Federal Cooperative Agreement Summary

The Rhode Island Department of Public Safety received a $1,121,422 Cooperative Agreement from the Bureau of Justice Statistics under the National Criminal History Improvement Program (NCHIP, CFDA 16.554) effective July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029. This award supports statewide initiatives to enhance the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, and accessibility of criminal history records used for public safety operations and firearm background checks. The Rhode Island Public Safety Grant Administration Office serves as the fiscal agent coordinating grant administration and oversight across multiple state agencies and local partners.

Key deliverables include the Rhode Island State Police's network security analysis project and development of a local warrant search tool for National Crime Information Center (NCIC) compliance, along with replacement of four end-of-life livescan fingerprinting machines to meet Federal Bureau of Investigation Next Generation Identification standards. The Rhode Island Judiciary will undertake overtime data entry and quality control efforts to eliminate criminal disposition backlogs, improve data accuracy, and complete overdue felony domestic violence screening assessments. The Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General will continue updating and correcting missing or incomplete criminal history dispositions for reporting to the Interstate Identification Index and National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). Additionally, eight local police departments will replace outdated livescan fingerprinting systems to enhance fingerprint capture, reporting accuracy, and operational reliability statewide.