Our Mission
Increasing the capability of law enforcement officers, and other school safety stakeholders, to improve school safety through cutting-edge, innovative resources, training, and technical assistance
Our Initiative
The Safer Schools Training and Technical Assistance Clearinghouse for Law Enforcement (Safer Schools) is a component of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Assistance’s (BJA) Student, Teachers, and Officers Preventing (STOP) School Violence Program. This program supports the STOP School Violence Act of 2018, which seeks to improve school security by providing students, teachers, and officers with the tools they need to recognize, respond quickly to, and prevent acts of violence.
Safer Schools is focused on developing and implementing specialized training and technical assistance for law enforcement, including school resource officers and community supervision or probation officers, and other school safety stakeholders working with K–12 populations. The primary purpose is to provide training and resources to support these law enforcement officers to prevent school violence without unnecessarily increasing the number of students involved in the justice system and ensure that constitutionally sound, evidence-based policing practices are used.
Safer Schools is managed by the Institute for Intergovernmental Research (IIR) in partnership with BJA.