FY 2023 Smart Policing Initiative Grant Program

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DARYL FOX: Good afternoon, everyone. And welcome to today's webinar, “FY 2023 Smart Policing Initiative Grant Program,” hosted by the Bureau of Justice Assistance. At this time, it's my pleasure to introduce Kate McNamee Senior Policy Advisor with BJA for some welcoming remarks and to begin the presentation. Kate?

KATE MCNAMEE: Daryl, thank you so much. Can you hear me okay?

DARYL FOX: Yes, indeed.

KATE MCNAMEE: Fabulous. Well, good afternoon, everybody. I'm so happy to be with you today and to share information about the FY 23 Smart Policing Initiative Grant announcement. We have a lot to cover today. So just as a brief overview, we will be talking about the Office of Justice Programs and BJA and giving you a little bit of background information on who is funding this program. What SPI is and what it has achieved for the policing field, who is eligible to apply, and what activities, and purchases, funds can support, where are we focusing, the solicitation's Purpose Areas this year, what a competitive application will have, OJP's priority areas, important steps in the application process, and where you can seek out help if you need it. And then, I'll open up the webinar for Q&A at the end. And if you have questions along the way, as we've already said in the chat, please enter them in the chat and Daryl will relay them to me at that time. Next slide, please. 

Thank you, Daryl. So I want to provide a very brief overview of OJP, which is one of the three grant-making components of the Department of Justice. The Bureau of Justice Assistance, where my colleagues and I spend our days, is one of the bureaus within the Office of Justice Programs. Next slide. Thanks. 

BJA is proud to support our nation's state, local, and Tribal criminal justice agencies, with the express purpose of reducing crime and strengthening communities. One of the most important ways we do this is by providing grants to agencies and communities in order to support local efforts. We do our best to design programs that are responsive to real world challenges and provide maximum flexibility for local implementation. We are also committed to streamlining the application process and minimizing the administrative burden of managing our grants. We have made real progress in recent years on that front in particular, and it has never been easier to apply for and manage BJA grants. In other words, please, please, please do not be intimidated by the process or think that you need to be experienced as a Grant Manager to successfully apply for this funding. If you have the desire to apply, we have the support to help you succeed. It is, however, important that you do not procrastinate once the solicitation is open. Waiting till the last week to apply might not leave you with enough time to gather the necessary information needed for the application. So we want you to succeed. So please, please start early. Next slide, please.

This is our Director, appointed by President Biden in 2022, Karhlton Moore. And he oversees our efforts to achieve these goals. BJA is made up of four distinct offices. And today, I represent the BJA Policy Office, which is where we strategically plan our programs and engage with the field. If awarded an SPI grant, you will also work directly with my colleague in the BJA Program Office to administer your award. Next, please.

BJA has five major strategic focus areas, and they are listed here. And I can truthfully say that SPI touches on each of these areas in a variety of ways. Next, please.

In pursuit of those five areas, we fund diverse projects. We stay in close contact with criminal justice practitioners to share reliable information on what works. We create tools kits and publications to share the knowledge far and wide. And we are constantly engaged in outreach and partnerships with major criminal justice organizations so that information is shared across the public safety field. Next, please.

So the Smart Policing Initiative has existed since 2009, and its goal has been to support law enforcement's effort to identify and test innovative and evidence-based solutions to their most pressing policing challenges and crime problems. Since that establishment, we have increased law enforcement agencies' use of innovative technology, intelligence, and data, encouraged collaboration among key crime reduction partners, promoted evidence-based practices, and encouraged sustainable partnerships between police and researchers. By injecting science into policing practice, SPI benefits both individual jurisdictions work and their crime issues and also provides the policing field with information on what works in crime reduction. So thus far, we have supported 86 law enforcement agencies as they change the way they do business. Next slide, please.

