COPS Office Supports Roll Out of Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) Line Officer Training

The Nationwide Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) Initiative (NSI) Program Management Office, which is housed in the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Assistance, has established a standardized process whereby SAR information can be shared among agencies to help “connect the dots” and prevent terrorism-related criminal activity. This process builds on what law enforcement and other agencies have been doing for years—gathering information regarding behaviors and incidents associated with criminal activity. In the post‐9/11 environment, the enhanced goal of this activity is to raise the awareness of specific and articulable behaviors that have a potential nexus to terrorism. As a result, the NSI Program Management Office (PMO) worked with several partners to develop a training CD for front line officers that focuses on understanding, identifying, and reporting behaviors that have a link to terrorism while ensuring protection of individual privacy and civil liberties. The daunting task that remains, however, is the delivery of such critical training to the more than 800,000 police officers and emergency service providers nationwide, a feat that would be impossible without the strong support of partner agencies and organizations.

To help with this effort, the Department of Justice Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has posted a link on their training page to the Nationwide SAR Initiative (NSI) Front Line Officer Training, which is being hosted by the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism (MIPT) website. With approximately 1.3 million visitors to the website each month, and an average of 1000 of those people visiting the training page each month, the COPS office was a logical place for the NSI Program Management Office to turn to as a partner in this effort. The COPS Office has been providing comprehensive and innovative education, training, and technical assistance to state, local, and tribal law enforcement on community policing, and a vast array of current and emerging law enforcement issues as well for the past 16 years.

For more NSI resources or information on the activities of the NSI PMO, please visit nsi.ncirc.gov.