COPS Training Portal

School Resource Officers (SROs) are essential to achieve safer schools.  SROs and school administrators need training on school climate: school physical and learning environments, relationships, engagement, and safety.  

Preventing Problems by Promoting Positive Practices (P5) is an interactive online course designed to provide participants with an innovative school climate model and school climate enhancement practices.  The course covers hot topics on:

• Environmental design, focused on crime prevention and wellness promotion
• Multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS) 
• Adolescent brain and behavioral development 
• Implicit bias and microaggressions
• Differentiated responding to discipline for SROs vs. school administrators 

 The course uses interactive quizzes, matching activities, and an action plan process to actualize school climate change.  

Related Resources

Community Oriented Policing Services. "Community Partnerships."

Center for Problem-Oriented Policing

Course Time: Approximately 30 to 45 minutes including the pre and post tests.

Course Description: This course describes how prenatal substance exposure has the potential to cause a variety of physical and developmental challenges for Drug Endangered Children (DEC) throughout their lives. You will be able to recognize the part you play in identifying children who are at risk, begin the earliest possible intervention even while still in utero, and understand your ability to change the trajectory of the child's life. Intervention begins by starting a conversation using interviewing techniques and providing resources and sharing information with community partners.

Target Audience: Law enforcement, child welfare, medical, legal, education and first responders.

For more information on Drug Endangered Children, please contact National DEC

This elearning program provides an overview of after-action reviews and their application as an effective organizational learning tool and powerful community policing strategy.

The one-hour course equips law enforcement personnel with the basic understanding of when and in what circumstances an after-action may be best utilized, as well as how to conduct impactful reviews that result in written reports, including guidance on ways to organize, document, and communicate the findings of an after-action review.

The course includes an assortment of multi-media resources which participants can utilize within the course itself, and after they’ve completed it.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was supported by cooperative agreement 2015-CK-WX-K003 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Comprised of four modules, the course explores partnerships, problem solving and organizational transformation as they relate to specific issues and challenges facing today's law enforcement professionals and the communities they serve.  As such it is a valuable and appropriate training opportunity for a wide variety of law enforcement and public-safety professionals, ranging from new hires to experienced personnel, as well as community leaders, business owners and other community stakeholders.

Utilizing a blended learning approach, Community Policing Defined prompts users to actively navigate through the course's comprehensive content which includes on-screen text, graphics and narration. This design feature allows adult learners the flexibility to determine their own pace and sequence for completing the course.  Although Community Policing Defined requires a minimum of 4 hours of uninterrupted run-time, participants should expect to spend between 8 and 12 hours to complete the course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2009-RM-WX-K001 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Related COPS Resources
Building Relationships of Trust: Moving to Implementation
Community Policing in the New Economy
Kalamazoo, Michigan: Using Community Policing to Create a "Wow" Department
Law Enforcement Spotlight: Mitakuye Oyasin (We are all related) - The Intersection of Cultural Beliefs and Community Policing with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety
Rank and File: Leaders in Building Trust and Community
State Police and Community Policing
The COPS Office: 20 Years of Community Oriented Policing

Drug Identification: Depressants, Antidepressants and Inhalants is an interactive course in a series of Drug Identification training modules. This course discusses the current trends, side effects, and physiological conditions of commonly abused depressants, inhalants, sedatives, and anti-depressants. Key topics include: muscle relaxers, GHB, solvents, interactions with alcohol, and the growing use among younger populations.

Participants should expect to spend approximately 1 hour reviewing the content and resources in this course. This tuition-free online training was developed by the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2017-CK-WX-K007 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

The Opioid Crisis in America is an interactive two-part course in a series of Drug Identification training modules. This course provides an overview of the chemical and legal classification of opioids and examines the national epidemic of opioid abuse. It provides key information and safety measures law enforcement and criminal justice providers should know when responding to opioid related events. Community response and other evidence-based practices are also discussed.

Participants should expect to spend approximately 2 hours reviewing the content and resources in this course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the National Criminal Justice Training Center of Fox Valley Technical College and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2017-CK-WX-K007 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

New Perspectives on Community Policing is a free, web-based training course that provides an overview of the dramatic shifts and challenges faced by law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. It offers problem-solving tools, examples of successful police and community partnerships, and numerous community-policing resources.