The central way we do this is to competitively award funding to support initiatives that improve agency's crime fighting capacity. Under SPI, jurisdictions compete to receive funding for three-year initiatives. The proposed project must target a pressing operational, technology, implementation, or crime reduction issue for intervention or implementation. And SPI sites often partner with researchers to evaluate their progress and results, and actually, that is required as part of the program. In terms of what types of initiatives SPI supports, it is a broad portfolio with police departments addressing issues related to violent crime reduction, technology implementation, crime analysis, capacity building, addressing people at risk in dangerous places, and innovative approaches to individuals in mental health or substance abuse crisis. After receiving an SPI grant, SPI sites have access to intensive training and technical assistance, and that has been key to SPI site success. And you can learn more at smart-policing.com.

Here is a sampling of what SPI has enabled local jurisdictions to accomplish. In Commerce City, Colorado, the SPI supported Sexual Assault Task Force, enabled them to manage a 46% increase in sexual assault investigations and received an award for their efforts with 225 cases investigated and 471 primary and secondary victims served, victim and citizen satisfaction with the investigatory process improved greatly.

In Detroit, Project Greenlight, which supported the installation of high-quality video systems with visible green lights and signage in and around retail, service, and multi-unit residence locations, these cameras were monitored by the Detroit Police Department's Real-Time Crime Center and received priority call responses, and the initiative was evaluated by Michigan State University. Reductions in violent crime, especially carjackings followed.

And in Miami, SPI supported the New Real-Time Crime Center and evaluated its effectiveness. RTCCs, as we call them, are popping up in police departments all over the country. And there's little research to provide evidence-based practices to informed decisions around this technology and how they're used in police tactics and strategies. Miami's evaluation found that the Real-Time Crime Center improved their ability to clear cases, although it didn't make the process faster, which was an interesting and unexpected finding. These examples are meant to illustrate the diversity and complexity of the work underway in SPI. Equally important, it also shows the importance of evaluating each site's implementation and outcome of their SPI intervention. Next slide, please.

So who is an eligible applicant? It's pretty broad here. State, local, and tribal law enforcement agencies, government law enforcement agencies who act as fiscal agents for specific law enforcement agencies. So that's government agencies applying on behalf of a law enforcement agency, in other words, tribal governments that perform law enforcement functions, as well as tribal consortia. Two or more entities may be involved in the project, but only one can serve as the lead applicant. All recipients and subrecipients must forgo any profit or management fee. Next slide, please.

So common an allowable cost that can be supported with SPI or new personnel, overtime support, technology, both hardware and software, and data analysis support, including professional evaluation, crime analysis support, et cetera. Grant amounts are capped at $800,000 for each award regardless of the purpose area you apply to.

So I wanted to take a moment to highlight the solicitation's requirement that this year's proposed SPI projects, "combat, address, or otherwise respond to precipitous or extraordinary increases in crime." The reason for this is that it is a statutory requirement of the funding stream we are using this year to support the program, which is the JAG Program. Chronically high conditions are not what we are talking about here. There must be data provided to illustrate that an increase in crime or types of crime have taken place within your jurisdiction. The data should show that this increase is unusual or dramatic over a defined period of time. This can be year over year, quarter over quarter, et cetera, but it must be demonstrated with data in your application. Next slide, please.

Research partners have enabled SPI to show what works in policing and are central to an SPI initiative success. We require at least 20% of the project budget support the activities associated with the research partnership and evaluation of the project. We then take these findings and we share them with the policing communities through publications and webinars, et cetera. You may have seen a few of ours. Hope you have. If not, go to smart-policing.com and you can view them there. Occasionally, they inspire new programs at BJA if enough evidence is gathered in support of a particular crime reduction approach. So this way SPI is a two-way street with both the grantee and BJA benefiting from the work that takes place at SPI sites. Next, please.

