FY23 Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement Accreditation Entities -Community Policing Development Solicitation

Community policing is a philosophy that promotes organizational strategies that support the systematic use of partnerships and problem-solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as violent crime, nonviolent crime, and fear of crime.

Community Policing Development (CPD) funds are used to develop the capacity of law enforcement to implement community policing strategies by providing guidance on promising practices through the development and testing of innovative strategies; building knowledge about effective practices and outcomes; and supporting new, creative approaches to preventing crime and promoting safe communities.

The COPS Office is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights and racial equity, increases access to justice, supports crime victims and individuals impacted by the justice system, strengthens community safety and protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and build trust between law enforcement and the community.

Statutory Authority

This program is authorized under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Title I, Part Q, Public Law 103-322, 34 U.S.C. § 10381 et seq.

All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Program-Specific Information

This program is authorized under the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended, and the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, Title I, Part Q, Public Law 103-322, 34 U.S.C. § 10381 et seq.
All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and any modifications or additional requirements that may be imposed by law.
For all identified deliverables, the applicant should adhere to the COPS Office Editorial and Style Manual. For projects that propose site-specific work, letters of support from the targeted agencies are strongly encouraged.

With any programmatic questions, please contact the COPS Office Response Center at 800-421-6770 or send questions via email to AskCopsRC@usdoj.gov. The COPS Office Response Center operates Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET, except on federal holidays.

Program Goals

Under this solicitation, the COPS Office seeks to support projects that allow for the identification and expansion of promising practices and produces knowledge products that follow the principles of good guidance:

Quality-driven, with an emphasis on action statements to drive promising practices and reduce variations in performance
Evidence-based, with recommendations that are consistent with the weight of the best available evidence identified through systematic review
Accessible, with clear language and manageable lengths that are appropriate and relevant for the law enforcement field
Memorable, to encourage immediate actions or aid for the complex situations law enforcement professionals face

To read an overview of the principles of community policing, please see the COPS Office publication Community Policing Defined.

Applicants should also consider the COPS Office performance measures when developing their own specific project goals and activities, which can be found in the "Performance Measures" section of this application.

Enhancing Existing Law Enforcement Accreditation Entities

Multiple awards, up to $300,000

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recognizes the importance of law enforcement agencies' adhering to the highest standards of police policies and operations. The community benefits when it is assured its law enforcement personnel are following best practice policies and procedures to provide efficient, effective, and fair policing. Accreditation of agencies helps to ensure accountability and transparency that can enhance confidence and trust in law enforcement among community members and communities as a whole.

Accreditation involves the process of law enforcement agencies adopting and maintaining standards focused on their operations. To obtain accreditation, a law enforcement agency must ensure that it has the appropriate policy standards as defined by the accreditation entity. The number of standards varies by accreditation entity.

Under this solicitation, the COPS Office will support existing law enforcement accreditation bodies in their mission to engage law enforcement agencies in the accreditation process. Applicants should develop a multifaceted approach by focusing on activities such as providing technical assistance to agencies, defraying or underwriting accreditation costs, investing in a better infrastructure for accreditation processes, improving customer service, marketing, expanding access, reducing costs, and developing user-friendly policy templates. The applicant should demonstrate how it will increase the number of accredited small and rural agencies and indicate the number of agencies that should successfully achieve accreditation as a result of the project.

Projects Out of Scope

Applicants seeking only to continue standard operations without plans to enhance procedures or increase the number of agencies accredited will not be considered.
Applicants that are not existing law enforcement accreditation bodies will not be considered.
Applicants seeking to enhance corrections, communications, training academy, or other non-law enforcement accreditation will not be considered.
Applicants that are law enforcement agencies seeking to obtain accreditation will not be considered.

Additional Requirements

The project description should also address the following:

Explain the need for financial support for the expansion of the accreditation body.
Provide a project plan that details the enhancement activities that will support law enforcement agencies, with a special emphasis on small and rural agencies.
Identify an outreach plan to ensure law enforcement agencies, with a special emphasis on small and rural agencies, seek accreditation.
Describe how the accreditation body will sustain enhancements beyond COPS Office funding.

Deliverables

Make measurable strategic enhancements to the existing law enforcement accreditation bodies.
Submit a final report that outlines the activities and status of operations, including the number of agencies achieving accreditation.