLEARN). The courses available from the COPS Office are both online courses and in-person courses, and there are a plethora of additional resources linked on the COPS Office Training Portal to assist law enforcement in advancing public safety. Courses in NLEARN support all United States law enforcement training academies and trainers with a variety of vital resources and services.

The project welcomes proposals from law enforcement training centers to become a regional hub host. Proposals should include facility information (classroom types, capacities), facility location (including distance from major transportation hubs), unique facility features (EVO course, Mock City, computer classrooms, dormitories, etc.) and the contact person for follow-up and should be submitted to Mark Damitio, IADLEST Accreditation and Grants Manager.

To learn more about the regional training hub initiative, please contact Mark Damitio.

Melissa Bradley
Senior Policy Analyst, COPS Office

Mark Damitio
Accreditation and Grants Manager, IADLEST

Tweet