We want your research partner to be well-qualified and have experience with evaluation within the context of policing or the criminal justice system and experience working within those systems or with those systems. They need to have the ability to leverage different data collection and research methods to fit the project that you are trying to run and evaluate. And they need experience with performing complex evaluations and disseminating those results. SPI projects tend to focus on very, very complex issues, and so the evaluations are complex to match. Next slide, please.

So we have three Purpose Areas in this year's solicitation. The first supports projects that implement innovative approaches to crime reduction or police operations and this is our more open purpose area. Purpose Area 2 focuses on the emergent area of law enforcement's role in community violence intervention programming, which is an administration priority. And Purpose Area 3 supports the implementation of information sharing, crime analysis, or applied technology initiatives that promote public safety and trust to address a precipitous increase in crime in the act of jurisdiction. Now, you may apply to all three, but they should be different projects, and all must have that precipitous increase in crime nexus. Next, please.

Purpose Area 1 is focused on innovative and evidence-based policing practices, and I would highly recommend visiting smart-policing.com and taking a look at the projects highlighted there, in particular projects in Los Angeles, California, Tempe, Arizona, the Detroit project that I mentioned earlier, Chicago, Portland, Oregon and Brooklyn Park, Minnesota, really illustrate the array of projects to be funded under this purpose area. It really illustrates the breadth of crime issues and organizational challenges SPIs help police agencies tackle. Next, please.

BJA has identified specific areas of particular interest to the field that would fit under a Purpose Area 1. They include projects that focus on improving investigative approaches to the fentanyl crisis, nonfatal shootings and homicides, and violent crime driven by juveniles and emerging adults. And by emerging adults, I talk about that very active crowd between 18 and 24 that are not kids anymore, but they're not acting like full-fledged adults yet either. They have a particular role to play in our crime spikes that's according to the current data. Increasing the law enforcement agency's evidence-based programming and building analytic capacity in connection with a strategy to reduce a crime increase, implement innovative strategies for using civilian staff to address violent crime issues, reformation of police agency policies, SOPs, et cetera to improve community trust and reduce violent crime through increased community partnerships, and institutionalizing evidence-based policies, procedures, and tactics, and strategies with the goal of addressing an increase in violent crime. Next slide, please.

So Purpose Area 2, brand new area for us, as BJA launched its community violence intervention work last year, we realized that the field has very little information or evidence on how law enforcement can and should effectively contribute to these violence reduction initiatives. Although, law enforcement information data is crucial to CVI initiatives in many cases, there are often impediments to sharing that data and forming a productive partnership between these two actors. Please see the solicitation for an extensive discussion on this issue. This purpose area is appropriate for jurisdictions that have CVI initiatives plans or underway to address an increase in crime that would benefit from law enforcement's involvement as a supporting partner and information resource. The key to this area is being able to develop a collaborative plan to support the CVI initiative that maintains the safety of all parties and the security of law enforcement's sensitive information. Next slide, please.

In particular, BJA needs information on the appropriate and effective level of collaboration between law enforcement and CVI partners in different kinds of interventions, as there are many types of interventions that fall under the CVI umbrella. Hospital-based interventions, interventions for street outreach workers, and violence interrupters. Much more information is available on our Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative page on the BJA website and I highly, highly recommend that you check that out if applying to this purpose area.

Another issue that we are interested is what kind of data should and could be shared between law enforcement and CVI workers and how should this data be secured and protected. How should we cross trade law enforcement and credible messengers and clinicians and other CVI partners, so as to build trust and collaboration among all parties? So it's a big issue, a big interest to the department right now and so I look forward to what comes out of this very new area.

Purpose Area 3 is focused on technology, data analysis, crime analysis, or information sharing solutions that help agencies address a specific increase in the type of crime. Now, I would highly recommend looking at previously funded projects addressing these issues at smart-policing.com, specifically, please see the 2019 projects funded in Houston, Texas, Washington, DC, Salisbury, North Carolina, and Anniston, Alabama. Next slide. Thank you.

