The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) today announced that the Major County Sheriffs of America (MCSA) has joined the COPS Office Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC) as a new partner. Led by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP), CRI-TAC is a partnership between the COPS Office and a number of professional law enforcement organizations throughout the field to provide premier law enforcement technical assistance to law enforcement agencies on request. The COPS Office “by the field, for the field” approach combines collaboration and professional advancement, making the technical assistance provided practical, while creating greater capacity for law enforcement to address the ever-changing challenges and landscape of policing.

“Under the leadership of the IACP, we have assembled an exemplary coalition of professional standards-making partners, driven by research and best practices, working to meet the training and technical assistance needs of law enforcement. I am excited that the Major County Sheriffs of America is joining this remarkable coalition,” said Phil Keith, Director of the COPS Office. “The expertise, leadership and resources from MCSA will help ensure we continue to meet the diverse needs of all law enforcement and their communities, and provide much-needed training and technical assistance across the country.”

IACP President Steven R. Casstevens, Chief of the Buffalo Grove, Illinois, Police Department, said, “The IACP is excited to have Major County Sheriffs of America join the coalition of leading law enforcement associations partnered with the COPS Office to bring CRI-TAC to the field. Representing the largest elected sheriffs’ offices, their innovation and expertise will further enhance CRI-TAC in building customized, field-driven training and technical assistance solutions to support law enforcement, corrections, and communities throughout the U.S.”

“MCSA is proud to join the COPS Office, IACP and all the partners on this critical initiative. Ensuring that agencies large and small across the nation have access to cutting-edge, customized training and technical assistance strengthens not only individual departments, but our profession as a whole and most importantly, the communities we serve,” said MCSA President and Middlesex (MA) Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian. “We look forward to sharing our expertise in developing and implementing best practices with our colleagues across the country.”

In its first two years since it began, CRI-TAC has fielded more than 400 requests for assistance from campus, local, county, tribal, and state agencies on critical issues such as school safety, active shooter response, de-escalation, crisis intervention, and intelligence and information sharing. More information can be found in the second annual review of CRI-TAC at https://cops.usdoj.gov/RIC/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-W0897.

In addition to the MCSA, IACP’s partners in CRI-TAC include:

• Federal Bureau of Investigations 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)
• National Association of Women Law Enforcement Executives (NAWLEE)
• National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives (NOBLE)
• National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) 
• National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA)

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. It features a “by the field, for the field” approach while delivering individualized technical assistance using 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.

The COPS Office awards grants to hire community policing officers, develop and test innovative policing strategies, and provide training and technical assistance to community members, local government leaders, and all levels of law enforcement. Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested more than $14 billion to help advance community policing.