New Perspectives on Community Policing has been developed as a modular online training that will require an absolute minimum of 4 hours to complete. However its technology-enhanced design allows participants to start, stop, and resume the training based on their schedules and the demands of the day. Flexible, interactive, and relevant, the course offers participants an outstanding opportunity to gain new insights on community policing and its role in today's complex world.  It is ideal for all law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, as well as any community-policing stakeholders.

This tuition-free online training was a joint partnership between the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and the Western Community Policing Institute (WCPI), and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2008-CK-WX-K003 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Related COPS Resources

Answering the Call to Mentor: 21st Century Policing through Youth Engagement
Engaging Police in Immigrant Communities
Police Perspectives: Building Trust in a Diverse Nation - No. 1. How to Increase Cultural Understanding
Police Perspectives: Building Trust in a Diverse Nation - No. 2. How to Serve Diverse Communities
Recommendations on Advancing Community Policing in the Pasco Police Department

Problem-Oriented Policing: The SARA Model delivers a comprehensive, blended-learning training program designed to provide participants with an overview and broad familiarization with key concepts and principles of one approach to problem-oriented policing in the 21^st century.

Participants should expect to spend approximately 2-4 hours exploring the content and resources in this course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2017-CK-WXK-001 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services.

This course is ideal for all law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, as well as any community-policing stakeholders.

Crime Analysis for Problem Solvers in 60 Small Steps
Enhancing the Problem-Solving Capacity of Crime Analysis Units
Implementing Responses to Problems
Rank and File: Reflections on Emerging Issues in Law Enforcement
Using Analysis for Problem-Solving: A Guide Book for Law Enforcement
Using Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design in Problem Solving

The Homeless Outreach Service Team (HOST) program was originally developed to bring Salt Lake City (Utah) police officers and community outreach workers together to identify homeless individuals who panhandle or engage in other types of public nuisance activities in the city and connect them to community resources.

The main objectives were to encourage police to make referrals to services rather than issue citations and to decrease the prevalence of panhandling by encouraging the public to give money to service providers rather than directly to panhandlers.

Primary Audience: The intended audience for this interactive publication is anyone interested in homeless outreach efforts and specific strategies that have been implemented to address this issue.

Original Publication: October 5, 2016

This interactive report is optimized for Chrome and Safari web browsers. There are no audio components.

Although the past several decades have seen a steady decrease in violent crime statistics, homicides and violent crimes continue to have a devastating impact on many of our nation's communities. With long-term social implications and staggering economic consequences, even minimal levels of violent crime diminish the quality of life in affected communities. In response, homicide and violent crime reduction (HVR) remains a top priority for police agencies throughout the nation. The challenge is addressing violent crime with effective interventions and countermeasures. Instead of guessing or speculating on which HVR strategies work best, many agencies are turning to evidence-based policing practices (EBPP) to address the unique needs of the communities they serve.

Applied Evidence-Based Policing Practices: Homicide and Violent Crime Reduction is designed as a rapid eLearn course that provides an overview of the concept of evidence-based policing and examples of practices that have been shown to reduce homicides and violent crime. Crafted with all levels of police practitioners in mind, this course bridges the gap between research and practice. 

On-screen text, videos and narration in a user-friendly eLearn environment allows participants to start, stop and resume the training based on their schedules. Participants should expect to spend approximately 2 - 4 hours exploring the resources provided in this dynamic and timely course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2015-CK-WX-K022 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Audience:

This course is ideal for law enforcement managers and decision makers, including but not limited to agency heads, directors, command staff, managers, and supervisors in agencies of all sizes. However, the content is also applicable to all law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, as well as any community-policing stakeholders.

