Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (LECC)

In the summer of 1981, the Attorney General's Task Force on Violent Crime recommended that each United States Attorney establish a Law Enforcement Coordinating Committee (LECC). The bi-partisan Task Force included eight distinguished national criminal justice experts who closely examined federal, state, and local law enforcement needs. The recommendation to establish LECCs came as a direct result of the group's finding that local law enforcement cooperation was crucial, but that cooperation nationwide was uneven. The Attorney General responded to the Task Force recommendations, and on July 21, 1981, issued an order instructing each United States Attorney to establish an LECC. To further facilitate the LECC program within the districts, Congress created the Law Enforcement Coordinator (LEC) position for the U.S. Attorney’s Offices (USAOs) in 1986.

The USAO has a full-time LEC who coordinates with existing state, regional, and county Police Chiefs’ and Sheriffs’ Associations to ensure the USAO is effectively collaborating with the 350+ law enforcement stakeholders in the Northern District of Illinois. The LEC identifies opportunities for collaboration to strengthen relationships, and works to enhance the capabilities of local law enforcement and prosecutors by supplementing resources.  

The LEC often partners with other federal agencies to provide training, guidance on federal grant opportunities, and options for technical assistance through DOJ funded programs. Examples of such training programs include: human trafficking, elder justice, threat assessment, firearms trafficking and the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN), officer safety and wellness, gangs, digital evidence and forensics, federal firearms laws, hate crimes, and more.  The LEC also spreads awareness to local law enforcement partners of federal agency sponsored campaigns, such as:

• National Prescription Drug Takeback Day; One Pill Can Kill Campaign; Red Ribbon Day, and International Overdose Awareness Day (Drug Enforcement Administration);
• Identity Theft Awareness Week (Federal Trade Commission);
• Vehicle Theft Prevention Month (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration);
• Elder Justice Initiative and World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (Department of Justice);
• National Youth Violence Prevention Week; National Missing Children’s Day; National Child Exploitation Awareness Day; and National Child Abuse Prevention Month (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention);
• See Something, Say Something (Department of Homeland Security); and
• Crime Victims’ Rights Week (Office of Justice Programs).

The LEC and other members of the USAO often engage directly with local law enforcement (and the communities they serve) through nationally recognized events, such as Community Policing Week; National Police Week; National Night Out; Law Enforcement Appreciation Day; and National Faith and Blue Weekend. The LEC is also available to assist local law enforcement agencies identify federal resources that can be used and shared through local outreach initiatives, such as citizen police academies and youth outreach programs.

For more information about these and other law enforcement outreach programs in the Northern District of Illinois, please contact Kali Thomas (LEC), at kali.thomas@usdoj.gov.