Community First Project is on a mission to make our communities safer by enhancing current police training protocols.
The challenge
There is a gap between the high-level training our police require and the funding necessary to execute this training. We are committed to bridging this gap.
33 states have no requirement for “de-escalation” of force training and only 5 states require more than one hour annually.
Only 39% of agencies require conflict management training.
Most departments require 8 hours of annual training for less deadly weapons, like Tasers. This amounts to 25 % of the training required by manufacturers.
Only 1% of NYPD budget went towards training officers.
Fewer training hours are required to become a police officer than get a cosmetology license, in many states.
This gap costs lives — for both civilians and officers.
In 2021, there were 14 more gun deaths per day than any of the previous six years.
Since 2020, the country has experienced 64 on-campus gun incidents, including 23 attributed to escalations of disputes.
The number of mass shootings occurring in 2021 was 20% higher than 2020.
Police officers report much higher rates of depression, burnout, PTSD, and anxiety than the general population.
1 in 4 police officers have considered committing suicide.
More officers die from suicide than they do in the line of duty.
What if we could change this?
By providing law enforcement organizations with no-cost training in areas such as de-escalation, stress mitigation and management, target identification and other critical skills, Community First Project can give police officers the confidence and critical skills to continue safeguarding our communities.