Community Policing Resources for 

Tribal Law Enforcement

The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) provides resources and training and technical assistance (TTA) to further 

practical and specialized knowledge used to implement and enhance justice system efforts, particularly in the law enforcement field. The COPS 

Office supports TTA that is not only specifically geared toward tribes but also generally applies across broader topic areas such as community 

policing, drugs, gangs, and youth safety, among others. Please be sure to contact the TTA providers listed here to learn more about their specific 

courses and availability. Most courses are tuition free; however, if some are not currently available, they may require a fee for service. 

The COPS Office also offers the Tribal Resources for Justice Systems and Law Enforcement CD-ROM, http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=

detail&id=COPS-CD038. This resource focuses on law enforcement strategies concerning issues such as gangs, alcohol and substance abuse, 

and victimization in tribal communities. In addition, the COPS Office offers a variety of publications specific to tribal policing:

 Break the Cycle: Methamphetamine and Community-Oriented Policing in Indian Country, http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=

detail&id=COPS-P349

 Public Safety Partnerships in Indian Country, http://ric-zai-inc.com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-P330

 Successful Tribal Community Policing Initiatives: A Resource for Communities Developing Public Safety Programs and Strategies, http://ric-zaiinc.com/ric.php?page=detail&id=COPS-P276

Please also visit the COPS Office’s “Tribal and Alaska Native Training and Technical Assistance” web page at http://www.cops.usdoj.gov/Default.

asp?Item=2621 and the U.S. Department of Justice’s tribal “Training and Technical Assistance” web page at https://www.justice.gov/tribal/

training-and-technical-assistance for more information about these efforts.

Western Community Policing Institute (WCPI) 

WCPI has several training curricula designed for tribes, including those focused on youth, 

executive leadership, and regional collaboration.

Regional Collaboration to Embrace, Engage, and Sustain Tribal Community Policing Partnerships: This course is designed to provide technical 

assistance and regional training that focuses on building effective and efficient collaborative partnerships throughout Indian country to address 

the unique public safety threats to tribal communities and their neighboring jurisdictions.

Tribal Community Police/Teams: This training is designed to bring together tribal government, community members, and law enforcement to 

learn techniques on how to empower their communities to ethically identify and solve community problems through the use of community policing 

concepts, advocacy, and problem solving.

Tribal Inspired Leadership Training (TILT): This course is designed to increase tribal leaders’ capacity to leverage community policing in 

responding to the effects of local economic distress on public safety and to increase their capacity to address unique issues in a culturally 

sensitive and comprehensive community policing approach. 

Tribal Youth Leadership (TYL): This course is designed to train and equip American Indian youth (middle and high school level) with the leadership 

skills necessary to address the public safety problems that plague tribal communities.

Contact: www.tribaltraining.com  kauffmab@wou.edu  Toll free: 877-601-6866

National Criminal Justice Training Center (NCJTC) 

Community Safety Summits: These events discuss key public safety issues impacting tribal communities, 

such as alcohol and substance abuse, child abuse, juvenile delinquency, domestic violence, and crime. 

Participants explore strategies to address these concerns through community policing, interagency 

collaboration, and multijurisdictional partnerships.

Tribal Oriented Policing Strategies: A Community Policing Approach to Reducing Crime in Indian Country (TOPS): This two-day interactive 

training is designed to enhance collaboration between tribal law enforcement agencies and the community to reduce crime and improve 

community quality of life. Nine other training and technical assistance courses round out the featured offerings in topics ranging from drug 

trends to suicide prevention. Support is also available for peer-to-peer learning, distance learning opportunities, and mentoring services.

Contact: www.ncjtc.org/TRGP  info@NCJTC.org  Toll free: 855-866-2582
Upper Midwest Community Policing Institute (UMCPI) 

PUBLIC SAFETY

TRAINING AND CONSULTING

UMCPI

UMCPI has training curricula designed for tribal communities, including basic community policing concepts, school safety, and 

leadership courses.

