WASHINTGON — The Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) has released nearly $700 million in grant Notices of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) to support law enforcement, according to The U.S. Justice Department, in a June 9 news release.

The released NOFOs include the COPS Hiring Program (CHP) and several other grant programs that:

• Support the hiring and retention of sworn law enforcement officers,
• Keep school students safe,
• Promote the health and safety of our nation’s law enforcement personnel,
• Keep communities safe by providing active shooter training, and
• Provide critical technology resources through congressionally designated projects. 

“The funding announced today reflects our unwavering commitment to supporting the men and women of law enforcement who keep our communities safe,” said Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche, in the news release. “By investing directly in law enforcement, we are empowering agencies across the country to respond more effectively to evolving threats. This is another key step in the Trump Administration’s mission to make America Safe Again — and one that will support our nationwide effort to reduce crime in every zip code.”

“These grants will deliver real, measurable impact in communities across the country,” said Associate Attorney General Stanley E. Woodward Jr. “This Administration is committed to strengthening public safety and ensuring accountability to the taxpayer. The Department will make certain that every dollar invested goes directly toward reducing crime and upholding the rule of law. Supporting the heroic work of state, local, and tribal law enforcement is not only an honor, but an essential step forward in our shared mission to keep the American people safe.”

The COPS Hiring Program is intended to reduce crime and advance public safety by providing direct funding to state, local, and Tribal law enforcement agencies for the hiring of career law enforcement personnel in an effort to increase their community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts. Up to $158 million will be available. 

The STOP School Violence Prevention Program provides funding to improve security at schools and on school grounds in the grantees’ jurisdictions through evidence-based school safety programs. Up to $73 million will be available.

The Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act Program provides funding to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement and their families through training and technical assistance, demonstration projects, and implementation of promising practices related to peer mentoring, access to mental health services and wellness programs. Up to $9 million will be available.

The Preparing for Active Shooter Situations Program provides funding for scenario-based training that prepares officers, deputies, and other first responders to safely and effectively handle active-shooter and other violent threats. This year’s program will train at least 20,000 first responders through scenario-based, multi-disciplinary training classes. Up to $10 million will be available.

The COPS Office Anti-Heroin Task Force Program advances public safety by providing funds directly to state law enforcement to locate and investigate illicit activities through statewide collaboration related to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids. Up to $34 million will be available.

The COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program is designed to investigate illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine. Funding must be used to locate or investigate illicit activities such as precursor diversion, laboratories, or methamphetamine traffickers. Up to $13 million will be available.

The COPS Technology and Equipment Program provides congressionally designated and directed spending to develop and acquire effective law enforcement equipment, technologies and interoperable communications that assist in responding to and preventing crime.  This is not a competitive NOFO and Congress has allocated $400 million for the COPS Technology and Equipment Program.

State and local governmental entities must comply with 8 U.S.C. § 1373, which provides that state and local government entities may not prohibit, or in any way restrict, any government entity or official from sending to, receiving from, maintaining, or exchanging information regarding citizenship or immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of any individual with components of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security or any other federal, state or local government entity. Priority consideration will be given to jurisdictions that cooperate with federal law enforcement to address illegal immigration and coordinate and participate with the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF).

According to the news release, the COPS Office is the component of the U.S. Department of Justice responsible for advancing the practice of community policing and the Administration’s priority of Making America Safe Again by supporting the nation’s state, local, territorial and Tribal law enforcement agencies through information and grant resources.

For more information on COPS Office NOFOs, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/grants.