How Tribes can "TAP" into Critical Crime Data: COPS Funding in Action
Intelligence-Led Community Policing, Community Prosecution, and Community Partnerships
Las Vegas After-Action Assessment: Lessons Learned from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Ambush Incident
Managing the Group Violence Intervention: Using Shooting Scorecards to Track Group Violence
The Integration of Crime Analysis into Patrol Work: A Guidebook
U.S. Attorney General's Summit on Violent Crime: Summary of Key Factors, Promising Strategies and Additional Steps

In 2013, the COPS Office reached out to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) to provide assistance to the Newtown (Connecticut) Police Department in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Michael Kehoe, Newtown’s Chief of Police at the time, asked NAMI to write a guidebook for chiefs on how to safeguard officer mental health in the early days after a mass casualty event. He said that events like Sandy Hook rewrite the rules—for dealing with the media, for coordinating with other agencies, and for officer mental health. His hope was that other chiefs would benefit from the lessons he learned.

With Chief Kehoe’s leadership, NAMI convened an expert advisory group of police chiefs who had experienced mass casualty events in their communities, along with the mental health professionals who advised them, to gather lessons learned and guidance for other chiefs.  NAMI also sought guidance from numerous police leaders, mental health professionals, and trauma and media experts. The result is this e-Guide, which educates chiefs and command staff about officer mental wellness, provides steps to preparing for the mental health impact of a mass casualty incident, and walks them through the crisis and the aftermath.

While the lessons shared in this e-Guide focus on mass casualty events, traumatic experiences are an everyday event for police officers. Responding to car accidents, homicides, child abuse, domestic violence, and other negative events are part of the job. Personal accounts in the guide make clear that these incidents can build up and lead to mental health problems like depression, PTSD, alcohol abuse and even suicide.

While events like Sandy Hook have raised awareness of the challenges that officers face, the day-to-day impact of police work is much greater. Fortunately, there are many steps that law enforcement leaders can take now to build resilient agencies, whether or not they ever experience a mass casualty incident. There are also ways to prepare for the possibility of such an incident. This e-Guide can serve as a resource for agencies interested in getting started.

This interactive e-Guide is based on the 2016 written publication of the same name, which was funded by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office). The online version you are accessing has been created by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) via cooperative agreement number 2018-CK-WXK001 awarded by the COPS Office.

PL280 is nuanced and can have different applications in different states, thus it has resulted in confusion regarding jurisdiction in Indian Country. However, through cooperation and collaborative resource sharing, tribal and non-tribal law enforcement can work within PL280 to benefit their jurisdictions. This four-module curriculum is designed to provide participants with background information and tangible strategies necessary for effectively policing PL280 reservations.

Module 1: WHAT IS PUBLIC LAW 280?

Get to know the history of PL280, learn when tribal, state, and federal governments have jurisdiction, and understand the practical applications of PL280 in your state.

Module 2: COMMUNITY POLICING

Learn benefits and challenges to community policing and how to implement key community policing strategies in order to enhance responsiveness to the most challenging and frequently occurring crimes in PL280 jurisdictions.

Module 3: TASK FORCE DEVELOPMENT

Learn how to establish a task force, garner support for task force development, gather resources, and adapt the task force to overcome environmental and political barriers.

Module 4: SOVEREIGNTY THROUGH EFFECTIVE LAW ENFORCEMENT

Learn about the historical background of tribal governments in order to understand how sovereignty can be used to foster effective law enforcement by building capacity through regulation and tribal law.

Audience: Law enforcement and tribal and non-tribal leadership state/government leadership.

Additional Resources

Public Law 280 Homepage

Strategic Applications International Homepage

Cross-Deputization in Indian Country (pdf)

Promising Practices in Tribal Community Policing (pdf)

Public Safety Partnerships in Indian Country (pdf)

Successful Tribal Community Policing Initiatives: A Resource for Communities Developing Public Safety Programs and Strategies (pdf)

Department of Justice - American Indians and Crime (pdf)

Department of Justice - Public Law 280 FAQ

Department of Justice - Policing on American Indian Reservations (pdf)

National Institute of Justice - Violence Against American Indian and Alaska Native Women and Men (pdf)

What is Public Law 280? Learning Graphic (pdf)

Tribal Community Policing Learning Graphic (pdf)

Taskforce Development Learning Graphic (pdf)

Sovereignty Learning Graphic (pdf)

Ethical Decision Making: Policing with Principled Insight is a thought-provoking eLearn course that explores the practice of decision making and the ethical principles that support effective policing. In one of its most impactful and rewarding endeavors to date, VCPI partnered with the USDOJ, COPS Office to create the Ethical Decision Making: Policing with Principled Insight program. As part of this larger initiative, this course stresses that police ethics are not just an after-thought or a means of discouraging bad behavior. Instead, ethics are a controlling insight that inform and guide police practitioners from an internal, personal capacity.This innovative eLearn course invites participants to join a 2500 year-old conversation on ethical decision making while exploring realistic, modern day challenges faced by policing professionals.

