Public Safety Partnership and Community Policing Grants

The COPS Office was established in 1994 to assist state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies in enhancing effectiveness and building the capacity to advance public safety through the implementation of community policing strategies. Community policing entails developing partnerships between law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve so they can work collaboratively to resolve problems and build community trust. It is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem solving techniques, in order to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder, fear of crime, and satisfaction with police services. Community policing is comprised of three key components: Community Partnerships Collaborative partnerships between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in police: • Other government agencies • Community members/groups • Nonprofits/service providers • Private businesses • Media Organizational Transformation The alignment of organizational management, structure, personnel, and information systems to support community partnerships and proactive problem solving: • Agency management • Climate and culture • Leadership • Labor relations • Decision-making • Strategic planning • Policies • Organizational evaluations • Transparency • Organizational structure • Geographic assignment of officers • Despecialization • Resources and finances • Personnel • Recruitment, hiring, and selection • Personnel supervision/evaluations • Training • Information systems (Technology) • Communication/access to data • Quality and accuracy of data Problem Solving The process of engaging in the proactive and systematic examination of identified problems to develop and rigorously evaluate effective responses: • Scan: Identify and prioritize problems • Analysis: Research what is known about the problem • Response: Develop solutions to bring about lasting reductions in the number and extent of problems • Assessment: Evaluate the success of the responses • Use the crime triangle to focus on immediate conditions (victim/offender/location)

States, units of local government, Federally Recognized Indian tribal governments, U.S. territories or possessions (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Mariana Islands), other public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia thereof.

States, units of local government, Federally Recognized Indian tribal governments, U.S. territories or possessions (including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Mariana Islands), other public and private entities, and multi-jurisdictional or regional consortia thereof.

Documentation varies by program, but may include proof of primary law enforcement authority, any specified Memorandums of Understanding, and Certifications, Assurances and Disclosure of Lobbying Activities

Since 1994, the COPS Office has invested approximately $14.9 billion to add officers to the nation's streets; enhance crime fighting technology; support crime prevention initiatives; promote police reform; and provide training and technical assistance to help advance community policing. The programs and initiatives developed have provided funding to more than 13,000 of the nation's 16,000 law enforcement agencies. Through these efforts, the COPS Office has helped create a community policing infrastructure across the nation. In FY 2017, COPS Office will fulfill its mission of advancing public safety through community policing by continuing to: • Provide grants under the COPS Hiring Program (CHP) to support the hiring of sworn and non-sworn law enforcement personnel nationwide; • Promote the hiring of veterans into non-sworn law enforcement positions; • Continuing oversight and coordination of the National Blue Alert System, created under the Rafael Ramos and Wenjian Liu National Blue Alert Act of 2015. The system is designed to rapidly disseminate information to law enforcement, the media and the public to aid in the apprehension of violent criminals who pose a risk to law enforcement; • Advancing the work of the national Officer Safety and Wellness (OSW) Group, which brings together representatives from law enforcement, federal agencies, and the research community to focus attention on this critical aspect of public safety. Semi-annual meetings of the OSW Group help amplify critical officer safety issues and result in reports which highlight best practices around different safety and wellness topics; • Provide grants under the Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation to support the implementation of community policing and meets the needs of law enforcement in Tribal Nations; • Provide grants under the Preparing for Active Shooter Situations to support training providers who can offer integrated, scenario-based response courses as described in the 2016 Police Act; • Provide grants under the COPS Anti-Meth Task Force and COPS Anti-Heroin Task Force to support law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach interdisciplinary team structures; • Provide grants under the COPS Community Policing Development program to advance community policing through training and technical assistance, the development of innovative community policing strategies, applied research, guidebooks and best practices. Applicants may select from the following topics: Cooperative Partnerships with federal law enforcement to combat illegal immigration, officer safety and wellness resources, enhancing officer safety through increased respect for police, critical response technical assistance, and online training development; • Develop, deliver, and continue to evaluate state-of-the-art training and technical assistance to enhance law enforcement officers' problem-solving and community interaction skills; • Expanding the number of sites reached by the Collaborative Reform Initiative for Technical Assistance; • Align training and technical assistance to problems identified in the officer hiring program; • Promote improved public safety outcomes by infusing community policing core principles in all grant programs, and acting on evidence that it advances public safety; • Support innovative programs that respond directly to the emerging needs of state, local, and tribal law enforcement in order to shift law enforcement's focus to preventing, rather than reacting to, crime and disorder within their communities; • Provide responsive, cost effective customer service delivery to grantees to ensure success in implementing community policing strategies within their communities; and 100% of COPS funds are discretionary funds.

COPS grants are made for between 1 and 3 years depending on the program. Assistance is released on a reimbursement or limited advance basis.

This program is eligible for coverage under E.O. 12372, "Intergovernmental Review of Federal Programs." An applicant should consult the office or official designated as the single point of contact in his or her State for more information on the process the State requires to be followed in applying for assistance, if the State has selected the program for review.

Applicant submits application and budget forms as well as other required documentation (including required assurances, certifications, retention information, lobbying, etc.) prescribed by the grantor agency and approved by OMB, as outlined in the Application Guide. Application Guides are available from the grantor agency. At the time of submission, original or certified electronic signatures of duly authorized representatives (usually the Law Enforcement and Government Executive). The COPS Office offers the option of applying for COPS Grants online through the COPS website and using the collaborative, multiple-agency E-government initiative Grants.gov. If applicants apply online, the agency is required to complete the mandatory online forms and submit the application through their Authorized Organizational Representative.

General criteria for selecting proposals are set forth in the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Public Law 103-322. Additional criteria may be developed by the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and will be published in COPS application materials.

Upon approval by the Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, award notification letters will be sent to grantees. The grant award must be signed by a duly authorized representative and returned to the designated office within 90 days of the award mail date.

Typically between 4-6 months after receipt of application.

COPS grants are made for between 1 and 3 years depending on the program. Renewals and/or extensions may be available under some grant programs and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. If available, extensions should be requested not sooner than 90 days prior to the expiration of the original project period.

See 28 CFR Part 18.