Creating Collaborative Partnerships between Tribal Police Departments and Casino Security in Indian Country: This on-site and 

online training curriculum, which is under development, will assist tribes in building partnerships between tribal law enforcement and 

casino management and security to address public safety issues. The online curriculum is anticipated to be available in late 2016.

Human Trafficking in Indian Country: This training is provided for tribal leaders, tribal law enforcement, and community stakeholders and includes 

a component for a tribal youth peer-to-peer awareness and prevention curriculum as well as a human trafficking course for casino employees and 

security personnel.

Tribal Law Enforcement Training Conference (Native American Training Series IV): This three-day training conference brings together all three 

of the COPS Office Native American Training Series (NATS) courses in one location. NATS I addresses the topics of community policing basics, 

tribal community engagement, and reducing crime and disorder through problem solving partnerships. NATS II is a presentation for law 

enforcement officers working in schools or serving the school community and for school administrators and educators and concerned community 

members. NATS III is designed for Native-American police executives, command staff, and supervising personnel and will prepare tribal police 

leaders to address today’s law enforcement challenges.

Contact: www.umcpi.org  info@umcpi.org  Toll free: 877-917-2255

Lamar Associates 

Lamar Associates has developed training curricula for tribes that include developing partnerships and problem solving as well as 

methamphetamine and prescription drug abuse courses addressing youth and drug-endangered children.

Building Collaborative Community Partnerships: This online curriculum, which is under development, will assist tribes with building 

partnerships with the community to solve public safety problems. The online curriculum is anticipated to be available in late 2016.

Tribal Prescription Drug Endangered Children Training and Technical Assistance Program and E-Learning Program: These courses are designed 

to increase the capacity of Native Law Enforcement to serve the needs of drug endangered children and build partnerships with public health, 

prevention, and treatment providers that will lead to coordinated community responses to prevent prescription drug diversion and abuse.

Contact: www.indiancountrytraining.net  info@lamarassociates.net  Phone: 202-543-8181

National Alliance for Drug Endangered Children (NADEC) 

FOR DRUG ENDANGERED CHILDREN

The DEC Approach “Moving from Awareness to Action...”: This training focuses on how to implement the DEC Approach, 

which is a comprehensive strategy based on collaboration between various disciplines and agencies that has proven to be 

effective in improving the likelihood of better outcomes for drug-endangered children. 

Local DEC Alliance Development: Sustaining the DEC Approach: This training teaches law enforcement, child welfare, 

and their professional colleagues and community partners about the benefits of forming local DEC alliances that formalize 

working relationships between the professionals who are involved with drug-endangered children and their families.

Tribal Core Drug Endangered Children Training: This course trains trainers who provide Tribal Core DEC training in local tribal communities. The 

drug-endangered children mission focuses on the formation of multidisciplinary partnerships that take advantage of existing agency personnel, 

resources, and responsibilities and coordinates their mutual interests and duties to meet the specific needs of these children. This training looks 

at overcoming the challenges in aligning systems responsible for preventing, intervening, and treating these issues to change the trajectories of 

the lives of drug-endangered children and break multigenerational cycles of abuse and neglect. Online and webinar sessions and other technical 

assistance resources are also offered.

Contact: www.nationaldec.org  info@nationaldec.org  Phone: 641-521-7220

Strategic Applications International (SAI) 

Tribal Public Law 280 Policing Partnerships: This project offered tailored technical assistance that 

comprised a two-day community-oriented policing training augmented with cultural dialogue training 

and action planning at four sites. Participants included sheriffs, chiefs of police, U.S. attorneys, and tribal 

leaders. The results of the on-site technical assistance are being used to help develop a web-based training curriculum tailored to Public Law 280 

communities to enhance tribal and non-tribal law enforcement cooperation. The online curriculum is anticipated to be available in late 2016.

Contact: www.sai-dc.com  jessdrake@sai-dc.com  Phone: 202-457-7771

e081217500

Revised 2016