Opportunity Information: Apply for O COPS 2023 171548
The FY23 Microgrants - Community Policing Development (CPD) Solicitation is a U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office discretionary grant opportunity designed to help law enforcement agencies strengthen and modernize their community policing work through small, practical demonstration or pilot projects. The program is built around the idea that community policing is not just a set of activities, but an agency-wide approach that relies on partnerships and problem-solving to address the conditions that drive crime, disorder, and fear of crime. CPD Microgrants are meant to help agencies test innovative strategies, expand the field's knowledge of what works, and produce real-world lessons that can be shared with other agencies. Alongside crime prevention and public safety goals, the solicitation emphasizes civil rights and racial equity, trust-building, access to justice, support for victims and impacted individuals, and responding to evolving public safety threats.
Funding is offered as multiple awards with a ceiling of up to $175,000 per award, with an anticipated 28 awards under CFDA 16.710. The opportunity was created March 8, 2023, and originally closed May 1, 2023. Eligible applicants are limited to state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies; applicants outside those categories are considered out of scope. The COPS Office encourages applicants to design projects that are clearly structured, evidence-informed where possible, and focused on measurable outcomes. Applicants are also expected to align proposed goals with COPS Office performance measures and, for required products, follow the COPS Office Editorial and Style Manual. For site-specific work, letters of support from targeted partner agencies are strongly encouraged, signaling that the project is collaborative and realistically implementable.
A central feature of this solicitation is that proposed projects must fit within one of five engagement areas, each reflecting current national and local challenges in policing and community safety. The first area is Community Violence Intervention (CVI), which responds to increases in community violence and gun violence and promotes a holistic approach that blends prevention, intervention, and targeted enforcement while tracking results. Competitive concepts in this area can include street outreach and violence interrupters, hospital-based violence intervention, group violence intervention strategies, and wraparound services that reduce retaliation risk and strengthen community resilience, with special attention given to gun violence intervention efforts. The second area, Officer Recruitment and Retention and Workforce Diversification, supports creative strategies to recruit and keep high-quality personnel while improving representation and diversity, including projects aligned with goals like the 30x30 Initiative (increasing women in recruit classes). Proposals in this category are expected to include quantitative measures of success and to draw on prior research, best practices, or promising practices.
The third engagement area, Hate Crimes and Domestic Extremism, funds efforts that strengthen prevention and response to bias-motivated crimes and threats tied to domestic extremism, recognizing that these incidents can harm not only direct victims but also entire communities by undermining security and trust. Agencies are encouraged to coordinate with community groups, researchers, and other justice partners and to use existing DOJ hate-crime guidance and resources when shaping project activities. The fourth area, Underserved Populations, focuses on improving safety and access to services for groups that may face barriers to protection or fair treatment, such as youth, older adults, communities of color, people experiencing homelessness, LGBTQ individuals, individuals with disabilities (including mental, intellectual, or neurodivergent disabilities), undocumented immigrants, and economically disadvantaged communities. Applications must clearly identify which population(s) the project is designed to serve and explain how the agency determined those priorities based on local conditions or data. The fifth area, Building Trust and Legitimacy with the Community, supports initiatives that deepen relationships between law enforcement and residents through meaningful engagement, restorative approaches, and community-centered partnerships, often through convenings or structured dialogues that bring together diverse community members, civic leaders, businesses, youth, and officers to set shared public safety goals.
The solicitation strongly encourages partnerships as a practical requirement of effective community policing, not as an add-on. Agencies are urged to work with nonprofit organizations, institutions of higher education, community and youth groups, faith-based organizations, and other stakeholders to plan and carry out activities. Organized dialogues and collaborative problem-solving are highlighted as a way to assess local police-community relations and create shared priorities. The COPS Office also notes that if an applicant wants to replicate a well-known program (for example, Coffee with a Cop, Police Athletic Leagues, Boys and Girls Clubs, or Explorers), the proposal must explain what makes the effort innovative, how it improves on prior work, or how it applies lessons learned rather than simply repeating a standard model.
Projects are expected to be concrete and outcome-oriented. Applicants should spell out how the activities will increase engagement, the service area and scale (for example, one agency vs. multi-agency, one population group vs. multiple), and the subject-matter expertise of project leaders and partners. A key expectation is that applicants clearly source or cite the research or promising practices behind the strategies they propose, rather than presenting activities as unsupported ideas. Just as important, applicants must define the outcomes they will report and describe how they will track progress, whether through evaluation components, metrics tied to recruitment and retention, participation and engagement measures, violence reduction indicators, or other performance measures aligned to the project type.
