FY25 Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration Initiative Notice of Funding Opportunity Webinar

FY25 Local Law Enforcement Crime Gun Intelligence Center Integration

Serena Roche: Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us today. As you may already know, the Bureau of Justice Assistance is a component of the Office of Justice Programs and plays a vital role in strengthening the nation's criminal justice system. B.J.A assists state, local and tribal jurisdiction with reducing and preventing crime, reducing recidivism and promoting a fair and safe criminal justice system. Today's webinar. Fiscal year 2025. Local law enforcement. Crime Gun Intelligence Center (Initiative). Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is presented by BJA Senior Policy Advisor Tammy Brown, who will discuss the NOFO and answer any questions about the process.

Before we get started, we would like to go through a few housekeeping items. Please note that today's webinar will be recorded if you are using a computer and need to adjust your audio setting at the bottom of your screen, click on the down arrow unmute button to adjust as needed. If you are still having an issue within this icon, you can request that WebEx call your phone directly. You can submit your questions at any time, which will be answered at the end during a Q&A. To submit your questions at the bottom right of your screen, click the three dots and select Q&A. Be sure to send your question to all panelists. Closed captioning is available. The closed caption button will be visible in the bottom left-hand corner. Thank you again for joining us. Now let's turn things over to Tammy.

Tammy Brown: Thank you. Good afternoon, everyone.  Again, I'm Tammy Brown. I'm a senior policy advisor with the Bureau of Justice Assistance, and I have the privilege of leading our Crime Gun Intelligence Center portfolio. So, we have a lot of information to cover. Can you pull up the next slide? And we'll just quickly view the agenda. All right. And with that, we're going to just jump right in. I'm going to provide you with an overview of the justice programs. And then we're going to do a program overview of the CGIC grant. We're going to go through the notice of funding information. So, we call that our NOFO, which was previously called a solicitation. Then I'm going to walk you through the funding process overview and then some resources that we have available. And then once we complete the webinar, we'll go ahead and I'll try and answer the questions that you have written in the Q&A. So next slide.

And the overview. We're going to start with the OJP overview. Next slide. So, what exactly is the Office of Justice Programs? Well, the Office of Justice Programs provides grant funding. But we also provide training, research and statistics to the criminal justice community. So, we are one of the three grant making components of the Department of Justice, along with the Office on Violence Against Women and the Office of Community Oriented Policing. So, this particular NOFO. is coming out of my office. Again, The Bureau of Justice Assistance. Next slide.

The Bureau of Justice Assistance was created in 1984 to reduce violent crime and create safer communities and reform our nation's criminal justice system. We help states, local and tribal jurisdictions reduce and prevent crime, reduce recidivism and promote safe criminal justice systems. And we do that in three ways. Next slide please.

So, the first way is in opportunities like our NOFOs and investing and providing grant money to the field. But again, that's not all we do. Second, we like to engage and develop resources related to promising practices so the field can build on capacity and provide evidence and form services to the public, improving the outcomes. And lastly, we also engage with experts across the country to support information exchange, create learning opportunities, and convene stakeholders with again the goal of providing the best possible practices to our stakeholders and our nation.

So now that we've had some background on BJA, I really want to transition over to the Crime Gun Intelligence Center grant program – I think the reason most of you are here today. So, if you want to provide the next slide. And then go ahead and click to the next one, please. All right. So, in collaboration with ATF, BJA's, CGIC initiative supports local law enforcement agencies to address firearm-related crime through the establishment and expansion of crime gun intelligence centers. So, crime gun intelligence centers, if you want to go to the next slide. Our interagency collaborative focused on timely collection management and analysis of crime gun evidence, such as shell casings that utilizes ATF's, National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, known as NIBIN, as well as ATF's electronic tracing system known as eTrace.

