BJA FY 19 Strategies for Policing Innovation | BJA 2019 15126

Opportunity Information: Apply for BJA 2019 15126

The Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA), within the U.S. Department of Justice, announced the FY 2019 Strategies for Policing Innovation (SPI) grant program as a discretionary funding opportunity designed to help law enforcement agencies take a more deliberate, problem-solving approach to crime reduction and public safety. The core idea behind SPI is to give police agencies the time, support, and resources to clearly identify their most pressing crime or disorder problems, diagnose what is driving those problems using data and evidence, and then carry out operational and organizational changes that are meant to last beyond the life of the grant. Rather than focusing on short-term enforcement surges, SPI emphasizes building durable internal capacity so agencies routinely use evidence-based practices, analytics, and technology to guide decisions.

This opportunity was published under Funding Opportunity Title "BJA FY 19 Strategies for Policing Innovation" with Funding Opportunity Number BJA-2019-15126. It uses the grant funding instrument type and falls within the broader funding activity areas of law, justice and legal services, with additional categorization references to employment/labor/training and humanities (as listed in the source record). The relevant CFDA number is 16.738, which is commonly associated with BJA law enforcement innovation and support activities.

SPI funding was aimed at governmental and quasi-governmental entities that either operate police agencies directly or have the authority to apply on their behalf. Eligible applicants included state governments, county governments, city or township governments, special district governments, and federally recognized Native American tribal governments. The eligibility listing also references "Others" with the expectation that applicants consult the solicitation's additional eligibility details for clarification, which typically covers nuances like whether an applicant must be a law enforcement agency itself, a unit of local government, or another entity serving as the official fiscal agent.

From a funding perspective, BJA set an award ceiling of $700,000 per award and anticipated making about 10 awards under this solicitation. The opportunity opened on April 23, 2019, and had an original application closing date of June 11, 2019. In practical terms, this indicates a competitive national program with a relatively limited number of awards, meaning applicants were expected to present a clear problem statement, a strong plan for using data and research to select strategies, and a credible approach for implementing and sustaining reforms.

Programmatically, SPI is centered on innovation in policing that is grounded in evidence rather than intuition. The program supports agencies in moving from identifying a general concern (for example, violent crime concentrations, repeat calls for service, or specific neighborhood disorder patterns) to defining a focused, measurable problem; analyzing underlying causes and patterns using data; selecting interventions backed by research; and institutionalizing changes so the improvements continue. The emphasis on "lasting operational and organizational changes" signals that BJA wanted agencies to go beyond purchasing tools or running a pilot and instead make improvements to core processes such as crime analysis workflows, deployment strategies, training, supervision, cross-unit coordination, performance management, and the routine use of technology and analytics in decision-making. Overall, the SPI opportunity is best understood as a capacity-building and change-management grant for police agencies that want to modernize how they diagnose problems and apply proven strategies to reduce crime and improve public safety outcomes.

• The Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Assistance in the employment, labor and training, humanities (see cultural affairs in cfda), law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "BJA FY 19 Strategies for Policing Innovation" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.738.
• This funding opportunity was created on Apr 23, 2019.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Jun 11, 2019. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $700,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 10 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).

Apply for BJA 2019 15126

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