Through Presidential Executive Order 13929, the U.S. Attorney General, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law, will allocate Department of Justice discretionary grant funding only to state, local, tribal, and university or college law enforcement agencies that have obtained (or are in the process of seeking) credentials certifying that they meet certain mandatory and discretionary standards for safe policing, to be set by the U.S. Attorney General.
The U.S. Attorney General has released a guidance document titled Standards for Certification on Safe Policing for Safe Communities to inform law enforcement agencies and approved credentialing bodies of these requirements. The guidance document is available online at Executive Order on Safe Policing for Safe Communities .
Within the guidance document, there are two Safe Policing Principles that Independent Credentialing Bodies Must Consider When Assessing Certification of Applying Law Enforcement Agencies:
- Adherence to Applicable Laws: The applying agency maintains use of force policies that adhere to all applicable federal, state, and local laws.
- Prohibition of Choke Holds: The applying agency maintains use of force policies that prohibit the use of choke holds, except in situations where the use of deadly force is allowed by law.
Within the guidance document, there are also additional Safe Policing Principles that Independent Credentialing Bodies Should Consider When Assessing Certification of Applying Law Enforcement Agencies. Note that the following principles are not required for agencies to be certified as eligible for DOJ funding. While these principles are not required, credentialing agencies should consider whether the applying agency incorporates the following safe policing principles within its policies and procedures:
Use of Force and De-escalation Techniques
• Termination of Use of Force Policies
• Duty to Intervene Policies
• Training Protocols on Use of Force and De-Escalation
• Appropriate Medical Care Policies
• Warn Before Shooting Policies
• Shooting at or from a Moving Vehicle Policies
• Warning Shots Policies
• No-Knock Warrant Policies
Performance Management Tools
• Early Intervention Systems policies, procedures, and training protocols
• Hiring of Personnel policies, procedures, and training protocols
Community Engagement
• Community engagement plans that address the particular needs of the community
For states without state-level accrediting organizations:
In most cases, state-level accrediting organizations will perform the review of documentation to determine compliance with the standards. However, agencies in the states of Alaska, Hawaii, New Mexico and West Virginia may submit the application and the documentation supporting compliance to IADLEST here:
IADLEST Compliance Site
This project is made possible through Award Number 2020CKWXK055 by the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) FY 2020 Community Policing Development (CPD) program.
