The purpose of the MTU is to encourage local and state law enforcement officers to upgrade their knowledge and skills in techniques pertinent to the law enforcement profession; to provide law enforcement officers with training opportunities within their own locality, and on flexible schedules; and, to provide quality training on topics of instruction centered on specific local needs.The Mobile Team Units have the freedom and autonomy to contract with individuals as well as public and private law enforcement academies and training enterprises for the delivery of specific training courses. Consequently, the finest instructors from throughout the state and from throughout the country can be hired to conduct courses within the service region. For example, John Jay College of Criminal Justice, Northwestern University Traffic Institute, Southern Police Training Institute, the University of Illinois Police Training Institute, the Institute of Police Technology and Management, and others, regularly provide instruction and programs of training through the Mobile Team Unit structure.

In addition, selected courses from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Illinois Department of State Police and other federal and state agencies are scheduled and conducted on a regular basis. This flexibility in hiring and in scheduling allows each Mobile Team Unit to hire the best and enhance overall quality of training.Mobile Team Units operate in a support role, serving participating units of government and law enforcement agencies. The primary focus is training, although, in many cases the unit and its staff members may provide additional service and technical guidance in the areas of recruitment and selection, management, planning, policy formulation, etc. The administration of regionalized training for law enforcement personnel is the major enterprise of the Mobile Team Units.

The Illinois Law Enforcement Training and Standards Board monitors the operation of all Mobile Team Units to determine their continuing eligibility to receive State funds under the Act. The amount of state funds that a mobile team may receive shall equal up to fifty percent of the total approved budget of that mobile team. From monies appropriated annually by the General Assembly for the administration of this Act, the State Board, and the Executive Director of the State Board, determine the amount of funds to be disbursed to each Mobile Team Unit.