LAW ENFORCEMENT
GRANTS
Guide to Obtaining Law Enforcement
Grants
As the competition for obtaining law
enforcement grants has increased during recent years, the available
grant monies have decreased. Grants for police departments have been
slowly become homeland security grants.
This page is designed to be a resource for
the law enforcement grant researcher and grant writer. We have assembled information on
different methods for obtaining police and law enforcement grants as well as
different sources of grant money.
Finding Grant Money
The number one rule for grant writing is to
be aggressive.
Think outside the box, do what others are not
doing, and don't let anyone tell you that obtaining some grant is
impossible.
There are two tracks you should be using.
First, you should be subscribing to reputable grant newsletters and other
sources of information on grant money. Using a reputable commercial
grant service is also beneficial. Don't be cheap. There are tens
of thousands of dollars available in grant money. If you are with a
good company, the service fee will be far outweighed by the grant monies you
receive.
The second track is doing your own homework.
Get on Google and search using every grant keyword you can imagine.
Don't just focus on government grants either. Many
private companies offer grants. For instance, many grant
writers have had success with
Walmart
grants. Yes, Walmart has a division that
does much work with the community including offering LEO grants.
Grants come in all shapes and sizes:
General Law Enforcement grants
Federal grants
Police grants
Police K9 grants and grants for Police Dogs
Police Equipment
grants
General grants for Police Departments
Police Computer
grants
Police grants for Schools
Police Vehicle grants
Park Police
grants
Federal Law Enforcement grants
Law Enforcement Equipment
grants
Law Enforcement Camera grants
Project Safe Neighborhoods
grant and Police Safe Neighborhood grant
Grants for School Resource Officers
Technology
grants
Foundation grants
Educational grants
Community Block Grants
Law Enforcement Block Grants
Grant Writing
The first one is the hardest.
Most grants require detailed information
which will require some serious running around. You may need to
research everything from UCR reports to agency arrest statistics to budget
items.
However, as you continue writing grants and
saving your research, you will find that the information is in your desk
rather than in eight different places. The key is to save every piece
of information you gather so it is always available.
You will also need to save your previous
grant applications. They will serve as sample grant proposals for the
future.
Grant writing is all about conveying the
message. You need to learn how to use statistics and information to
your benefit. By no means are we suggesting that you lie.
However, if a certain statistic can be presented two different ways and one
of the ways benefits you while the other doesn't, you would, of course, want
to use the one that benefits you.
Learning how to find information and how to
present the information are two invaluable skills to the successful grant writer.
Grant writing is an art, and those who are successful at it have a huge
feature after retirement. Only experience will teach you how to write
a grant.
Grant Money
When you receive grant money, don't even
thing about spending it until you have thoroughly read all the documentation
that comes with it. Follow their rules to the letter. The grant
may require a separate bank account as opposed to depositing the grant money
into the town's general fund.
Spending Grant Money
Document everything, and don't go one inch
over the line. When it comes to grant money, be more stringent
in how you spend it than what is required by the grant. The quickest
way out of the grant game is to get caught spending narcotics grant money on
a shiny, new DWI patrol car.
Grant Reports
Grant money usually comes with a catch.
Often, you will need to submit a report back
to the source of the grant detailing how you allocated the grant money.
This report is as important as the initial
grant proposal. Next year you will be asking again for more grant
money. The first thing they will do will be to review how you
previously spent grant money.
Final Thoughts on Grants
In closing, there is nothing better than free
grant money. Below is an ongoing list of available law enforcement
grants and police grants. We will add to this list regularly.
Please
email
us should you come across a law enforcement grant that would fit will on
this page.
Available Grants, March, 2005
This list will be updated as new
grants are found
Local Law Enforcement Block grant (LLEBG)
Overview:
The Local Law Enforcement Block grants (LLEBG) Program provides funds to
units of local government to underwrite projects that reduce crime and
improve public safety. The LLEBG Program emphasizes local decision-making
and encourages communities to craft their own responses to local crime and
drug problems. LLEBG Program funds must be spent in accordance with seven purpose
areas.
Contact Information:
Programs Office
Bureau of Justice Assistance
810 Seventh Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20531
202/514-6638
Fax: 202/305-2543
Edward Byrne Memorial
State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance (Byrne Formula Grant Program)
Overview:
The Edward Byrne Memorial State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance Grant
Program (Byrne Formula Grant Program) is a partnership among federal, state,
and local governments to create safer communities. BJA is authorized to
award grants to states for use by states and units of local government to
improve the functioning of the criminal justice system—with emphasis on
violent crime and serious offenders—and enforce state and local laws that
establish offenses similar to those in the federal Controlled Substances Act
(21 U.S.C. 802(6) et seq.).
Grants may be used to
provide personnel, equipment, training, technical assistance, and
information systems for more widespread apprehension, prosecution,
adjudication, detention, and rehabilitation of offenders who violate such
state and local laws. Grants also may be used to provide assistance (other
than compensation) to victims of these offenders. Twenty-nine legislatively
authorized purpose areas were established to define the nature and scope of
programs and projects that may be funded under the Byrne Formula Grant
Program.
Contact Information:
Bureau of Justice Assistance
Programs Office
810 Seventh Street NW.
Washington, DC 20531
202-514-6638
Fax: 202-305-2543
E-mail: AskBJA@usdoj.gov
Cintas AED Automated External
Defibrillator Grants
Police
departments across the country are eligible to apply directly for the
Cintas ReviveR Provider Police Grant. Four times every year, a
department will be selected to receive four (4) AEDs along with associated
AED training at no cost to the department.
Back to Home Page
Coming Soon:
More information on the
following:
-
Private grants for Law Enforcement
-
State and Federal law enforcement
grants
-
Government grants for Law Enforcement
-
School Resource Officer grant
-
Grant money in general
-
Free grant money
-
Community block grants
-
Block grants
-
Cash Grants
Police Grants and Law
Enforcement Grants
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