[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 52 (Thursday, March 18, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13447-13448]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-6525]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; FY 1999 Community 
Policing Discretionary Grants

agency: Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, Department of 
Justice.

action: Notice of availability.

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summary: The Department of Justice, Office of Community Oriented 
Policing Services (``COPS'') announces the availability of funds under 
the Tribal Resources Grant Program, a program designed to attempt to 
meet the most serious need of law enforcement in Indian communities 
through a broadened, comprehensive hiring program that will offer a 
``menu of options'' from salary and benefits for new police personnel 
to funding for law enforcement training and equipment for new and 
existing officers. This program, which complements the COPS Office's 
effort to fund 100,000 additional community policing officers and 
support innovative community policing, will enhance law enforcement 
infrastructures and community policing efforts in Tribal communities 
which have limited resources and are affected

[[Page 13448]]

by high rates of crime and violence. Applications should reflect the 
department's most serious law enforcement needs and must link these 
needs to the implementation or enhancement of community policing. Also, 
a written plan to retain COPS-funded officer positions after Federal 
funding has ended and a plan for the implementation of community 
policing by the department must be submitted with the grant 
application.
    All Federally recognized tribes with established police departments 
or existing police efforts are eligible to apply. Tribes whose law 
enforcement services are provided by local policing agencies through a 
contract arrangement are not eligible under this COPS program. In 
addition, individual start-up police departments are not eligible. 
However, tribes or village that wish to initiate a law enforcement 
effort may apply as a consortium with a formal, written partnership 
agreement that names a lead agency and describes how requested 
resources will serve the consortium's population.

dates: Applications will be sent to all Federally Recognized Tribes 
with existing law enforcement efforts by mid-to-late March 1999. Tribes 
or Villages that wish to apply as a consortium may request an 
application kit from the COPS Office. The deadline for applications is 
May 28, 1999. Applications must be postmarked by May 28, 1999, to be 
eligible.

addresses: To obtain an application or for more information, call the 
U.S. Department of Justice Response Center, (202) 307-1480 or 1-800-
421-6770. A copy of the application kit will be available in mid-to-
late March on the COPS Office web site at: http://www.usdoj.gov/cops.

for further information contact: The U.S. Department of Justice 
Response Center, (202) 307-1480 or 1-800-421-6770 or your grant 
advisor.

supplementary information:

Overview

    The Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 (Pub. L. 
103-322) authorizes the Department of Justice to make grants to 
increase deployment of law enforcement officers devoted to community 
policing on the streets and rural routes in this nation. As part of the 
Clinton Administration's commitment to combat and prevent crime in 
America's Tribal communities, the Justice Department's Office of 
Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) has made funding available 
through the Tribal Resource Grant Program, a program developed to meet 
the most serious needs of law enforcement in Indian communities through 
a broadened, comprehensive hiring program that will offer a ``menu of 
options'' from salary and benefits for new police personnel to funding 
for law enforcement training and equipment for new and existing 
officers. This program, which complements the COPS Office's effort to 
fund 100,000 additional community policing officers and support 
innovate community policing, will enhance law enforcement 
infrastructures and community policing efforts in these Tribal 
communities, many of which have limited resources and are affected by 
high rates of crime and violence.
    The Tribal Resources Grant Program is part of a larger Federal 
initiative: for the last two years, the Departments of Interior and 
Justice have worked in collaboration to improve law enforcement in 
tribal communities. A total of $88.9 million has been appropriated to 
several DOJ agencies including the FBI, the Bureau of Justice 
Assistance (BJA), the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 
Prevention (OJJDP), the Corrections Program Office (CPO), and the COPS 
Office. COPS is coordinating with these agencies as well as with the 
Office of Law Enforcement Services of the Bureau of Indian Affairs to 
ensure that limited resources are not spent on duplicative efforts and 
that tribal law enforcement departments do not face delays in being 
able to utilize available funding.
    The Tribal Resources Grant will provide Tribal communities with the 
resources to: hire new police officers; train new and existing officers 
in community policing, grants management and computer training as well 
as basic police training at a state academy or the Indian Police 
Academy in Artesia, NM; and provide basic standard issue equipment, 
ranging from bullet-proof vests and uniforms, to firearms and portable 
radios. Limited funds are also available for background investigations 
for newly hired officers.
    The Tribal Resources Grant Program emphasizes deployment of 
officers and resources into communities that are affected by high rates 
of crime and violence. Applicants must submit a written plan to retain 
their COPS-funded officer positions after Federal funding has ended, 
together with a plan for the implementation of community policing by 
the department. These plans must be submitted to the COPS Office with 
the Tribal Resource Grant Program application.
    A total of $35,000,000 in funding will be available under the 
Tribal Resources Grant Program. The grant will cover a maximum Federal 
Share of 75% of total project costs, including improved salary and 
benefits of entry-level police officers (up to a maximum of $75,000 per 
officer over three years), basic law enforcement training and 
equipment, vehicles, and technology. A local match requirement of 25% 
of the total project costs is included in this program. A waiver of the 
local match requirement may be requested but will be granted only on 
the basis of documented demonstrated fiscal hardship. Requests for 
waivers must be submitted with the application.
    Tribes whose law enforcement services are provided by local 
policing agencies through contract arrangement are not eligible under 
this COPS program. In addition, individual start-up police departments 
are not eligible. Tribes that do not meet the eligibility requirements 
for this program may apply to the COPS Office Universal Hiring Program 
for police officer positions only.
    An award under the Tribal Resources Grant Program will not affect 
the eligibility of an agency to receive awards under any other COPS 
program.
    The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) reference for 
this program is 16.710.

    Dated: March 8, 1999.
Joseph E. Brann,
Director.
[FR Doc. 99-6525 Filed 3-17-99; 8:45 am]
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