U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance Program Brief Bureau of Justice Assistance

Richard R. Nedelkoff, Director

www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA

May 2002

FY 2002 Local Law

Enforcement Block 

Grants Program

For fiscal year (FY) 2002, $340 million has been made availablefor the formula portion of the Local Law Enforcement Block

Grants (LLEBG) Program, to be administered by the Bureau of Justice

Assistance (BJA), U.S. Department of Justice. The purpose of the

LLEBG Program is to provide funds to units of local government to

underwrite projects to reduce crime and improve public safety.

Program Eligibility and Distribution of Funds

To be considered eligible for the LLEBG Program, a jurisdiction must

be a general purpose unit of local government.1

The unit of local

government must report, via its law enforcement agencies, to the

Uniform Crime Reports (UCR) Program of the Federal Bureau of

Investigation (FBI).

The LLEBG Program is a formula program based on a jurisdiction’s

number of UCR Part I violent crimes reported to the FBI. The formula

is computed in two stages. In the first stage, state allocations are

proportionate to each state’s average annual amount of UCR Part I

violent crimes compared with that for all other states for the 3 most

recent calendar years of data from the FBI. Each state, however, must

receive a minimum award of 0.25 percent of the total amount

available for formula distribution under the LLEBG Program. In the

LL

Local Law Enforcement Block Grants Program

EBG
second stage, local awards are proportionate to

each local jurisdiction’s average annual amount of

UCR Part I violent crimes compared with that for all

other local jurisdictions in the state for the 3 most

recent calendar years. Jurisdictions reporting crime

rates above the formula-based threshold of

$10,000 are eligible for direct awards.

The difference remaining between the state

allocation and the local allocation total is awarded

to a state administrative agency (SAA) designated

by the Governor. The SAA has the option of

distributing award funds to state police departments

or units of local government not meeting the

formula-based threshold of $10,000. Additional

information about this portion of the funds is

available from each state’s respective SAA.

Program Purpose Areas

LLEBG Program funds must be spent in accordance

with one or more of the following seven purpose

areas:

◆ Supporting law enforcement:

 Hiring, training, and employing on a continuing

basis new, additional law enforcement officers

and necessary support personnel.

 Paying overtime to currently employed law

enforcement officers and necessary support

personnel to increase the number of hours

worked by such personnel.

 Procuring equipment, technology, and other

material directly related to basic law

enforcement functions.

◆ Enhancing security measures in and around

schools and in and around other facilities or

locations that the unit of local government

considers special risks for incidents of crime.

◆ Establishing or supporting drug courts.

◆ Enhancing the adjudication of cases involving

violent offenders, including cases involving

violent juvenile offenders.

About BJA

The Bureau of Justice Assistance was established in 1984 as a

component of the Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of

Justice. BJA provides leadership and resources to state, local, and

tribal governments and communities to reduce crime, violence, and

drug abuse and to strengthen the nation’s criminal justice system.

BJA provides this assistance through formula and discretionary

grants, training and technical assistance, publications, and the BJA 

web site.

For Further Information

For information about the Local Law Enforcement Block Grants

Program, contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance

810 Seventh Street NW.

Washington, DC 20531

202–616–6500

Fax: 202–305–1367

Web site: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA 

For publications and information on other BJA-funded programs,

contact:

Bureau of Justice Assistance Clearinghouse 

P.O. Box 6000 

Rockville, MD 20849–6000

1–800–688–4252

Web site: www.ncjrs.org

Clearinghouse staff are available Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.

to 7 p.m. eastern time. Ask to be placed on the BJA mailing list. 

U.S. Department of Justice Response Center

1–800–421–6770 or locally at 202–307–1480 

Response Center staff are available Monday through Friday,

9 a.m. to 5 p.m. eastern time.

2
3

◆ Establishing a multijurisdictional task force,

particularly in rural areas, composed of law

enforcement officials representing units of local

government. This task force must work with federal

law enforcement officials to prevent and control

crime.

◆ Establishing crime prevention programs involving

cooperation between community residents and law

enforcement personnel to control, detect, or

investigate crime or to prosecute criminals.

◆ Defraying the cost of indemnification insurance for

law enforcement officers.

Program Requirements

The following requirements must be met prior to the

obligation of LLEBG Program funds and prior to the

Request for Drawdown (RFD) of funds. The RFD must

be completed within 90 days of the posting of awards,

or the funds will be redistributed in the following fiscal

year.

Advisory Board. Each jurisdiction must establish or

designate an advisory board to review the application.

