BJA FY24 National Initiatives: Law Enforcement Training and Technical Assistance-CGIC

Crime Gun Intelligence Centers (CGICs) are interagency collaborations focused on the immediate collection, management, and analysis of crime gun evidence in real time to identify shooters, disrupt criminal activity, and prevent future violence. With initial evaluations suggesting the CGIC model can effectively address gun crime, it is vital to support agencies in implementing the CGIC model with fidelity for sustainability and in support of further replication until it becomes standard practice. The National Policing Institute (NPI) has served the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) CGIC training and technical assistance (TTA) partner for nearly eight years. During this time, NPI has developed and enhanced a proven approach for delivering TTA to agencies as they plan, implement, and refine their CGICs—ensuring success and high implementation fidelity. Given NPI's extensive experience providing CGIC TTA, it is uniquely positioned to advance the CGIC model with current and new sites nationwide, leading to strengthened gun crime investigations and improved public safety and justice. 
 
With continued support from BJA through the FY24 CGIC TTA Award, the NPI team will provide in-depth TTA to agencies implementing CGICs to improve shooting investigation outcomes and provide site assessments for CGIC grantees. To achieve this objective, NPI will provide TTA to CGIC grantees; develop educational publications and CGIC-related tools for the field; host annual CGIC conferences; offer CGIC TTA to non-grantees; and maintain a CGIC website. Building upon prior work, NPI will strengthen and expand upon the current services offered to CGIC grantees. These enhancements will be informed by feedback obtained from current CGIC grantees, as well as the NPI team’s observations of common challenges experienced by agencies in their implementation of CGICs.

NPI’s TTA services will incorporate on-site assessments, training delivery, and the development of additional tools and resources to support CGIC evaluation and sustainability, including an implementation guide and sustainability toolkit. NPI will provide further opportunities for networking, information sharing, and knowledge translation by creating a tailored webinar series and an online Community of Practice. As previously done, each grantee will also be supported by a team of subject matter experts that will include individuals with vast experience in law enforcement, investigations, intelligence analysis, and prosecution at the local and federal levels. Furthermore, NPI will work closely with the respective Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives field offices and assigned agents during each step of supporting CGIC sites to ensure programmatic goals are clear and consistent across agencies.