So, NIBIN enables law enforcement to link ballistic evidence to multiple incidents in which the same firearm was used. eTrace allows for tracing of recovered firearms back to the original manufacturer. Crime gun intelligence centers also use crime gun processes, like tracing DNA and fingerprints to determine the origin and history of crime guns. The crime gun intelligence center process occurs in real time to identify serial shooter shooters, disrupt criminal activity and prevent further violence. The primary goal again is timely identification, arrest and prosecution of armed violent offenders. Other outcomes include the identification of crime gun sources, efficient resource allocation, providing decision makers with the most accurate crime gun data available, and most importantly, increasing public safety. Next slide.

So, this is our Crime Gun Intelligence Center website. And here you can find the business model that we recommend and that was created using ATF's minimum operating standards for crime gun intelligence. You can find several resources for investigating crime guns. You can also find more information on exactly what crime gun intelligence is and how you can utilize it. And also if you go to the BJA tab within the website, you'll be able to find examples of successful grant applications from previous grantees. Next slide.

All right. So now we're going to dive into exactly what information is included in the notice of funding opportunity. So first and foremost, who is eligible to apply? Eligible applicants for this funding opportunity include government entities but primarily local law enforcement. But that also includes prosecutors' offices. Partnerships with sub recipients are also encouraged, especially if you are proposing to expand to a regional approach. However, please note there can only be one actual grantee. It's also important to note there is no cost-sharing or match requirement for this program. Next slide.

So however, this opportunity does require a mandatory certification certifying compliance with eight United States Code sections 1373 and 1644. The certification form can be found in appendix one of the NOFO and should not be edited or altered because doing so, or failing to provide this certification with your application, will result in your application being eliminated during what we call our basic minimum review process. Next slide.

So, you would need to download or print the certification form. And then it is required that it is signed by your jurisdiction's chief executive officer, such as your mayor or possibly your county executive. Next slide. Then it should be submitted in JustGrants by going to the data requested with application screen, clicking on the funding priority inventory two and selecting option F. Then you would click on the upload button from the additional applications component screen. And as you're doing this process, it will also walk you through and prompt you. Next slide.

So now I just want to cover the federal award information. Right, so how much money are we putting out there, who's qualified and how long you'll have to spend your money if you are awarded. So below is an overview. The anticipated amount we plan to fund this project in total is 3 million. We anticipate six total awards, three for expansion sites and three for new implementation sites. The period of performance starts on October 1, 2025, and that is because the funds that support this notice of funding are from FY 25. The performance period is 24 months for expansion sites and 36 months for new implementation sites. The maximum dollar amount for expansion sites are $300,000. And then the maximum amount for the new implementation sites are ($700,000). Next slide.

Okay. So, agencies can only submit one application under one category. So, understanding which category to apply for is important in your likelihood of success. The best way to identify the category is to examine what your agency's already doing in the way of crime gun intelligence. So, for example, do you have technology in place for crime gang intelligence? Is it a regular practice, or is this a very new concept to your agency? The CGIC model also follows seven business steps. So, you can ask yourself questions about those steps to see how sophisticated your department is and help determine what category you should apply under.

So, the first step is comprehensive collection. Are your officers getting out of their cars and collecting casings at all crime scenes, not just the ones where there's a victim shot? Question two are there casings from scenes and test-fire crime guns being entered into NIBIN and correlated, and are crime guns being traced timely? Three, is your department analyzing leads for dissemination and building products for your detectives that help them connect the dots and assist them with their investigations? Four, are your leads and traces aiding your arrests? Five, are you meeting regularly with your criminal justice stakeholders to improve collaborations on gun crimes? Six, are you working closely with your local prosecutors and your U.S. attorneys to determine who should prosecute and is, in the best case, to prosecute these gun cases? And seven, are you tracking case outcomes and providing feedback to your process participants?

If you have gaps in the majority of these processes, then you should apply under category two as a new implementation site. But if you mainly answered yes to all of these questions, you should apply under category one. So, you can think of it as, category one is designed to support well-established crime gun intelligence centers, where category two is more like a startup. But regardless of the category, the goal and objectives are the same: timely identification of, arrest and prosecution of armed violent offenders. Next slide please.