So we have particular areas of interest in this as well. Technology is a key law enforcement tool and its progress is moving at just lightning speed. So we are particularly interested in how law enforcement can appropriately apply artificial intelligence-based technology and machine learning to improve operation and understanding of crime drivers in a community, social network analysis, geospatial analysis in place network investigation and analysis are also approaches that have demonstrated success in reducing violent crime and other types of crimes. But we'd also like to see how these can be used to facilitate meaningful community policing activities also and exploring new ways that different technology and information sharing and analysis methodologies should or could be integrated with another in a crime reduction strategy is a great interest, as is the concept of building digital trust and transparency within the community into these processes. And I must again say that any proposal that addresses this purpose area, like the other two purpose areas, must be tied to a precipitous increase in crime and directly addressing that increase. Next, please.

The solicitation highlights specific priority areas for OJP as well, including projects that promote racial equity and remove barriers to justice and services by historically underserved or misheard communities, projects that feature at least 40% of the funding going to a culturally specific organization, and applicants that demonstrate support for the elements included in the Executive Order 14074 which are listed here and in the solicitation. I would advise you to explicitly describe how your organization or project supports one or more of these priorities, if indeed they do. Next slide, please.

Since SPI is a well-established program, we have identified specific elements or themes that are key to a successful project. First is, you need to demonstrate that precipitous increase in crime in the context of your community demonstrated with reliable data. You also have to have strong support from the Chief Executive of your department who's willing to message that the SPI project is a high priority. You need to consider and respond to BJA or OJP priority areas. You need to have a clear evidence-based plan to examine the drivers of the crime problem that you are addressing and base the intervention on the findings of that analysis. You need the willingness to change standard operating procedures and other business practices and be open to opportunities for improvement that might be, you know, the biggest thing that you need to pay attention to. And a commitment to keeping up the work after the grant ends, so that successful approaches remain in place and continue to benefit the agency and the community. We don't want the work and the effort to stop once the sun sets on the grant funding. This has to be a new way of doing business for your agency. I highly recommend checking the review criteria, for the purpose areas in the solicitation. There is no secret formula here. That is what will be used by peer reviewers to score your application. So it's very, very important to consider that information. Next, please.

The SPI projects are complex, so we a lot 36 months for implementation and up to $800,000 just for each type of work. Evidence-based practice is often a buzzword. But it is very real and tangible to us, and that is what we are looking for to support under SPI. You must back up your proposed project with data-based reasoning and approaches. There's no match for this program, and these are grants not cooperative agreements. The start date will be October 1st, 2023, or later. And there is a two-stage application process. Next slide, please.

So step one, is to submit your SF-424 and lobbying forms in disclosure to Grants.gov. And then, full applications in step two to JustGrants. The solicitation has a tremendous amount of information on those processes, so please review it fully prior to submission. In addition, DOJ has a submission checklist to help ensure that you get everything right at submission time, along with helpful tips for a smooth experience.

Now, these are important dates to remember. We release the solicitation on March 9th. And the Grants.gov deadline for your SF-424 and lobbying disclosure is May 1st. The JustGrants submission deadline for your full application and attachment is May 8th. JustGrants offers application, eLearning videos, job aids, and other resources to walk you through the mechanics of submission and get in touch if you have issues according to the solicitation guidance. Of note, we now require a JustGrants web-based budget form, which with indirect cost rate agreement uploaded as an attachment. We also require the financial management questionnaire, which should disclose if your organization is designated as high risk by OJP, as well as the disclosure of executive compensation. And there's training available on this step through the JustGrants page here.

