LSU NCBRT/ACE Awarded $22 Million Grant from Department of Homeland Security

The US Department of Homeland Security has granted $22 million to the LSU National Center for Biomedical Research and Academy for Counter-Terrorist Education, or LSU NCBRT/ACE.

This funding allows LSU NCBRT/ACE to deliver emergency preparedness trainings to emergency responders at the state, local, tribal and territorial level at no cost to participants. Through this training, LSU NCBRT/ACE will continue to support LSU’s Scholarship First agenda by providing high-quality, timely security and defense training for the nation’s responder community. 

LSU NCBRT/ACE is a training partner of the Department of Homeland Security/Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Training and Education Division.

In fiscal year 2022, LSU NCBRT/ACE reached 37,452 responders through mobile deliveries, indirect training, web-based and virtual training and just-in-time resources.

“These federal funds symbolize the unity and bipartisan commitment to bolstering America's emergency prevention and response training,” LSU NCBRT/ACE Director Jeff Mayne said. “Our robust training infrastructure consistently turns to the nation's leading experts to spread their knowledge far and wide in order to ensure the highest protection and emergency response excellence.”

This grant will fund programs and trainings including DHS/FEMA-certified active threat response courses and de-escalation training for law enforcement agencies around the country. In September, LSU NCBRT/ACE began delivering a new course, De-Escalation Strategies and Professional Policing, that provides officers with the best strategies to safely avoid escalating encounters between police and the public.

The course uses scenarios frontline officers may face daily to test participants’ ability to recognize situations where de-escalation is possible. Participants gain insight into how emotions can affect decision making, learn about de-escalating situations with people in a behavioral health crisis and develop skills for active listening and other communication tools that can assist in avoiding escalating a potentially dangerous situation.

 

About LSU NCBRT/ACE:

LSU NCBRT/ACE is a nationally recognized center for emergency preparedness and response training located at Louisiana State University’s flagship campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. We provide mobile training to both the national and international emergency response community. LSU NCBRT/ACE has expertise in research, development and delivery of training in the areas of specialized law enforcement operations; biological incident response; food and agriculture safety and security; school safety; and instructional design and technique. For more information on LSU NCBRT/ACE’s courses and resources, please visit ncbrt.lsu.edu.