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.

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 grant announced today will fund training for roughly 16,755 additional first responders. Additional information about the PASS program can be found here: https://cops.usdoj.gov/pass-award.

“Unfortunately, both the need and the demand for active shooter training for agencies across the country remain high,” said Robert Chapman, Acting Director of the COPS Office. “This award represents part of the COPS Office’s ongoing commitment to provide law enforcement with the resources they need to protect their communities, and to meet the significant demand for this training. We are proud of our long-standing support for this important effort.”

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 and has been named the National Standard in Active Shooter Response Training by the FBI. The PASS course 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.

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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