Now this slide just gives you a few examples. There's other things that the funds can be utilized for. But here are some of the buckets and the common ones we've seen in the past to support crime gun intelligence centers. So, we have equipment and technologies. So that's things like license plate readers, acquisition machines, analytic software. Also shoot tanks could be part of equipment. You could also use the funds for implementation for platform integrations. So, the NESS bridge or eTrace direct. Personnel is an allowable expense. You could fund investigators, analysts, firearm investigators, also prosecutors. And then training specifically for your CGIC teams. Slide number 20. Next slide please.

All right. There are also obviously unallowable uses for funds. These are explained starting on page 11 of the notice of funding opportunity, which provides an overview of unallowable costs and activities that are out of the scope and will not be funded. So, I strongly encourage you to read this very carefully. Again, it's on page 11 of the notice of funding Next slide.

So, successful grantees will be required to provide two deliverables. The first is final report documenting processes, outcomes and lessons learned, including key findings on crime gun intelligence effectiveness and improvements to gun case solvability. The second is that we just ask that you complete an application for ATF CGIC certification. Next slide.

In addition, we have some priorities that we will be looking at when considering which applicants we plan to fund. Priority consideration will be provided to applicants that proposed projects designed to advance the goals listed below. This shows up as the agency funding priorities inventory in the application process, and applicants will check all that are applicable in the appropriate boxes. So, the priorities include directly supporting law enforcement operations, combating violent crime, supporting services for American citizens, protecting American children, supporting American victims of human trafficking and sexual assault, and coordinating state/local with federal law enforcement. Next slide.

So now I just want to talk briefly about the application review process. So before moving into what we call merit review, looking at the content and the meat of the application, we want to make sure the application meets what we call the basic minimum requirements. So basic minimum requirements generally for all our NOFOs are required. obviously, to be submitted by an applicant. that's eligible in type and that must be responsive to the scope of the NOFO. Next slide.

But this notice of funding has additional minimum requirements. So, you need to ensure that you include a proposed narrative (and) a budget detail form. We also require a letter of support from your ATF field office. There is a link within the NOFO that you can click on and find your appropriate field office if you're not sure who those contacts are. And the contacts for those offices are listed on that website. And then lastly, that certificate signed by your chief executive officer that I already referenced. Next slide.

Okay. So merit review criteria. So after it's determined the applicant meets the basic minimum requirements, they will be evaluated for funding using the merit review criteria, which in the NOFO, is outlined on page 26. This includes a statement of the problem or a description of the issue. So really asking you to define what your violent gun crime is. And then goals and objectives. So measurable goals that reflect a commitment to reducing violent gun crime. Project design and implementation. So, this would include those actionable strategies and defined operational plans. Capabilities and competencies. So, we want to make sure that the people that are involved in the process, and the data systems, are competent and have the ability to do what you're proposing to do. And then lastly, the budget, which should support the operations and the implementation of the project. Next slide.

Okay. So additional application components. So, we also encourage applicants to include resumes of those key personnel that are proposed to be working with the project. Again, that gets to some of the competency pieces that we talked about. If you are a tribal organization, you need to submit a tribal authorization resolution. We also encourage applicants to provide additional letters of support from other key partners like the U.S. Attorney's office, the prosecutor's office, maybe parole and probation. Anybody that is going to be, or is, a part of your CGIC team. And then lastly, just a reminder that letter of support from ATF, from the field division, which is required.

There's also an application checklist in the notice of funding on page 32. So, we encourage you to take a look at that before you submit your application. And make sure all the core components are included. Next slide.