A distinguishing requirement of CPD Microgrants is the emphasis on deliverables that can benefit the broader policing field, not just the agency receiving funding. Each project must produce a deliverable that documents implementation, lessons learned, and promising practices in a format that can be shared widely, such as brief reports, summaries, articles, toolkits, webinars, conference presentations, videos, or podcasts. The COPS Office may also publish and distribute these products, including providing development assistance, editing, design, and distribution at no cost to the recipient. Awardees may also participate in a community of practice with other grantees, which is intended to accelerate peer learning and spread effective approaches beyond the initial project sites.
The solicitation also makes clear what it will not fund. It will not support hiring costs for new officer or deputy salaries and benefits (those needs are directed to the separate COPS Hiring Program). It will also not fund proposals that are essentially equipment or technology purchases without the broader training, programming, or services needed to make those tools meaningful within a community policing strategy. Likewise, projects that place most of the budget into generally unallowable or discouraged items, such as vehicles, food, recreational equipment, or promotional gifts and souvenirs, are deemed out of scope. Overall, the CPD Microgrants program is designed to help law enforcement agencies pilot focused, partnership-driven, evidence-informed community policing projects that produce measurable local value and transferable products for the field.Apply for O COPS 2023 171548
- The Department of Justice, Community Oriented Policing Services in the law, justice and legal services sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "FY23 Microgrants -Community Policing Development Solicitation" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 16.710.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 08, 2023.
- Applicants must submit their applications by May 01, 2023. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $175,000.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 28 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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FY23 CPD Microgrants (Community Policing Development) - Frequently Asked Questions
What is the FY23 CPD Microgrants solicitation?
The FY23 Microgrants - Community Policing Development (CPD) Solicitation is a U.S. Department of Justice COPS Office discretionary grant opportunity that supports small, practical demonstration or pilot projects. The purpose is to help law enforcement agencies strengthen and modernize community policing through partnership-driven, problem-solving approaches and measurable outcomes.
What is the main goal of CPD Microgrants?
The program aims to help agencies test innovative strategies, expand knowledge about what works in community policing, and generate real-world lessons that can be shared with other agencies. The solicitation also emphasizes civil rights and racial equity, trust-building, access to justice, support for victims and impacted individuals, and responding to evolving public safety threats.
How does the solicitation define community policing?
The solicitation frames community policing as an agency-wide approach, not just a set of activities. It relies on partnerships and problem-solving to address underlying conditions that contribute to crime, disorder, and fear of crime.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligible applicants are limited to state, local, tribal, and territorial law enforcement agencies. Applicants outside those categories are considered out of scope.
How much funding is available per award?
The award ceiling is up to $175,000 per award.
How many awards are anticipated?
The solicitation anticipates 28 awards.
What is the CFDA number for this opportunity?
The CFDA number listed is 16.710.
When was the opportunity created and when did it close?
The opportunity was created on March 8, 2023, and originally closed on May 1, 2023.
What types of projects are CPD Microgrants intended to support?
CPD Microgrants are intended to support small-scale, concrete, outcome-oriented demonstration or pilot projects that strengthen community policing. Projects should be clearly structured, evidence-informed where possible, and designed around measurable outcomes.
Are projects required to fit within specific topic areas?
Yes. Proposed projects must fit within one of five engagement areas identified in the solicitation.
What are the five engagement areas?
The five engagement areas are: (1) Community Violence Intervention (CVI), (2) Officer Recruitment and Retention and Workforce Diversification, (3) Hate Crimes and Domestic Extremism, (4) Underserved Populations, and (5) Building Trust and Legitimacy with the Community.
What kinds of projects are competitive under Community Violence Intervention (CVI)?
The CVI area addresses increases in community violence and gun violence using a holistic approach that blends prevention, intervention, and targeted enforcement while tracking results. Competitive concepts can include street outreach and violence interrupters, hospital-based violence intervention, group violence intervention strategies, and wraparound services to reduce retaliation risk and strengthen community resilience, with special attention to gun violence intervention efforts.
What does the Officer Recruitment and Retention and Workforce Diversification area support?
This area supports creative strategies to recruit and retain high-quality personnel and improve representation and diversity. It includes projects aligned with goals such as the 30x30 Initiative (increasing women in recruit classes). Proposals are expected to include quantitative measures of success and draw on prior research, best practices, or promising practices.
What does the Hate Crimes and Domestic Extremism area focus on?
