DENVER, Colo. - The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) today announced the launch of an independent and comprehensive review of the Commerce City Police Department. This review, also known as Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance (CRI-TA), comes at the request of Commerce City officials and the police department in response to serious internal challenges and concerns pertaining to officer misconduct.

Chief Noble Wray, head of the COPS Office Policing Practices and Accountability Initiative and Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Colorado Bob Troyer joined Commerce City Mayor Pro Tem René Bullock and Interim Police Chief Lowell Richardson to announce the launch of the collaborative reform process.

“I commend Commerce City for requesting and welcoming this type of candid assessment,” said COPS Office Director Ronald Davis. “I am confident that the process can dramatically improve the internal operations of the department and the quality of service the department provides to the community.”

“A top priority of this office is to develop and maintain strong relationships between the community and law enforcement,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “Commerce City leaders are walking that walk by asking for this collaboration with the COPS Office, and that alone is a great step forward.”

CRI-TA serves as an independent and objective process to help transform law enforcement agencies through the analysis of policies, practices, training, tactics, and accountability methods. Using subject matter experts, the COPS Office provides technical assistance based on extensive research and analysis to help enhance and improve an agency’s operating systems and professional culture.

Once the initial assessment phase of the process is completed, the COPS Office will release a report detailing the findings of the assessment, along with specific recommendations to achieve best practices in 21st century policing. During the subsequent 18-months, the COPS Office will continue to work with the police department to help implement the recommendations and will release a progress report and final report.

Commerce City is the 13th city to enter into the collaborative reform process.

The COPS Office, headed by Director Ronald Davis, is a federal agency responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. Since 1995, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to advance community policing, including grants awarded to more than 13,000 state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to fund the hiring and redeployment of more than 127,000 officers and provide a variety of knowledge resource products including publications, training and technical assistance. For additional information about the COPS Office, please visit www.cops.usdoj.gov.