The Leading Authority For Campus Public Safety

Association News

Bronson Represents IACLEA at Congressional Staff Briefing

Yesterday, Deputy Executive Director Josh Bronson represented IACLEA by participating in a virtual congressional staff briefing to kick off National Police Week. The briefing was a chance for representatives from several other police associations to talk about Department of Justice (DOJ) grant programs. Other associations taking part included:

  • Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies
  • International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training
  • Major Cities Chiefs Association
  • Major County Sheriffs of America
  • National Criminal Justice Association
  • National District Attorneys Association
  • National Fusion Center Association
  • National Narcotic officers' Associations' Coalition
  • SEARCH, the National Consortium for Justice Information and Statistics
  • Secure Community Network

Bronson addressed congressional staffers on the importance of the Collaborative Reform Initiative Technical Assistance Center (CRI-TAC), a program of DOJ’s COPS office. IACLEA has been a part of CRI-TAC since it first began in 2018.

“There are approximately 120 campus agencies that have been or are being served through CRI-TAC,” Bronson said. “This represents approximately 18 percent of all agencies that CRI-TAC has assisted or is currently assisting. That 18 percent represents the second highest percentage by agency type ahead of agencies such as sheriff’s offices, state police, and tribal police.  

“The top five requested topics from campus agencies includes de-escalation, school safety, community engagement, leadership, and active shooter response. Campuses have found the funding particularly easy to obtain for many reasons and unlike some more traditional DOJ grant opportunities, CRI-TAC funding is not only available to campus police departments, but also to non-sworn campus public safety agencies.

“Like we saw recently in the tragedy at Bridgewater College in Virginia where Officer John Painter, a fully certified police officer, and Officer JJ Jefferson, a non-sworn public safety officer, where murdered protecting their communities, both sworn and non-sworn campus public safety officers are on the front lines and are first responders to emergency situations on their campuses. They need the same access to funding to better train and equip themselves to better serve their communities,” Bronson continued.

“CRI-TAC is an important program that hundreds and hundreds of police agencies of all sizes and types have been able to take advantage of, and I strongly encourage you to continue to support and fund CRI-TAC,” Bronson concluded.

------


CRI-TAC consists of nine leading policing associations including IACLEA, IACP, FOP, FBINAA, IADLEST, NOBLE, NAWLEE, MCSA, NSA, NTOA. It provides critical and tailored technical assistance to all types of police agencies, but campus agencies have found it especially useful and easy to use.   CRI-TAC uses a “by the field, for the field” customized approach in over 50 topic areas. The no cost service includes in-person and virtual or web-based training, in person technical assistance, virtual consultation, webinars, policy assistance, resource referral, and meeting facilitation. 



Member Resources

CONNECTIONS is IACLEA's member community featuring peer networking and a full library of resources for the betterment of campus public safety.