Department of Justice’s COPS Office Invests More Than $536.7 Million in Grants to Improve Public Safety, Reduce Crime and Advance Community Policing

The Department of Justice’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) awarded more than $536.7 million in Fiscal Year 2020 to increase law enforcement hiring and to improve school safety, combat opioids and methamphetamine, advance community policing efforts, provide training to the law enforcement field, and protect the health of our nation’s officers and deputies.

“Building on the successes in reducing violent crime in 2017, 2018, and 2019, these Department of Justice grants for 2020 help to fight violent crime and deadly narcotics, to improve public safety, and to support the officers who put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe,” said Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey A. Rosen.  “Strong partnerships of federal, state, and local law enforcement can produce better results for the public we all serve.”

“Supporting the men and women of law enforcement as they serve their communities is of paramount importance to the COPS Office,” said COPS Office Director Phil Keith.  “Now more than ever, it is critical that we continue to provide state, local and tribal agencies the resources they desperately need to continue to advance public safety, which they are so committed to doing.  We are all the beneficiaries of that work.”

Funds awarded by the COPS Office in FY2020 include:

COPS Hiring Program (CHP):  Nearly $400 million in CHP grant funding was awarded to 605 law enforcement agencies across the nation, which will allow those agencies to hire 2,761 additional full-time law enforcement professionals.  CHP provides funding for the hiring and rehiring of entry-level career law enforcement officers in an effort to create and preserve jobs and increase community policing capacity and crime prevention efforts.

School Violence Prevention Program (SVPP):  Through SVPP, nearly $49 million was awarded to 160 states, units of local government, Indian tribes, and public agencies to be used to improve security at schools and on school grounds.  Awards included funding for coordination with local law enforcement; training for local law enforcement officers to prevent school violence against others and self; placement and use of metal detectors, locks, lighting, and other deterrent measures; acquisition and installation of technology for expedited notification of local law enforcement during an emergency; and other measures providing significant improvements in security.

Community Policing Development (CPD):  Through CPD, 24 awards were announced totaling nearly $8 million in funding to advance the practice of community policing in law enforcement.  CPD funds are used to develop the capacity of law enforcement to implement community policing 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.

Community Policing Development Microgrants Program:  Through CPD Microgrants, nearly $2.2 million was awarded to 29 local, state, and tribal law enforcement agencies to implement demonstration or pilot projects in their jurisdictions offering creative ideas to advance crime fighting, community engagement, problem solving, or organizational changes to support community policing.

COPS Anti-Methamphetamine Program (CAMP):  Through CAMP, approximately $12 million in grant funding was awarded to 12 state law enforcement agencies that have demonstrated numerous seizures of precursor chemicals, finished methamphetamine, laboratories, and laboratory dump seizures.  This funding will support the location or investigation of illicit activities related to the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, including precursor diversion, laboratories, or methamphetamine traffickers.

Anti-Heroin Task Force (AHTF) Program:  More than $29.7 million in AHTF grant funding was awarded to 14 state law enforcement agencies with multijurisdictional reach and interdisciplinary team (e.g., task force) structures in states with high per capita rates of primary treatment admissions for heroin, fentanyl, carfentanil, and other opioids.  This funding will support the location or investigation of illicit activities through statewide collaboration related to the distribution of heroin, fentanyl, or carfentanil or the unlawful distribution of prescription opioids.

Law Enforcement Mental Health and Wellness Act (LEMHWA):  Through LEMHWA, 41 awards were announced totaling $4.5 million to improve the delivery of and access to mental health and wellness services for law enforcement through training and technical assistance, demonstration projects, implementation of promising practices related to peer mentoring mental health and wellness, and suicide prevention programs.

Preparing for Active Shooter Situations (PASS):  Approximately $8.8 million in PASS funding was awarded to Texas State University / ALERRT to offer integrated, scenario-based response courses and cross-disciplinary active shooter training to law enforcement and other first responders nationally.

Coordinated Tribal Assistance Solicitation (CTAS):  CTAS provides resources for federally recognized tribes from the COPS Office, the Office of Justice Programs, and the Office on Violence Against Women.  Through CTAS, the COPS Office made 64 Tribal Resources Grant Program awards for tribal officer hiring, equipment, and/or training to 41 tribes, with funding totaling approximately $22.5 million.

Tribal Resources Grant Program – Technical Assistance (TRGP-TA):  Through TRGP-TA, the COPS Office provided $800,000 to fund projects related to the topics of (1) cold cases and missing or murdered indigenous persons and (2) developing an Alaskan law enforcement recruitment strategy.

Full lists of all announced COPS Office awards are available here.