WASHINGTON – The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) today announced a new $9.8 million award under the Preparing for Active Shooter Situations (PASS) program to the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) Center at Texas State University to provide multi-disciplinary, scenario-based active shooter training to first responders. The PASS program provides funds for scenario-based training that prepares officers and other first responders to safely and effectively handle active-shooter and other violent threats.

“The COPS Office is proud to support all the first responders across the country who bravely risk their own safety to protect our communities,” said COPS Office Acting Director Robert Chapman. “The ALERRT Center is a proven leader in providing multi-disciplinary active shooter training, and we’re pleased to announce this additional funding to continue their efforts.”

Training funded through PASS meets the goal of the 2016 Protecting Our Lives by Initiating COPS Expansion (POLICE) Act in offering “scenario-based, integrated response courses designed to counter active shooter threats or acts of terrorism against individuals or facilities.” The ALERRT Center has substantial experience with providing and tailoring cross-disciplinary active shooter training to law enforcement and other first responders nationally, and the training delivered through the PASS award has been designed to improve the safety and survivability of victims of active attack / shooter events and increase the effectiveness, coordination, and resource integration between law enforcement, fire, telecommunications, and emergency medical services when responding to these events. ALERRT was created as a partnership between Texas State University, the San Marcos (TX) Police Department, and the Hays County (TX) Sheriff’s Office to address the need for active shooter response training for first responders. In 2013, ALERRT was named the National Standard in Active Shooter Response Training by the FBI.

Since 2017, COPS Office funding through the PASS program has provided active shooter training for approximately 55,000 first responders across the nation. The additional $9.8 million announced today will fund training for roughly 17,000 additional first responders. Additional information about the PASS program can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/pass-award

The COPS Office is the federal component of the Department of Justice responsible for advancing community policing nationwide. The only Department of Justice agency with policing in its name, the COPS Office was established in 1994 and has been the cornerstone of the nation’s crime fighting strategy with grants, a variety of knowledge resource products, and training and technical assistance. Through the years, the COPS Office has become the go-to organization for law enforcement agencies across the country and continues to listen to the field and provide the resources that are needed to reduce crime and build trust between law enforcement and the communities served. 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 134,000 officers.

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