As previously mentioned, we have many tools and resources available to you all on all aspects of the application process. So for Grants.gov, applicant assistance, here are your contacts for outreach and help. These are also available in the solicitation itself. And for step two, JustGrants, we also have a hotline, an email contact available for questions and technical assistance. We also have the OJP Response Center and they can answer questions related to the programmatic and technical requirements of the solicitation. They work with us directly to get your questions answered, accurately. So, please do reach out to them and they will work with us to make sure you have the right information to put your application together. And you can receive updates on SPI and BJA's other programs by subscribing to email updates and following us on social media. And our website is the best source for information on our many programs. And here are some recommended resources you can use to ensure your application is strong, responsive to the solicitation and SPI priorities, and submitted correctly. Really, visit the SPI website, though. Extra plug for that. It'll really give you an idea of who's in the SPI family, and what they're doing. So, this is my contact information. And so if there's anything that comes up along the way, I'm happy to answer any questions just give me a shout. But email is generally the better way to reach me. But I'm happy to speak with you all in your interest in SPI, and what we have done to support the policing field. So I think with that, we're opening it up for questions, Daryl.

DARYL FOX: Great. Thanks so much. Just a reminder to everybody, the PowerPoint, recording, and transcript for today will be posted to the BJA website, so you'll be able to go back and reference everything spoken to you today. You'll receive an email when and where those will be posted. If you do have a question, bottom right side, three dots, hit Q&A, select all panelists, we'll get those queued up. Though we still do have a quite a bit of time left today. There are a few in the queue at this time, Kate. The first one. “The applicant must be law enforcement entity and then they include the research entity? Or can the research entity apply and include the law enforcement agency?”

KATE MCNAMEE: No, it has to be a law enforcement agency as a lead applicant. If it is a non-law enforcement governmental body, i.e., the state university that is applying on behalf as the fiscal agents for the law enforcement agency, that is permitted. But they are applying as the fiscal agent, not as the research partner.

DARYL FOX: “Can funds be used for purchasing and services related to commercial off-the-shelf data analytics software?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes. Yes, it can.

DARYL FOX: “Can grants be used to fund the purchase of take-home vehicles?"

KATE MCNAMEE: We tend to really examine the take-home vehicles, any vehicles really, very closely. Again, anything that you're doing with these funds needs to directly relate to an increase in violent crime. So you would have to make a very strong case as to why vehicles would play into that and how you would measure the impact that would happen by a violent crime.

DARYL FOX: Then back to eligibility. “Can a regional division of a countywide police department be a direct applicant?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Regional division of a countywide? I think that you would have to work with your locals, because usually you have a particular grant application process at the local level. As long as you have a DUNS number and an authorized representative, I mean, you can apply. But your local policies will dictate how you'll apply for the grant as well. So I would definitely check with your central office, and figure out if they have a grant application process in place.

DARYL FOX: “Are there any current examples of dashboards or portals used by law enforcement agents?”

KATE MCNAMEE: I believe there's one in Tucson that's open and available. So I would recommend looking there.

DARYL FOX: For technical within the application. “The solicitation has both an MOU and a letter of support requirement. However, the description says the exact same thing. Do you need both? It's applicable to the same partner?"

KATE MCNAMEE: No, I do not need both. Good question.

DARYL FOX: And “is there such a list of preferred research partners that law enforcement agencies should consult or use?”

KATE MCNAMEE: No. Nope. There is some information in the solicitation about what we consider to be a qualified or what the—not traits, but qualifications for a research partner. And there's also some great information through Michigan State University and the Smart Suite Program on research partnerships, and what you should look for in a research partner. But, we can get you more information on that if you just email us directly if you have any trouble finding it.

DARYL FOX: “Are reimbursement funds for recent equipment purchases related to the project proposal eligible?”

KATE MCNAMEE: No, I think you mean retroactive reimbursement for stuff you've purchased before receiving the grant? No.

DARYL FOX: “Can applicants apply for projects to address increases in property crime?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes.

DARYL FOX: And then, “regarding the research partners, is there a site or a way to perhaps identify one of those for the application? Examples people have used in the past.”

KATE MCNAMEE: I'm sorry, can you repeat that, Daryl?

