Advanced Crisis Communication and Tactics (ACCT) Training

U.S. law enforcement agencies are invited to apply to pilot the delivery of the new Advanced Crisis Communications and Tactics (ACCT) training, designed to enhance law enforcement interactions with people in crisis.

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Research Objectives

U.S. law enforcement agencies are invited to apply to participate in the pilot delivery of the Advanced Crisis Communication and Tactics (ACCT) Training. This training curriculum was developed by the National Policing Institute, in partnership with the Police Executive Research Forum (PERF), through the support of the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) as part of a larger project designed to enhance law enforcement interactions with people in crisis and advance the goals of the Law Enforcement De-escalation Training Act of 2022.

About the Training

The Advanced Crisis Communication and Tactics (ACCT) Training is a consecutive, three-day (8 hours per day, 24-hours total) in-service de-escalation training for law enforcement officers. It is based on two well-established national training programs: the Bureau of Justice’s (BJA) Crisis Response and Intervention Training (CRIT) and the Police Executive Research Forum’s (PERF) Integrating Communications, Assessment, and Tactics (ICAT) training. The target audience is all sworn law enforcement officers with at least 1-2 years of experience as a sworn officer.

The training is designed to:

Equip officers with the skills, tactics, and critical decision-making processes to prevent the escalation of and effectively de-escalate crisis situations
Expand officers’ recognition and understanding of the signs, symptoms, and characteristics of behavioral health conditions, intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD), and individuals experiencing a crisis
Promote a healthy mindset and support officer safety and wellness and expand officers’ knowledge of how cumulative first responder stress influences their capacity to successfully de-escalate crises
Enhance officers’ awareness of community resources and best practices in crisis response

Partner Benefits

Three agencies will be selected to collaborate with NPI and PERF to plan, deliver, and assess a national de-escalation training from January 2026 through July 2026.

Selected agencies will:

Receive no-cost de-escalation training for 20-24 officers
Gain first access to the national ACCT curriculum and train-the-trainer materials
Benefit from technical assistance and support from national subject matter experts
Help shape the future of de-escalation training through feedback and evaluation

Partner Requirements

Collaborate virtually with the NPI and PERF project team to plan the in-person training (January-May 2026). This includes:
- Dedicating a training coordinator/primary point of contact to support training planning
- Participating in a virtual site kickoff call with the NPI and PERF project team (January 2026)
- Attending regular virtual calls with the project team to support planning
- Supporting the customization of content to the local community, where applicable
- Collaborating in identifying and preparing a local instructor with expertise in community resources
Host a three-day (24-hour) in-person training (May – June 2026). This includes:
- Committing 20 to 24 sworn law enforcement officers from the agency or multiple agencies to participate in the training
- Providing a training space that comfortably accommodates approximately 40 people, including training participants, training instructors, role-players, and NPI/PERF staff, with four breakout rooms for scenarios
- The training space should also have audio-visual equipment with internet access and the ability to play videos with sound
Support the assessment of the pilot delivery. This includes:
- Supporting the NPI team in inviting training participants to participate in in-person or virtual focus groups with the NPI team and pre-, post-, and follow-up training surveys

Site Eligibility Requirements

Law enforcement agencies can either apply as a single agency or as multiple agencies within a region, submitting a single application with a primary host agency.

Must be a U.S.-based local (including special jurisdictions such as university or transit), state, territorial, or tribal law enforcement agency or agencies
Must have free facility space to conduct the training, including space to accommodate approximately 40 people, with four breakout rooms, and audio-visual equipment with internet access and the ability to play videos with sound
Must have 20-24 law enforcement officers available to attend training delivery
Must have flexibility in their training schedule to accommodate a pilot delivery of the training between May and June 2026
Must have a dedicated training coordinator/primary point of contact to support planning of the training delivery
Must be willing to invite training participants to participate in focus groups and training surveys