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
[email protected]. 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. Continuation and Expansion of Regional De-Escalation Training Multiple awards, up to $750,000 each Law enforcement use of force has long been a topic of national and local discussion, especially when a high-profile case heightens community awareness. The concept of de-escalation has been a part of law enforcement use of force discussions for decades. De-escalation refers to the range of verbal and nonverbal skills used to slow down the sequence of events, enhance situational awareness, conduct proper threat assessments, and allow for better decision-making to reduce the likelihood that a situation will escalate into a physical confrontation or injury and to ensure the safest possible outcomes. Law enforcement agencies should view de-escalation holistically. Ensuring police-community encounters are safe for everyone includes not only communication and physical tactics, but also community engagement, community policing, and procedural justice. The COPS Office encourages an agency-wide comprehensive approach to de-escalation—one that includes both individual-level de-escalation training and other organizational supports. These supports may include such practices as data analysis and after-action reviews of use of force incidents to develop agency knowledge and best practices and the development of community-informed policies and procedures for oversight and management of use of force incidents that encourage the use of de-escalation tactics. For the purpose of this solicitation, the term ‘de-escalation’ refers to taking the necessary action to communicate, either verbally or non-verbally, during a sequence of heightened events in an attempt to stabilize the situation and reduce the immediacy of threat. De-escalation includes using available time, options, and resources, combined with proactive decision-making skills, to enhance situational awareness, perform proper threat assessment, and resolve the situation without the use of force to ensure the safest possible outcomes and to further public perceptions of fairness, legitimacy, and mutual respect. Finally, it is important that an agency-wide approach to de-escalation effectively enable both individual-level de-escalation tactics and effective community-informed policies and procedures for oversight and management. Through this solicitation, the COPS Office is providing funding for the continued support and expansion of a network of regional de-escalation centers, The centers should be administered by accredited institutions of higher education and be able to provide nationally certified de-escalation training opportunities for law enforcement in a multistate region. Projects Out of Scope Applicants that are not accredited institutions of higher education will not be considered. Training programs that are not focused on implementing comprehensive approaches to de-escalation and are not nationally certified will not be considered. Applicants that cannot serve more than one state will not be considered. Requirements The regional de-escalation training centers should provide comprehensive, nationally certified de-escalation training and programming to a diverse set of state, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies in a multistate region. The final regional coverage must be flexible post-award to ensure national coverage. In addition, the applicant should be prepared to coordinate with other regional training centers as well as the national training coordinator in the delivery of training. The applicant should detail their experience and ability to provide de-escalation training and programming, the nationally certified curricula they intend to deliver, and how they plan to provide onsite training at agency locations and host agencies at the center. The applicant should also describe how they plan to market their training to the broader law enforcement community within their identified region including outreach to state associations. The project description should address the following objectives: Describe any currently provided de-escalation training and programming and, if needed, the applicant’s ability to modify or update existing training. Describe the applicant’s capacity and experience providing and promoting law enforcement training in multiple states. Describe how training and programming will encourage an agency-wide approach to de-escalation that enables agencies to sustain learning among officers and align organizational policies, procedures, and other mechanisms to develop a culture of de-escalation. Identify the number officers that the regional training center applicant plans to reach. Describe the process by which the applicant will ensure quality and consistency across training deliveries. Describe how the applicant will sustain the regional training center beyond COPS Office funding. Deliverables The project deliverable(s) should be clearly identified and described in the application project narrative. The project should focus on the delivery and promotion of the nationally certified comprehensive de-escalation training and programming. Other Requirements and Information The COPS Office has a series of training requirements for training award recipients. These requirements were established to develop a common process for the development, delivery, and launch of COPS Office-funded in-person and online courses. The requirements help manage quality control through a series of review and approval checkpoints before movement to the next development phase; assist with establishing a process for vetting COPS Office training content, style, format, and quality in a manner comparable to other COPS Office products and services; establish clear outcome expectations of online and in-person training initiatives; and help maintain COPS Office training by keeping curricula current, relevant, and applicable to community policing. Applicants should be knowledgeable about and plan to follow the COPS Office training requirements and demonstrate an understanding in the course delivery and evaluation process. To learn more about COPS Office training and the development, delivery, and launch requirements set forth by the COPS Office, visit the training tab on the COPS Office website. The COPS Office reserves a royalty-free, nonexclusive, and irrevocable license to reproduce, publish, or otherwise use the training in part or in whole for Federal Government purposes and to authorize others to use the training. The full outline of the right to use is detailed in every cooperative agreement and can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations (2 C.F.R. § 200.315 (b)).