By JAMES BELL
Hays Post
At 4 p.m. Tuesday, area leaders and members of the Fort Hays State University are set to gather to formally accept a $1.25 million grant from the Department of Justice that will be used to continue the mission of the regional De-escalation Training Center.
President Tisa Mason said U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., who helped guide the grant to fruition will be on hand as the school officially accepts the grant.
"Senator Moran was very instrumental in facilitating the awarding of this grant," Mason said. "So we're excited we're going to have on campus to celebrate his efforts and our ability to move forward."
She said his efforts to secure the funding began after a conversation on campus in August 2020 after discussing the center.
“As the lead Republican appropriator for the Department of Justice, I work to make certain law enforcement have the tools and resources necessary to keep our communities safe,” Moran said. “I am pleased this federal grant will support the establishment of a regional training center in Hays for law enforcement across the Midwest to learn and develop the skills necessary to effectively and appropriately de-escalate challenging and dangerous situations they encounter in the field.”
"And we're a part of a national network that is definitely working on education to provide both in-person and online, law enforcement professionals with some new skills in their toolkit and techniques to defuse potentially dangerous situations, which we know happens all the time," Mason said. "And not just with law enforcement, it happens in all of our lives. And so these are really, you know, great skills. And we're really excited about that."
The training at the center places the university at the forefront of this vital law enforcement training initiative, according to FHSU.
“This award will allow the regional training centers to provide advanced de-escalation training to law enforcement across the U.S. at little to no cost,” said Tamara Lynn, department chair and an associate professor, who serves as president of the center's executive council that is responsible for coordinating all regional training centers.
FHSU Police Chief Ed Howell, who serves as co-director of the Fort Hays State’s regional training center along with Lynn, said the tools developed at the center blends well with other law enforcement training.
“This de-escalation model expands the police officers’ tool kit to interact with the people they serve and defuse potential situations that otherwise may escalate in the use of force,” Howell said. “This model does not take the place of other proven crisis intervention models. It seamlessly supplements other proven models of intervention and de-escalation.”
The event is slated to be hosted in the recently opened Fischli-Wills Center for Student Sucess.
"It's fun to have it there too because it's about success," Mason said. "That's a building about student success. And this is about a world of success."