Recognizing that for policing professionals, public trust, integrity, and liability hinge on each and every decision, this is crafted as a concise and relevant course addressing the realities of policing in the 21st century.  Designed with the practitioner in mind, Ethical Decision Making: Policing with Principled Insight includes on-screen text, videos, and narration in a user-friendly eLearn environment that allows participants to start, stop, and resume the training based on their schedules.  Although it requires a minimum of 2 hours of uninterrupted run-time, participants should expect to spend approximately 4 hours completing this dynamic and timely course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was originally supported Cooperative Agreement 2012-Ck-WX-K011 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

COPS Evaluation Brief No. 3: Creating a Culture of Integrity
Crime Prevention Research Review No. 10: Legitimacy in Policing
Racial Reconciliation, Truth-Telling, and Police Legitimacy
"That's Not Fair!" Policing and Perceptions of Fairness
The Case for Procedural Justice: Fairness as a Crime Prevention Tool
The State of Policing in the United States, Volume 1

This Ethical Considerations for Asset Forfeiture Course is provided by the Department of Justice. Asset forfeiture is an important and vital law enforcement tool.   It helps strengthen cases, weaken or dismantle criminal enterprises, and return assets to victims of crimes.  But like all tools, law enforcement and prosecuting authorities must use it appropriately.  The purpose of this training is to ensure a command of when and how to properly seize assets for federal forfeiture so that you can protect the rights of the public while also protecting your case and yourself.  Misusing asset forfeiture laws and ignoring asset forfeiture policies can have serious implications.

Module 1 – Overview and Purposes of Asset Forfeiture

This module discusses some of the numerous ways that asset forfeiture fulfills the mission of law enforcement.  

Module 2 – Concerns about Asset Forfeiture

This module discusses three criticisms of forfeiture: corruption, fairness, and a lack of accountability. 

Module 3 – Asset Forfeiture Best Practices

This module provides some best practices when considering the seizure of assets.

Module 4 – Federal and State Cooperation

This module discusses how state and local law enforcement can cooperate with their Federal law enforcement counterparts to ensure a successful and proper seizure and forfeiture of assets.

Module 5 – Asset Forfeiture Resources

Although the past several decades have seen a steady decrease in violent crime statistics, homicides and violent crimes continue to have a devastating impact on many of our nation's communities. With long-term social implications and staggering economic consequences, even minimal levels of violent crime diminish the quality of life in affected communities. In response, homicide and violent crime reduction (HVR) remains a top priority for police agencies throughout the nation. The challenge is addressing violent crime with effective interventions and countermeasures. Instead of guessing or speculating on which HVR strategies work best, many agencies are turning to evidence-based policing practices (EBPP) to address the unique needs of the communities they serve.

Applied Evidence-Based Policing Practices: Homicide and Violent Crime Reduction is designed as a rapid eLearn course that provides an overview of the concept of evidence-based policing and examples of practices that have been shown to reduce homicides and violent crime. Crafted with all levels of police practitioners in mind, this course bridges the gap between research and practice. 

On-screen text, videos and narration in a user-friendly eLearn environment allows participants to start, stop and resume the training based on their schedules. Participants should expect to spend approximately 2 - 4 hours exploring the resources provided in this dynamic and timely course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2015-CK-WX-K022 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Audience:

This course is ideal for law enforcement managers and decision makers, including but not limited to agency heads, directors, command staff, managers, and supervisors in agencies of all sizes. However, the content is also applicable to all law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, as well as any community-policing stakeholders.

