Office for State and Local Law Enforcement

Mission, Strategy, & Goals

The mission of the Office for State and Local Law Enforcement (SLLE), based on an all-crimes/all-hazards approach, is to formulate and coordinate national-level policy relating to law enforcement’s role in preventing acts of terrorism, and serve as the primary Department liaison with state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies.

The strategy employed to carry out this mission involves empowering and partnering with state, local, and tribal law enforcement to secure the homeland.

Accordingly, SLLE has established five strategic goals to carry out its programmatic and administrative duties to support the law enforcement community on matters of national security.

• Increase the efficacy of state, local, and tribal law enforcement to prevent acts of terrorism by improving information sharing, prevention and deterrence, response and mitigation, and training and exercises;
  
• Align Department policies that impact state, local, and tribal law enforcement with the Secretary’s strategic objectives;
  
• Inform Departmental policy that impacts state, local, and tribal law enforcement with the needs and missions of state, local, and tribal law enforcement;
  
• Ensure that state, local, and tribal law enforcement are aware of and support, when possible, Department policy; and
  
• Promote intra-Department and interagency coordination to drive the development of technologies and applications that will assist state, local, and tribal law enforcement in their mission.

Responsibilities

• Lead the coordination of Department-wide policies relating to the role of state, local, and tribal law enforcement in preventing, preparing for, protecting against, and responding to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, and other man-made disasters within the U.S.
  
• Serve as the liaison between the Department and state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies;
  
• Coordinate with the Office of Intelligence and Analysis to ensure the intelligence and information sharing requirements of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies are being addressed;
  
• Work with the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to ensure that law enforcement and terrorism-focused grants to state, local, and tribal government agencies, including grants under sections 2003 and 2004 of the Homeland Security Act and other grants administered by the Department to support fusion centers and law enforcement-orientated programs, are appropriately focused on terrorism prevention activities;
  
• Coordinate with the Science and Technology Directorate, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Justice, the National Institute of Justice, law enforcement organizations, and other appropriate entities to support the development, promulgation, and updating, as necessary, of national voluntary consensus standards for training and personal protective equipment to be used in a tactical environment by law enforcement officers; and
  
• Conduct, jointly with the FEMA Administrator, a study to determine the efficacy and feasibility of establishing law enforcement deployment teams to assist state, local, and tribal governments in responding to natural disasters, acts of terrorism, or other man-made disasters and report on the results of that study to the appropriate committees of Congress.

Mandate

The Office for State and Local Law Enforcement (SLLE) was created by Congress in the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act of 2007 (Public Law 110-53) and placed within the Department's Office of Policy. The authorizing legislation called for the creation of the Office, led by the Assistant Secretary for State and Local Law Enforcement.

Read the policy directive (PDF, 5 pages - 167 KB ).

More about the Office for State and Local Law Enforcement