All right. Now we are going to move to the OJP funding process overview. So how do you actually submit your application? All right. So in order to submit your application, your entity must register with Sam.gov and obtain what is called a unique entity identifier. You must maintain active in Sam.gov registration status at all times. For entities new to Sam.gov, the registration process could take some time. So, we really encourage you to start early and make sure that you are in active status. Otherwise, you will not be able to submit your application.

Once active, you should plan to renew your registration in Sam.gov every 12 months. Even if you've applied for federal grants before, you need to check that your registration is current and if it's not, renew it. Applicants who do not have an active Sam.gov status again will not be able to complete step one of the application process in Grants.gov. Also, be sure your organization's point of contact in Sam.gov, especially the electronic business point of contact, are current. The point of contact may receive notices about time sensitive actions that they will need to take during the application process. Next slide.

Okay, so once you have your unique entity Identifier, you can continue with the funding process. Applicants submit electronically through a two-step process, and you will be required to register and add users to two different systems. For step one, you'll submit an application for federal assistance. This is referred to as an SF-424, which you will do in Grants.gov by March 30 at 11:59 p.m., eastern standard time. And then for step two, you will complete the full application in JustGrants, which is the Department of Justice grants management system, by April 6 at 8:59 p.m. Please note that we recommend completing each step at least 48 hours before the deadline. This is just to ensure that you don't have any unexpected issues, and that you have time to make corrections if needed. Next slide.

Okay, so now just let's just take a little bit closer look at step one of the application process, starting with a few important points about Grants.gov. Be sure everyone you plan to have work on your funded application can access it and take actions in Grants.gov. Please do this in advance of the application to be sure you're ready to submit when it comes time. We do often get the question about, do I need a firm budgeted amount to submit this form? The answer is no. You can provide an estimate on the form and then update your funding request in JustGrants.

Once submitted, the SF-424 helps pre-populate the standard information in the JustGrants application. One other thing to note about the SF-424, the individual listed in section 8F of this form is automatically identified as the applicant submitter in JustGrants. So again, please be sure that person is checking their email and is prepared to complete the application in JustGrants during step two. Additionally, if this is your entity's first DOJ application, your Grants.gov point of contact will also need to monitor their email and prepare to take action to onboard your entities into JustGrants as you move to step two. You can find more information about the SF-424 and the links that are provided on page 14 of the NOFO. Next slide.

Your JustGrants application with the requirements described in the NOFO. So, general applications contain these sections. The first is the standard application information. Then you have your proposed abstracts, which is really the summary of your proposal. And then your full proposal narrative, which includes that statement of problem and need, the goals, project design, and your organization's ability to implement the project. Your budget, your partners' letters of support, as well as you'll be asked to make multiple disclosures and assurances within your application. Next slide.

Okay. So, what happens next? So, after the JustGrants deadline has passed, your application's in, OJP will do a thorough review of all applications. This process, it can take several months. At first we will check to confirm again that application contains those basic minimum requirements that I referenced. And then for applications that do not meet the basic requirements, you will receive a notice that your application has been eliminated for review. For competitive opportunities like this one that do meet those basic minimum requirements, a peer reviewer who is a subject matter expert will assess the application on the merits. OJP staff then assesses applications on factors such as geographical diversity, past performance, whether the applications are likely to meet the funding opportunities, goals and objectives. We evaluate the physical integrity of the applicant. We examine proposed costs and determine whether the budget and budget narrative accurately explain the project's costs and whether those costs are allowable and reasonable.

Finally, OJP reviews potential risks presented by applicants prior to making awards. This is our pre-award risk assessment that takes into account various factors, including the applicant's financial capability as well as their past project performance. Next slide.

So, if you do receive a notice of the award, congratulations. But you must take steps in JustGrants to accept or decline the award within 45 days. The DOJ award acceptance checklist on the JustGrants resource website can walk you through that process on how to accept the award. So, we highly recommend that you follow the checklist while you are engaging in that process. Next slide.