How Tribes can "TAP" into Critical Crime Data: COPS Funding in Action
Intelligence-Led Community Policing, Community Prosecution, and Community Partnerships
Las Vegas After-Action Assessment: Lessons Learned from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's Ambush Incident
Managing the Group Violence Intervention: Using Shooting Scorecards to Track Group Violence
The Integration of Crime Analysis into Patrol Work: A Guidebook
U.S. Attorney General's Summit on Violent Crime: Summary of Key Factors, Promising Strategies and Additional Steps

Comprised of four modules, the course explores partnerships, problem solving and organizational transformation as they relate to specific issues and challenges facing today's law enforcement professionals and the communities they serve.  As such it is a valuable and appropriate training opportunity for a wide variety of law enforcement and public-safety professionals, ranging from new hires to experienced personnel, as well as community leaders, business owners and other community stakeholders.

Utilizing a blended learning approach, Community Policing Defined prompts users to actively navigate through the course's comprehensive content which includes on-screen text, graphics and narration. This design feature allows adult learners the flexibility to determine their own pace and sequence for completing the course.  Although Community Policing Defined requires a minimum of 4 hours of uninterrupted run-time, participants should expect to spend between 8 and 12 hours to complete the course.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2009-RM-WX-K001 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Related COPS Resources
Building Relationships of Trust: Moving to Implementation
Community Policing in the New Economy
Kalamazoo, Michigan: Using Community Policing to Create a "Wow" Department
Law Enforcement Spotlight: Mitakuye Oyasin (We are all related) - The Intersection of Cultural Beliefs and Community Policing with the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety
Rank and File: Leaders in Building Trust and Community
State Police and Community Policing
The COPS Office: 20 Years of Community Oriented Policing

For over three decades, the principles of community policing have been a driving force in American law enforcement.  Yet for all of its past success, community policing may never have been as vital to law enforcement and the well being of our communities as it is today.  New Perspectives on Community Policing is a free, web-based training course that examines how change, emerging issues, and threats are necessitating a reinvigorated commitment to the key components of community policing:  community partnerships, organizational transformation, and problem solving. 

The course introduces this new perspective on community policing and offers an overview of the dramatic shifts and challenges that are faced by law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve. New Perspectives on Community Policing also offers problem-solving tools, examples of successful police and community partnerships, and numerous community-policing resources.

New Perspectives on Community Policing has been developed as a modular online training that will require an absolute minimum of 4 hours to complete. However its technology-enhanced design allows participants to start, stop, and resume the training based on their schedules and the demands of the day. Flexible, interactive, and relevant, the course offers participants an outstanding opportunity to gain new insights on community policing and its role in today's complex world.  It is ideal for all law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, as well as any community-policing stakeholders.

This tuition-free online training was a joint partnership between the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and the Western Community Policing Institute (WCPI), and was originally supported by cooperative agreement 2008-CK-WX-K003 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Related COPS Resources

Answering the Call to Mentor: 21st Century Policing through Youth Engagement
Engaging Police in Immigrant Communities
Police Perspectives: Building Trust in a Diverse Nation - No. 1. How to Increase Cultural Understanding
Police Perspectives: Building Trust in a Diverse Nation - No. 2. How to Serve Diverse Communities
Recommendations on Advancing Community Policing in the Pasco Police Department

This elearning program provides an overview of after-action reviews and their application as an effective organizational learning tool and powerful community policing strategy.

The one-hour course equips law enforcement personnel with the basic understanding of when and in what circumstances an after-action may be best utilized, as well as how to conduct impactful reviews that result in written reports, including guidance on ways to organize, document, and communicate the findings of an after-action review.

The course includes an assortment of multi-media resources which participants can utilize within the course itself, and after they’ve completed it.

This tuition-free online training was developed by the Virginia Center for Policing Innovation (VCPI) and was supported by cooperative agreement 2015-CK-WX-K003 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS).

Course Time: Approximately 30 to 45 minutes including the pre and post tests.

Course Description: This course describes the long-term impact and needs of Drug Endangered Children (DEC) throughout their childhood and into their adulthood.  You will learn how Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) such as growing up in households where substance use and drug activity are present impacts children long-term including cognitive deficits, emotional risks, high-risk behavior, and health problems.  The course also addresses the importance of early intervention and building resilience that can change the trajectory of a child’s life and help to break the multigenerational cycle of substance abuse.

Target Audience: Law enforcement, child welfare, medical, legal, education and first responders.

For more information on Drug Endangered Children, please contact National DEC