Law enforcement grants and the RKB

Competition for grant funding continues to require applicants to do their homework for a successfully awarded grant application.  The more you complete the research and locate current scientific support for your grant program the more likely it is to be funded.

The Responder Knowledge Base is a great resource for any law enforcement agency thinking about grants to support their budget and purchase of resources.  The Law Enforcement Focus Area page provides the department with grant funding, publications and references, standards, training, web links and other related information for the police department. While the Office of Justice (OJP) provides critical information about the development and submission of grant applications along with grant management, the RKB can assist with a deeper understanding of the current relationships between the grant and the resources needed to research the focused target of the grant, identify authorized equipment purchases and garner great insight from the lessons learned section.

If you are new to the RKB you might want to start by locating the law enforcement focus area on the green RKB website bar near the top of the home page. Click on law enforcement and you will find the next page is divided into 14 categories. Each of the categories will offer you different law enforcement perspectives and resources. Additional information will take you to current announcements, research and news. 

Lessons Learned Information Sharing (LLIS) will an abstract of field experience in the category in which you selected such as active shooter response operations: establishing an incident command post. The LLIS concept was developed by FEMA for first responders in fire and emergency response field experiences.

When preparing a grant application is it wise to research all Publications and References to the policing strategy selected within your grant project.  The more you understand current research and scientifically proven outcomes approaches the more fundable your grant project. For example: by clicking on the Intelligence-led policing you will find the Bureau of Justices most recent paper on reducing crime through intelligence led policing strategies. Having current research at your fingertips and references in your grant demonstrated to the grant reviewer that your department understands and utilizes current science in policing. Combining this resource with the materials and resources available through the Bureau of Justice website will add to the strength of your grant application.

RKB also offers Web links related to law enforcement industry and can take to you the sites of important partners and stakeholders in law enforcement.  There are over 165 websites related to law enforcement which may offer additional support for your department and your grant application. One link is the Body Armor News which will assist in keeping you in touch with current trends in the body armor industry.

The Standards section will assure that you have located sound documents needed to justify your selection of equipment and tools in your industry for your grant project. This database is extremely rich with documents to meet your needs. More than 60 US standards organizations under P25, DHS-Adopted and IAB-Adopted are included in this database. Standards in development are also available for review

Training and Education sections will provide you with a wide array of opportunities available nation-wide for colleges, technical institutes, federal, state and regional conferences and trainings and other topics.

The Products section provides you with a list of products under multiple categories and then provides you with the specs and details needed to make a selection.

Finally this page offers you a listing of the current open Grants and Assistance Programs currently available with a summary objectives, description and deadlines, eligibility, and contact information. AT the bottom of the page you will find a link to the actual grant announcement and other related websites The bonus to this resource is a list of knowledge links related to the specific grant you are viewing.  These links will take you to critical related research and other documents needed to develop a sound grant application.

Between the RKB, the Bureau of Justice and the Office of Justice, you have, at your fingertips, the essential connections for you and your grant application.  A sound application requires a lot of research and these sites will eliminate many hours at the “library” so to speak. Additionally you might want to click on the gray box labeled “other grants” at the top of the RKB home page.  Here you will find a complete listing of all first responder grants at the federal, state or other locations.  The “other” category includes grants which may be combined with your federal or state funding to help round out the grant budget for the column “other funding”.

Grant applications at the federal and state levels are requiring that the applicant provide due diligence in research, projects with sound scientifically proven outcomes strategies and budgets which maximize all resources.  The Responders Knowledge Base can help make the job of the grant writing team much more effective and efficient. 

Best wishes with your grant writing endeavors!