The buckeye police department (BPD) prioritizes DE-escalation in all calls for service, especially when responding to persons in crisis

The Department of Justice Community Oriented Policing Program awarded the City of Buckeye $269,166 on October 1, 2025, under the Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants program (CFDA 16.710) to acquire and implement a virtual reality simulation tool for de-escalation training and hire a training coordinator.

The funding supports Buckeye Police Department's crisis intervention operations by providing a VR simulator with expanded use-of-force options aligned with real scenarios officers, dispatchers, and non-sworn personnel encounter in the field. The training coordinator will oversee VR simulator deployment and de-escalation training delivery to enhance BPD's consistent response capability for persons in crisis. BPD operates a Crisis Intervention Team comprising licensed mental health clinicians paired with sworn officers and requires all sworn personnel to complete initial and annual refresher training in crisis intervention, disability response, and de-escalation tactics.

Work is performed in Buckeye, Arizona 85326. The performance period runs from October 1, 2025, through September 30, 2027. This is a Project Grant, an assistance type under the COPS Office program established to support state, local, and tribal law enforcement in building public safety capacity through community policing strategies.

BPD has a crisis intervention team (CIT) program comprised of two teams, with each team consisting of a licensed mental health clinician and a BPD sworn officer. Additionally, BPD requires all sworn officers to complete initial and annual refresher training courses regarding crisis intervention, people with mental and physical disabilities, and DE-escalation tactics and trainings. This current requested project proposes the acquisition and implementation of a new virtual reality simulation tool that has more use of force options, which more closely align with real use of force options that BPD officers may use, along with dispatchers and non-sworn personnel. Funding will also provide BPD with the ability to hire a training coordinator, who will oversee the use of the VR simulator and DE-escalation trainings to further enhance BPD's ability to provide consistent responses to persons in crisis.