The board must be designated to make nonbinding

recommendations for the proposed use of funds

received under this program. The advisory board must

include a member from each of the following local

organizations: law enforcement agency, prosecutor’s

office, court system, school system, and a nonprofit

group (e.g., educational, religious, community) active

in crime prevention or drug-use prevention or

treatment.

Public Hearing. Each jurisdiction must hold at least

one public hearing regarding the proposed use of

funds prior to the obligation of funds. Jurisdictions

should encourage public attendance and participation.

Matching Funds. In each jurisdiction, LLEBG funds

may not exceed 90 percent of total program costs.

Program participation requires a cash match that will

not be waived. All recipients must maintain records

clearly showing the source, amount, and timing of all

matching contributions.

Trust Fund. Each jurisdiction must establish a trust

fund that may accrue interest in which to deposit

program funds.

Expenditure Period. All federal funds, including

interest, revenue, dividend, and match, must be spent

within the 2-year expenditure period. Unspent funds

must be returned to BJA within 90 days of program

termination.

Public Safety Officers’ Health Benefits Provision.

Section 615 of the FY 2002 Appropriations Act

requires a unit of local government to afford a public

safety officer who retires or is separated from duty due

to a personal line-of-duty injury, suffered as a direct

and proximate result of responding to a hot pursuit or

an emergency situation, health benefits at the time of

separation that are the same as or better than those

he or she received while on duty.

To be eligible to receive the entire amount of award

under the LLEBG Program, a unit of local government

must be in compliance with this provision. If not in

compliance, the unit will forfeit 10 percent of the

eligible amount. Further information about this

provision is provided on the LLEBG Internet-based

application system, which may be accessed at 

http://grants.ojp.usdoj.gov:8003/gms/plsql/

llebg_login.llebg_main.

Prohibition on Use of Funds

LLEBG funds are not to be used to purchase, lease,

rent, or acquire tanks or armored vehicles, fixed-wing

aircraft, limousines, real estate, yachts, or any vehicle

not used primarily for law enforcement. Nor are

funds to be used to retain individual consultants or

construct new facilities. Federal funds are not to be

used to supplant state or local funds; they are to be

used to increase the amount of funds that would

otherwise be available from state and local sources.

Resolution of Funding Disparities

In some cases, a significant disparity may exist

between funding eligibility of a county and adjacent
be posted online at www.ojp.usdoj.gov/BJA/grant/

llebg_00main.html. LLEBG information will also be

available by calling the GMS Hotline at 1–888–

549–9901, option 4. The application process will

consist of the following steps:

1. BJA will notify units of government of their eligibility

and provide information on the Internet-based

application system for the FY 2002 LLEBG Program.

2. State attorneys general will submit disparity

certifications to BJA, if applicable.

3. As required by statute, chief executive officers (CEOs)

will submit a copy of the application to the Governor

or designated representative.

4. CEOs will submit FY 2002 LLEBG applications via the

Internet. Visit the BJA web site for additional guidance

regarding the online submission of applications.

5. BJA will make awards on a rolling basis, with all FY

2002 awards completed by August 2002.

Note

1. Units of local government are counties, towns and

townships, villages, cities, parishes, Indian tribes, Alaska

Native villages, and parish sheriffs (in the state of

Louisiana) that carry out substantial governmental duties.

U.S. Department of Justice

Office of Justice Programs

Bureau of Justice Assistance

Washington, DC 20531

Official Business

Penalty for Private Use $300

NCJ 193494

May 2002

municipalities. By statute, a potential disparity exists

when one municipality’s eligible funding amount is

more than 200 percent of the adjacent county’s (400

percent for multiple municipalities) and the county

bears the majority of prosecution or incarceration

costs for UCR Part I violent crimes reported by the

municipality. If multiple adjacent municipalities meet

this disparity threshold, the county also must show

that funding allocations to those municipalities will

likely threaten the efficient administration of justice.

The LLEBG Program addresses these situations. Once

BJA identifies a potential disparity, the state attorney

general (SAG) must certify whether a disparity does

exist. Jurisdictions certified as disparate must agree

on whether and in what proportion they will share

funds. Neither BJA nor SAGs are required to take part

in these negotiations. If no agreement is reached,

none of the jurisdictions may apply for funding.

FY 2002 Application Process

The FY 2002 application and award processes will 

be administered via the Internet-based Grants

Management System (GMS). Application deadlines

and other LLEBG Program dates will be established in

accordance with system development efforts and will