So, we also have some additional application resources. Next slide. We highly recommend visiting our OJP grant application resource guide web page. Next slide. We also have our JustGrants research resource web page. And then next slide. And additionally, Grants.gov application support is also available via Phone, email as well as JustGrants customer support has available support through both phone, email and online resources. And then lastly, next slide.

Our OJP Response Center is available to assist you with questions related to the content of NOFOs between the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. eastern standard time. And lastly, we just encourage you and welcome you to stay connected with us through our various social media channels, and we wish you the best of luck. And I really hope that you all take advantage of this opportunity and apply for this funding. We've had a number of successes with other grantees that have solved serial killer cases and really helped drive down their violent gun crime within their communities. So, with that, I will pause and we can go to the Q&A and see if there are any questions that have been listed that I may be able to answer for you before we conclude the webinar.

Serena Roche: Thank you, Tammy, for the presentation. So, we do have questions that did come in. The first one is (from) Richard. Our proposed project involves using fundings for a maintenance costs subscription fee for software used in LeadsOnline integrated ballistic identification system, BRASSTRAX. While the NOFO outlines allowable cost categories, it does reference software maintenance or subscription costs. Also, I thoroughly reviewed chapter three, section 13, on allowable costs from the DOJ Grant Financial Guide and could not find any reference to software maintenance cost. Is this an allowable cost?

Tammy Brown: Yes, it is absolutely an allowable cost. You would just need to ensure that the cost is incurred before the end of the award. So, a lot of times with the warranties, it might be a five-year warranty. And the original pay structure may have allowed you to pay each year. So, we would just ask that you work with the vendor, and those costs would be paid upfront to cover your five-year warranty, since the grant opportunity would either only be two years or three years, depending on which category.

Serena Roche: Great. So, a question from Joey. We are not currently recognized as a CGIC by the BJA, but we do have a NIBIN machine and a level-three contractor working with us. For the purposes of this grant application, would we be considered a new CGIC or an existing CGIC.

Tammy Brown: So, I would go back to those questions that I outlined regarding the process, like how even if you have a machine, it doesn't necessarily mean that you're utilizing it and implementing all of those seven business practices that I referenced. So, I would really encourage you to kind of look at your process, look at what you're doing, look at your turnaround times, look at your input. Look at whether you're clearing cases using this. Do your officers, are they familiar with it? Are they picking up casings? Are casings getting into BRASSTRAX. So, it's really about like just because you have a machine and level-three contractor doesn't necessarily mean you've reached, you know, the full capacity of what you could to utilize crime gun intelligence. So, I hope that answers your question. I know it's a little bit of a gray area, but if we also, we have your name, so I can also follow up with you directly. If you still have questions, maybe just put in the chat if you'd like for me to do some further follow up.

Serena Roche: So, the next one is, Cassie. Is a signature delegation allowed for the certification by the chief executive officer? For example, our city commission, the mayor has delegated signature authority for grants to our city manager, who has in turn delegated it to one of our assistant city managers.

Tammy Brown: So, the answer to that question is really, whatever your jurisdiction, how they define the executor. I would probably, if you could get the actual executor to be the signer versus the designee, but it is contingent on what your jurisdiction deems to meet that definition.

Serena Roche: And for Barbara, regarding required certification: is chief of police eligible for a police agency application, or does it need to be the mayor?

Tammy Brown: I would recommend the mayor. Again, it's how your jurisdiction defines that chief executive.

Serena Roche: And then for Sally, what are the seven questions from slide 20? Did we want to go back to slide 20?

Tammy Brown: Yes. But if you go to the Crime Gun Intelligence Center website, which we can put in the chat, you will find on the home page, there is a circular diagram that walks you through the seven-step process. And you should just ask yourself questions about how are we doing with all of those seven steps. So, say for example, your officers are out there. They're picking up casings. They're getting put into NIBIN. But then once you get your lead or hit, there's no analysis done. There's no workup done. There's nobody then connecting the dots. And are your investigators really utilizing that information? If the answer to that is no and you're not doing that second half of the business model, then you would probably want to apply as a new implementation site.