DARYL FOX: “Regarding the research partners, is there a list or just some sort of reference that others have used in the past that I...”

KATE MCNAMEE: A list of research partners?DARYL FOX: Correct.

KATE MCNAMEE: No, we don't maintain a list of research partners. We want to give everybody an open shot at this as long as they have the qualifications outlined in the solicitation. I would recommend, maybe conferring with the closest university that has a sociology or a criminal justice program. You can also confer with the center for evidence-based policing for the American Society of Criminology Policing Section. Those are all great resources for researchers who are willing to work with police departments as partners.

DARYL FOX: “Does Category 2 require a research partner as well?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes. Everybody needs a research partner.

DARYL FOX: This one's high level enough, Kate, regarding JustGrants and that. ”You have to submit the SF-424 and LLL prior to accessing the JustGrants application?”

KATE MCNAMEE: I believe so but I would check with the JustGrants people on that. I'm not a JustGrants expert unfortunately.

DARYL FOX: Yeah, and I'll go ahead and put this up too. So the two different due dates, you cannot proceed to the JustGrants portion if you do not meet the May 1 deadline for Grants.gov for those two, so just a reminder to keep that in mind.

KATE MCNAMEE: Yup.

DARYL FOX: Must meet that May 1 deadline first. “Can the grant be used in the purchase of body-worn cameras?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes, technically. We do have a huge body-worn camera program at BJA though, so I would highly recommend checking that out but, yes, that would be allowable.

DARYL FOX: “The solicitation states the applicant must commit to assigning a member of their command staff to oversee the project. Does this position need to be full-time and can be paid by the grant?

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes, can be paid by the grant. No, it does not have to be full-time. What we want here, what we're looking for for further clarification is someone who can truly make decisions and guide the Smart Policing Project, so that it doesn't get lost in the weeds of daily business. If you have a lower-level person overseeing it, such as like a sergeant, or below, chances are change does not get implemented as a result of the SPI project, so that is why we require that.

DARYL FOX: “I don't know if it was mentioned but is there a match required for this grant?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Nope. No match.

DARYL FOX: “And then they're to be administered as grants not cooperative agreements, correct?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Correct.

DARYL FOX: And “if it's a police department at a college level and have staff that have done and conducted research prior, can they keep it all in-house or must it be an outside entity, research entity?”

KATE MCNAMEE: They can keep it in-house. My only caution would be to ensure that the people doing the research wouldn't have a vested vested interest in the outcome one way or the other. We want definitely, uninfluenced research findings as to the effectiveness of the project. So as long as you can provide that assurance, because we do have a positive interest requirement as part of the application process, that would definitely need to be addressed in that section of the application packet.

DARYL FOX: “Can the grant be used to purchase digital, portable, and mobile radios with a building antenna to increase communication capabilities of a department?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes, if it is tied to a precipitous increase in crime and a problem-oriented strategy to address that increase but that would have to be a very strong connection.

DARYL FOX: “A Real-Time Crime Center still a viable project in relation to this grant?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes. Yes, especially in section or Purpose Area 3. We're doing a lot of work around our RTCC's right now. So those costs would be allowable and it would be responsive. But, that said, please pay attention to the priorities listed in the solicitation as well.

DARYL FOX: “Can a captain oversee the project or must it be a chief?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Yes, a captain can oversee the project.

DARYL FOX: “Should the data that shows the increase of a particular crime be agency-specific or should the national data be included as well?”

KATE MCNAMEE: No, it should be local. It should be in your community and your community context.

DARYL FOX: “This is a yearly opportunity that's put up by BJA?”

KATE MCNAMEE: We intend it to be. It always depends on funding availability. Last year, SPI was cut from the budget and so we could not have a solicitation last year but that was the first year since 2009 where we didn't have a solicitation. So the hope is we will continue on.

DARYL FOX: Is there a specific category that RTCCs would be most appropriate for?

