This Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA) Fact Sheet on the Emergency Federal Law Enforcement Assistance (EFLEA) Program addresses EFLEA's scope and purpose, eligibility for program assistance, application process, and examples of recent EFLEA funding. Brief information on other OVC emergency assistance programs is also provided.
The EFLEA Program assists state and/or local government units in responding to extraordinary law enforcement emergencies by authorizing the U.S. Attorney General to grant funding to help alleviate the costs incurred by law enforcement agencies in responding to emergency law enforcement challenges. One of four examples by this Fact Sheet of an emergency that qualified for EFLEA funding was the law enforcement response to the killing of 12 people and the injuring of 4 others in a Virginia Beach, Virginia public works building. Key determining factors for a law enforcement emergency that qualifies for EFLEA resources are a situation that could escalate into a law enforcement emergency of epidemic proportion and subsequently pose an imminent threat to public safety; and the threat must be of sufficient magnitude to overwhelm a state or local government’s ability to respond to the threat. If such a law enforcement emergency arises, a state may apply for EFLEA Program assistance on behalf of itself or units of local government. The submission for EFLEA resources must be in writing and submitted by the State Administering Agency (SAA) Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance Grant (JAG} contact, acting on behalf of the chief executive officer for the state. The SAA JAG contact must send the written request to the BJA Director, who will approve or disapprove the request no later than 10 days after its receipt.