Mission and Purpose
Given the current environment and the challenges of maritime law enforcement, public safety and professional training, we must make an IMPACT.
We must Influence and Move with Purpose, and Always Achieve with Confidence, Commitment and Truth.
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To influence, enhance and impact the “Cycle of Success” in our maritime security, defense, public safety and law enforcement efforts, we must provide training, education and accessible resources for law enforcement officers, military personnel, emergency responders and public safety professionals, as well as for the critical infrastructure industries located on or near the maritime environment. By focusing on those five areas identified by Assistant Commissioner Alles in his testimony on July 15th, 2015, given to the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs under the title Securing the Border: Understanding Threats and Strategies For The Maritime Border, (Maritime Domain Awareness, Law Enforcement Information, Response Capability and Capacity, Unity of Effort, Small Vessel Accountability) we can affect the “Cycle of Success.”
Once we recognize that the success of America’s maritime security depends on the abilities, knowledge and skills of the professionals out there on the water patrolling, protecting and preserving the maritime domain, our purpose becomes clear. We must strive to make local, county, state and federal officers better, and provide scalable, exportable, and affordable resources to the officers, their agencies, leaders, supervisors and the maritime law enforcement (MLE) community as a whole.
The National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy (NMLEA or “The Academy”) was formed as a professional provider of subject matter expertise in the maritime law enforcement, port security and defense arena, offering Assessment, Assistance, Advocacy, Consultation, Training, Tools, Technologies and Service including waterborne, vessel and facility security assessments, tactics, techniques, procedures, plans and exercises. As an extension of an agency's training staff, the NMLEA (and the IMLEA) will provide nationally recognized training and exercise programs, assisting agencies of all sizes to improve tactical and response operations within their department. NMLEA/IMLEA programs are uniquely designed and individually customized to meet each agency's specific needs and to increase each officer’s operational readiness.
Therefore, the focus of the Academy is on raising the level of professionalism, proficiency, officer safety and survival through customized training, nationally recognized instructors, a cadre of specialty SMEs, and access to resources, tools and technologies that can enhance each officer’s success in patrolling, protecting and preserving our Nation’s waterways. Most importantly, the Academy will be the National voice of those local, county, state, federal, tribal and military maritime law enforcement officers all across the country. Because, as the maritime challenges increase, the need for advocacy also increases, and we are committed to representing those officers with the professionalism that they display each and every day on America’s waterways.
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Our Mission
As a membership-driven training, education, consultation, and service organization, it is our mission to provide "Strength through Knowledge" to the maritime professionals that patrol, protect and preserve our maritime domain.
The Academy will ensure and enhance the safety and security of our ports, waterways, and shorelines by providing the highest quality of expertise, assistance, resources, advocacy and leadership to maritime stakeholders, law enforcement, public safety, military and emergency response professionals in an accessible, affordable, scalable and sustainable framework.
As an Academy with no walls, we will bring the classroom to the docks of our coastline, our rivers, our lakes, our bays and our harbors. Through strategic and mutually rewarding partnerships, we will meet the needs of officers, departments, agencies, organizations, and the maritime community, continuously improving our collective maritime safety and security capabilities.