KATE MCNAMEE: Well, it depends but to me that would either be Category 1, if you're doing something very innovative with your RTCC, problem-oriented policing context or Purpose Area 3, if you're doing it through a technology implementation line. It really is up to you.

DARYL FOX: “And are there specific requirements and what are those for an organization to be considered culturally specific?”

KATE MCNAMEE: I would confer with the solicitation on that.

DARYL FOX: “Is there a certain percentage that determines an increase of crime as precipitous?”

KATE MCNAMEE: There is not. There is not. I asked that very question. You just need to demonstrate that in the context of your community what is dramatic and impactful.

DARYL FOX: “The solicitation also mentions crowdsourcing evidence with the dashboards and portals, can the crowdsourcing be separate? For example, not linked directly to the dashboard portal?”

KATE MCNAMEE: I think that's getting a little bit too specific for me to answer. But I will say that the technology that you fund needs to be used directly to impact that precipitous increase in crime.

DARYL FOX: “Does it have to address an increase in crime where the grant can be used to upgrade an existing system developed to address the crime?”

KATE MCNAMEE: It has to be tied to a strategy that is focused on responding to the increase in crime. I hope that helps.

DARYL FOX: “And if looking at both innovation and tech, should you submit separately for Areas 1 and 3?”

KATE MCNAMEE: No. No, if it's the same application, choose one. If it's more technology implementation-focused tied to crime reduction, then that would be appropriate for 3.

DARYL FOX: And while we're waiting for additional questions, this slide here shows the three separate entities. If you do have questions once we adjourn today, mainly the OJP Response Center, anything programmatic related to the solicitation, sort of the questions you're asking now can be referred to them and they'll work alongside BJA getting those answered expeditiously. [email protected] would be who you need to contact. “Regarding the goals, objectives, deliverables section in the solicitation, is it recommended to use verbatim language from the solicitation or just need to address those in their own words and...”

KATE MCNAMEE: You need to address those in your own words.

DARYL FOX: “Does training and building community trust apply to this solicitation?”

KATE MCNAMEE: Can you repeat that, Daryl? I'm sorry.

DARYL FOX: “Does training and building community trust within a department apply to this solicitation?”

KATE MCNAMEE: If it is tied to a precipitous increase in crime and a strategy to address that increase.

DARYL FOX: This was sort of addressed in other questions but the second part of this may apply. “Does the research partner have to be educational institution? Can we utilize data and research from our state's attorney's office?”

KATE MCNAMEE: The research partner does not have to be an educational institution. We have research partners from nonprofit, independent think tanks. So it's a wide variety. What you need to ensure is that your research partner has the objectivity and the qualifications to do the work and to put together a solid evaluation of what you intend to do.

DARYL FOX: “Regarding that goals, objective, deliverables section again, is that a separate portion of the web-based form or is it incorporated into the narrative?”

KATE MCNAMEE: I believe the narrative when you look at the statement of the problem and the project implementation plan, all of that information goes in the narrative.

DARYL FOX: That seems to be the end of questions in the queue at this time. And “regarding the research partner...”

KATE MCNAMEE: Okay.

DARYL FOX: “...a letter of agreement is needed for that as well during the application process?”

KATE MCNAMEE: That would be highly recommended.

DARYL FOX: Okay. That seems to be the end of the questions at this time again.

KATE MCNAMEE: Why don't you just give it another second just to make sure...

DARYL FOX: Uh-hmm.

KATE MCNAMEE: ...nothing else came in. Well, if there's anything that we can do to help you in terms of making sure that you have everything straight in terms of process, in terms of understanding the solicitation's requirements please don't hesitate to reach out. That's why we're here. I look forward to receiving what you all put together and reading it in May. And Daryl, thank you so much for a great webinar.

DARYL FOX: Great. So on behalf of the Bureau of Justice Assistance and our panelists, we want to thank you for joining today's webinar. This will end today's presentation.