[Federal Register Volume 65, Number 89 (Monday, May 8, 2000)]
[Notices]
[Pages 26632-26633]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 00-11368]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Office of Community Oriented Policing Services; FY 2000 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 a new grant program, COPS in 
Schools, designed to combat school violence by helping local law 
enforcement agencies hire additional community policing officers to 
work in schools. This program provides an incentive for law enforcement 
agencies to build working relationships with schools and to use 
community policing efforts to combat school violence. The COPS in 
Schools program will help reduce the local match requirement for local 
law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional new officers to be 
used in or around schools.

DATES: The application deadline for CIS is June 16, 2000. Applications 
must be postmarked by this date to be considered for funding. Due to 
limited funding, applications that are not funded this Fiscal Year will 
be carried over for consideration in Fiscal year 2001 (subject the 
availability of Fiscal Year 2001 funding). If your agency already was 
awarded a FAST, AHEAD or UHP grant, you may request additional officers 
at any time. Note on your application if you are requesting officers 
that will be assigned to primary or secondary schools.

ADDRESSES: To obtain a copy of an application or for more information, 
please call the U.S. Department of Justice Response Center at 1-800-
421-6770 or (202) 307-1480, or visit the COPS web site at http://www.usdoj.gov/cops/.
    Departments that have a pending application under the Universal 
Hiring Program that are interested in redirecting that request to the 
COPS in Schools initiative should contact their grant advisor at 1-800-
421-6770.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The U.S. Department of Justice 
Response Center, (202) 307-1480 or 1-800-421-6770. The CIS application 
and information on the COPS Office are also available on the Internet 
via the COPS 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. The COPS in 
Schools program is specifically designed to combat school violence.
    Many communities are discovering that trained, sworn Law 
enforcement officers assigned to schools make a difference. The 
presence of these officers provides schools with on-site security and a 
direct link to local law enforcement agencies.
    Community policing officers typically perform a variety of 
functions within the school including teaching crime prevention and 
substance-abuse classes, monitoring troubled students, and building 
respect for law enforcement among students. School Resource Officers 
combine the functions of law enforcement and education.
    The COPS in Schools initiative provides an incentive for law 
enforcement agencies to build working relationships with schools to use 
community policing efforts to combat school violence.
    The COPS in Schools initiative reduces the local match requirement 
for law enforcement agencies seeking to hire additional officers in and 
around schools.
    Grants will be awarded to provide for a designated portion of the 
salary and benefits of each new officer over three years. The maximum 
grant amount is $125,000 per officer; any remainder is paid with state 
or local funds. To qualify for funding, officers must be hired on or 
after the grant award start date. Funding begins when new officers are 
hired or on the award date (whichever is later). Funds are distributed 
over the course of the grant.
    COPS grants must not replace funds that eligible agencies otherwise 
would have devoted to hire officers in the absence of the COPS funding. 
In other words, any hiring under the COPS in Schools program must be in 
addition to, not in lieu of, officers that otherwise would have been 
hired or currently employed officers. Grant recipients must develop a 
written plan to retain their COPS-funded officer positions with State 
of local funding after Federal funding ends. This plan must be 
submitted with the application.
    To be eligible to receive funding under this grant program, 
applicants must be eligible to receive funding under the current 
guidelines established for the Universal Hiring Program (UHP). UHP 
guidelines are available from the U.S. Department of Justice Response 
Center (1-800-421-6770). Applicants must also provide assurance that 
the officers employed under this program will be assigned to work in 
primary or secondary schools and must enter into a partnership 
agreement with either a specific school official or with an official 
with general educational oversight authority in that jurisdiction. All 
applicants must also submit a memorandum of understanding (MOU). The 
MOU, which must be signed by both the Law Enforcement Executive and the 
School Official with general educational oversight, is an agreement 
between the parties involved whose purpose is to define the roles and 
responsibilities of the individuals and partners involved.
    In addition to these general program requirements, agencies seeking 
funding under this program will be asked to provide supporting 
documentation in the following areas: problem identification and 
justification, community policing strategies to be used by the 
officers, quality and level of commitment to the effort, and the link 
to community policing.
    All COPS in Schools awards will contain an ``Additional Grant 
Condition'' that must be signed and returned to the COPS Office. This 
condition requires the funded officer(s) and a school administrator to 
attend a COPS in Schools Training. Costs for training, per diem, 
travel, and lodging for attendance of required participants will be 
reimbursed by the COPS Office up to a maximum of $1100.
    An award under the COPS in Schools 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.)


[[Page 26633]]


    Dated: April 21, 2000.
Thomas Frazier,
Director.
[FR Doc. 00-11368 Filed 5-5-00; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4410-AT-M