Serena Roche: So, Sean had a question. So, since the start date is 10/1/25, does this mean an expansion grant would only allow for one year to meet all deliverables and goals/objectives?

Tammy Brown: Technically, yes, but in most instances, we're able to grant what we call a one year no-cost extension. So that would actually give you more than likely the full two years.

Serena Roche: And Sally was asking, what were the examples you provided in slide 21?

Tammy Brown: Sally, if you have a phone, you can also. But again, all the slides will be made available on our website after the conclusion of the webinar.

Serena Roche: So, the next question, is by Lorena. What was the website to review prior applications for this grant?

Tammy Brown: It's slide 13. There's a QR code on that slide that you can also scan with your phone. So, crimegunintelcenters.org

Serena Roche: A question from Jeffrey. We would like to budget OT funds for affiliate PDs to work with us. This will be on a reimbursement basis. What category should we use for budget purposes?

Tammy Brown: So, if it is, that would be a subcontract because you would be providing the funding to another department's officers and overtime is available as long as they're doing it for crime gun intelligence and related work.

Serena Roche: All right. And then Michael mentions, when does BJA anticipate giving notice of awards?

Tammy Brown: So, as I indicated, the review process can take a few months. So realistically, we're probably looking at early summer.

Serena Roche: And then Tina, when partnering with another agency on the application, are there requirements for selecting the partnering agency?

Tammy Brown: So, we would still do the pre-award risk analysis on the partnering agency. But again, you would want to make sure that they were a sub awardee because there can only be one grantee for this particular funding.

Serena Roche: And then for Elena, could you provide a bit more detail on what was meant by evaluating proposals in terms of geographic diversity? Relatedly, many past awardees appear to be large cities in terms of population size. However, we are a medium-sized city considered in this context. Are there particular factors that reviewers can take into account when evaluating proposals for mid-sized jurisdictions?

Tammy Brown: That is a great question, and I'm glad you asked that, because I did not cover it in depth in my presentation. So, when I say geographically diverse, we are also looking at where machines currently exist and where they could be utilized by other agencies. So, to the extent that you are a small or a mid-size agency, we do strongly encourage you to propose what we call a regional approach and work with other bordering law enforcement agencies within your jurisdiction. Just so we can utilize the technology and the network as leverage, so we're making the largest impact. So, if we have ten machines in a very close radius that, you know, are either being underutilized, and you happen to be in that pocket, we would rather work with you to be able to become part of that other network then provide an additional machine that's also going to be underutilized.

Serena Roche: And Amanda's question is, how do we know if we are considered a CGIC.

Tammy Brown: So just going through that basic business process, and/or if you do not have a machine that is integrated into NIBIN, then you would not be a CGIC yet. And then I would encourage you to apply for the new implementation. But if you are doing all of these things using crime gun intelligence and are very sophisticated and it's helping you to solve crimes, even though you may not be certified currently through the ATF process, you would still be considered a CGIC

Serena Roche: Brittney mentioned, referring back to the question about software maintenance, we cannot pay for a subscription if it goes outside of the life of the grant, correct?

Tammy Brown: Correct.

Serena Roche: And Sean mentioned would technology such as computer workstations, audio visual equipment and furnishings be allowable to support the expansion of our CGIC.

Tammy Brown: Yes, as long as it was being used for the CGIC team to improve your investigations within your CGIC.

Serena Roche: I think that's more or less the questions we have. So I'll go ahead and.

Tammy Brown: All right. Well, I just really want to thank all of you for your time today. And I know this was a lot of information. Please feel free to reach out to us if you have any other further questions or if you have specific questions that pertain to your jurisdiction. We will have your contact information, via your registration. All right. Well, if there's nothing further, I just want to thank all of you, for again your time and for everything you do. And I look forward to working with those of you that have successful applications. Have a good day.