OJP Supports and Protects America's Law Enforcement
Bureau of Justice Assistance
BJA helps to make American communities safer by strengthening the nation's criminal justice system: Its grants, training and technical assistance, and policy development services provide state, local, and tribal governments with the cutting edge tools and best practices they need to reduce violent and drug-related crime, support law enforcement, and combat victimization.
This year, the Administration has put officer safety and wellness at the heart of BJA funding initiatives. Reinvigorating its grants with a new emphasis on innovative strategies, state-of-the- art technology, and local initiative, BJA supports officers so they can both fight crime and stay as safe and sound as possible. And every year, BJA pays tribute to American law enforcement by overseeing the Law Enforcement Congressional Badge of Bravery and Public Safety Officer Medal of Valor programs, which recognize exceptional acts of courage. In addition, for those who have fallen in the line of duty, BJA's Public Safety Officers' Benefits Program provides benefits to survivors and disability benefits to officers catastrophically injured.
See the BJA Police Week 2018 web page for more resources, and https://bja.ojp.gov/funding for the latest BJA funding announcements.
To learn more about BJA, visit https://bja.ojp.gov/, or follow BJA on Facebook (www.facebook.com/DOJBJA/) and Twitter (https://twitter.com/DOJBJA).
Office for Victims of Crime
OVC supports partnerships with law enforcement agencies at the state, tribal, and local levels to combat crime, promote safer neighborhoods, and establish collaborations between police and the communities they protect. Through discretionary grant programs, training, and technical assistance, OVC grantees to help various agencies provide effective law enforcement to ensure the safety of their citizens to provide comprehensive services to victims and family members in the aftermath of violent crimes, such as homicide and sexual assault. Visit the Law Enforcement section of OVC's website for additional resources.
OVC Law Enforcement Resources:
Vicarious Trauma Toolkit
The Vicarious Trauma Toolkit (VTT) was developed on the premise that exposure to the traumatic experiences of other people???known as vicarious trauma???is an inevitable occupational challenge for the fields of victim services, emergency medical services, fire services, law enforcement, and other allied professionals; however, organizations can mitigate the potentially negative effects of trauma exposure by becoming vicarious trauma informed.
Video: OVC Partnerships with Law Enforcement
Law enforcement personnel are often the first contact that victims of crime have. It is therefore critical that law enforcement understand the needs of crime victims, have the skills to provide a trauma-informed response, and have resources to help address work-related exposure to trauma. This 6-minute video discusses OVC-sponsored programs and resources to enhance the delivery of services to victims of crime by law enforcement agencies.
OVC Grant Programs:
In FY 2016, OVC funded seven demonstration sites and one technical assistance provider under the new Vision 21: Multidisciplinary Responses to Families and Communities in Complex Homicide Cases grant program. The goal of the program is to identify promising, victim-centered, trauma-informed responses and evidence-based practices that can be implemented through partnerships between law enforcement and victim service providers and that are effective in addressing the needs of families and communities after these types of cases.
In FY 2016, OVC awarded $5 million to the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) for the Integrity, Action, and Justice: Strengthening Law Enforcement Response to Domestic and Sexual Violence demonstration initiative to build law enforcement's capacity to develop strategies to address and eliminate the impact of gender bias on police response to sexual and domestic violence, including implementation of agency wide procedures that are trauma-informed and victim-centered.
OVC's FY 2016 Vision 21: Law Enforcement and the Communities They Serve: Supporting Collective Healing in the Wake of Harm program is helping communities develop a preventive and reparative focus to address the needs of those directly impacted by high-profile incidents, reduce tensions, maximize communication, and promote problem solving between law enforcement and the communities they serve.
In 2014, OVC partnered with IACP to launch a demonstration initiative to implement and evaluate Enhancing Law Enforcement Response to Victims (ELERV), a strategy to improve law enforcement agencies' response to victims of crime, with a focus on reaching and serving underserved and unserved victims, in three medium-size police departments.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
OJJDP envisions a nation where children are free from crime and violence. In fiscal year 2016, OJJDP awarded more than $283 million in grants to help at-risk youth, protect children, and improve juvenile justice systems around the country. OJJDP continues its commitment to support programs and initiatives that focus on fostering police-youth relationships; enhances law enforcement efforts to address and prevent youth victimization and violence; and supports law enforcement through tools, technology and relationships.
OJJDP Law Enforcement Resources
Publications
A Law Enforcement Official's Guide to the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model
OJJDP-Sponsored. This guide provides law enforcement leaders an overview of the OJJDP Comprehensive Gang Model, which is an evidence-based framework for the coordination of multiple data-driven, anti-gang and violence-reduction strategies to address serious, violent, and entrenched youth street gang problems. March 2017. 4 pages. NCJ 250663
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Model Programs Guide Literature Review: Community- and Problem-Oriented Policing
OJJDP-Sponsored, Model Programs Guide Literature Reviews. This literature review provides practitioners and policymakers with relevant research and evaluations on community- and problem-oriented policing. October 2010. 8 pages. NCJ 249695
More Model Programs Guide Literature Reviews
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Model Programs Guide Literature Review: Interactions Between Youth and Law Enforcement
OJJDP-Sponsored, Model Programs Guide Literature Reviews. As gatekeepers to the justice system, police???youth contact can result in informal solutions such as programs and services that divert youth away from system involvement, or arrest and further entry into the criminal and juvenile justice systems. January 2018. 31 pages. NCJ 251498
More Model Programs Guide Literature Reviews
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Notes From the Research on Interactions Between Law Enforcement and Youth Discussion
OJJDP-Sponsored. The report outlines research methods and questions from a discussion convened by OJJDP in October between a group of researchers, practitioners and federal staff to identify research strategies to support officer, youth and community safety. The discussion highlighted factors that lead to and influence police-youth interactions, and best practices or programs designed to improve interactions. December 2017. 9 pages. NCJ 251458
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Current Grant Solicitations
Law Enforcement and Youth Field-Initiated Research and Evaluation Program
All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time (ET) on May 29, 2018.
Due Date: 5/29/2018
This solicitation will support field-initiated, methodologically rigorous research and/or evaluations focused on interactions between law enforcement and youth, with practical implications for the identification and development of programs and policies that ensure officer, youth, and community safety.
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