[Federal Register Volume 66, Number 42 (Friday, March 2, 2001)]
[Notices]
[Pages 13078-13079]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 01-5057]


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DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE


Office of Community Oriented Policing Services FY 2001 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 2001, 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 2001 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: There are two application deadlines for the COPS in Schools 2001 
program. Applications are due and must be postmarked no later than June 
15, 2001. Priority consideration for FY 2001 funding will be given to 
applications received postmarked on or before March 30, 2001. 
Applications received postmarked after March 30, 2001, but postmarked 
on or before June 15, 2001 will receive secondary consideration for 
funding in FY 2001. All applications received prior to the June 15, 
2001 deadline that are not funded in FY 2001 because of limited funding 
will be carried over for consideration in FY 2002 (subject to available 
funding). Applications must be postmarked by this date to be considered 
for funding. All applicants must apply to the COPS in Schools 2001 
program using the CIS Application kit. Previous editions of the 
application are null and void and will not be accepted.

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/.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The U.S. Department of Justice 
Response Center, (202) 307-1480 or 1-800-421-6770 or your grant 
advisor. 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/.

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.

[[Page 13079]]

    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 in Schools funding must be used to hire new, additional School 
Resource Officers, over and above the number of sworn officers that 
your agency would fund with state or local funds in the absence of the 
grant (including other School Resource Officers). Your agency may not 
reduce its state or locally-funded level of sworn officers (including 
other School Resource Officers) as a result of applying for or 
receiving COPS in Schools grant funding.
    COPS in Schools funding may also be used to rehire sworn officers 
previously employed by your agency who have been laid off for financial 
reasons unrelated to the availability of the COPS in Schools grant. 
Your agency must obtain prior written approval from the COPS Office, 
however, if you wish to use COPS in Schools funding to rehire any 
officer who is laid off after the official award start date of the COPS 
in Schools grant.
    All grant recipients must develop a written plan to retain their 
COPS-funded officer positions with State or local funding after Federal 
funding ends. This plan must be submitted at the time of application to 
be considered for funding. The application must also include a 
Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to document the roles and 
responsibilities of the collaborative effort between law enforcement 
and education. The MOU must be signed by the law enforcement executive 
and the appropriate school official and must be submitted at the time 
of application to be considered for funding. The application must also 
include a Narrative Addendum to document that the School Resource 
Officers will be assigned to work in and around primary or secondary 
schools, and provide a descriptive narrative of the use of the School 
Resource Officers.
    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 the school administrator 
designated as the educational partner under the CIS grant 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.

    Dated: February 8, 2001.
Ralph Justus,
Acting Director.
[FR Doc. 01-5057 Filed 3-1-01; 8:45 am]
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