This area funds efforts to strengthen prevention and response to bias-motivated crimes and threats tied to domestic extremism, recognizing broader community harms such as undermined security and trust. Agencies are encouraged to coordinate with community groups, researchers, and justice partners, and to use existing DOJ hate-crime guidance and resources when shaping project activities.
What is meant by the Underserved Populations engagement area?
This area focuses on improving safety and access to services for groups that may face barriers to protection or fair treatment. Examples listed include youth, older adults, communities of color, people experiencing homelessness, LGBTQ individuals, individuals with disabilities (including mental, intellectual, or neurodivergent disabilities), undocumented immigrants, and economically disadvantaged communities.
Are applicants required to specify which underserved populations they will serve?
Yes. Applications must clearly identify which population(s) the project is designed to serve and explain how the agency determined those priorities based on local conditions or data.
What does the Building Trust and Legitimacy with the Community area support?
This area supports initiatives to deepen relationships between law enforcement and residents through meaningful engagement, restorative approaches, and community-centered partnerships. It often includes convenings or structured dialogues bringing together diverse community members, civic leaders, businesses, youth, and officers to set shared public safety goals.
How important are partnerships in CPD Microgrants?
Partnerships are strongly emphasized as a practical requirement of effective community policing, not an optional add-on. Agencies are urged to work with nonprofits, institutions of higher education, community and youth groups, faith-based organizations, and other stakeholders to plan and carry out project activities.
Are letters of support required?
For site-specific work, letters of support from targeted partner agencies are strongly encouraged. These letters help show the project is collaborative and realistically implementable.
Does the solicitation encourage community dialogues?
Yes. Organized dialogues and collaborative problem-solving are highlighted as methods to assess local police-community relations and establish shared priorities.
Can we propose to replicate an existing community policing program?
Replication is allowed only if the proposal explains what makes the effort innovative, how it improves on prior work, or how it applies lessons learned. The solicitation specifically notes examples such as Coffee with a Cop, Police Athletic Leagues, Boys and Girls Clubs, or Explorers, and indicates proposals cannot simply repeat a standard model without an innovation or improvement rationale.
What does the solicitation mean by "evidence-informed"?
Projects are expected to clearly source or cite the research, best practices, or promising practices that support the proposed strategies, rather than presenting activities as unsupported ideas.
What does the COPS Office expect regarding outcomes and measurement?
Applicants are expected to define the outcomes they will report and describe how they will track progress. Examples include evaluation components, recruitment and retention metrics, participation and engagement measures, violence reduction indicators, or other performance measures aligned to the project type.
Do projects need to align with COPS Office performance measures?
Yes. Applicants are expected to align proposed goals with COPS Office performance measures.
What kinds of project details should be clearly described in an application?
The solicitation emphasizes that applicants should spell out how activities will increase engagement, the service area and scale (for example, single-agency versus multi-agency, or one population group versus multiple), and the subject-matter expertise of project leaders and partners.
Are deliverables required under CPD Microgrants?
Yes. A distinguishing feature is that each project must produce a deliverable that documents implementation, lessons learned, and promising practices in a format that can be shared widely.
What formats can the required deliverable take?
Examples include brief reports, summaries, articles, toolkits, webinars, conference presentations, videos, or podcasts.
Can the COPS Office publish or distribute products created under the grant?
Yes. The COPS Office may publish and distribute these products and may provide development assistance, editing, design, and distribution at no cost to the recipient.
Is there a peer-learning component for awardees?
Yes. Awardees may participate in a community of practice with other grantees to accelerate peer learning and spread effective approaches beyond the initial project sites.
Does this grant fund hiring new officers or deputies?
No. The solicitation states it will not support hiring costs for new officer or deputy salaries and benefits. Those needs are directed to the separate COPS Hiring Program.
Will the grant fund equipment or technology purchases?
Not if the proposal is essentially an equipment or technology purchase without broader training, programming, or services needed to make those tools meaningful within a community policing strategy. The solicitation indicates those types of proposals are out of scope.
What budget items are described as generally unallowable or discouraged?
The solicitation notes that projects placing most of the budget into generally unallowable or discouraged items are out of scope, including vehicles, food, recreational equipment, or promotional gifts and souvenirs.
Are there any requirements for written products or publications?
Yes. For required products, applicants are expected to follow the COPS Office Editorial and Style Manual.
What makes a project a good fit for CPD Microgrants based on the solicitation?
A strong fit is a focused, partnership-driven, evidence-informed pilot or demonstration project within one of the five engagement areas, with clearly defined activities, measurable outcomes aligned to COPS Office performance measures, and a shareable deliverable that captures implementation and lessons learned for the broader field.
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